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Denver Gorilla Run a primal, sweaty event

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Contributed by: Brendan Leonard/YourHub.com on 10/30/2006

This past Saturday, I was running down Wynkoop Street in a full gorilla suit, wheezing through the nose holes of the mask, thinking I hadn't sweated that much since two-a-day football practices during the hottest week of the Iowa summer.

I was young and dumb when I played football. Now I have no excuse for my behavior -- except that I'm helping save a bunch of mountain gorillas I'll probably never see since they all live in east Africa.

Ruth Keesling, an Englewood resident, founded the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund in 2001to keep alive the dream of Dian Fossey (of Gorillas In The Mist fame). The Gorilla Run, now in its third year, raises money for the MGCF. In my opinion, a bunch of people running around downtown Denver in gorilla suits beats a black-tie dinner any day.

The Most Creative Gorilla contest motivated many participants to go above and beyond the standard gorilla costume -- there was a Hugh Hefner gorilla (and a Playboy Bunny gorilla), a gorilla carrying a 7-foot tall beer bottle and wearing a beer can, an elaborate King Kong gorilla complete with a plane circling his head, and many others.

For a $150 entry fee, anyone can participate in the Denver Gorilla Run. About 265 of us did this year, many on rollerblades, roller skates, bikes and skateboards, all legal by the race rules. The course is usually a 5.6K, but this year's went 4.2 miles because of some construction detours. That extra seven-tenths of a mile really made me wish I'd ridden my bike.

This year's course started at the Wynkoop Brewery and headed south to the Cherry Creek trail, up to Confluence Park and down the Platte River trail to Invesco Field, back up the Platte River trail past the Downtown Aquarium and REI, back to the Cherry Creek path to Wynkoop Street, ending back at the Wynkoop Brewery.

I noticed most folks had the sense enough to take off their masks for most of the run, or to run the first and the last half-miles (when everyone could see us) and walk the in-between three miles. I didn't. I'll be formulating a different (easier) strategy for next year, as well as a better costume.

And the winners are ...

Brian Cooper - Titus Award, First place male (27:58)
Valerie Eipper - Kahara Award, First place female (32:10)
Jake Donohue - Omuyambi Award, First place biker
Bib #192 - First place skater
Edward Godoy - Kirungi Award, Senior gorilla (59 years old)
Mike Jeske - Kwintoda Award, Most creative gorilla
Judy McBride - Safari Award, furthest traveled gorilla (1837 miles)
Summer Kavanaugh and Dustin Jeske - Bahati Award, Highest fundraisers ($679)
Ray DeLong - Ruhondeza Award, Last Gorilla to cross finish line
Robin Hopper, Mindy Lassila and Joseph Baggetta - Bijingo Award, International Gorillas
Team Service Source - Susa Award, largest group of gorillas (20 gorillas)

-Vivian Keesling
Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund

For more information on the Englewood-based Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund, visit www.saveagorilla.org.
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