Coach makes annual 5K Run Walk more accessible

Patrick Ortiz’s goal every summer is to find a 5-kilometer course that is challenging for the most avid of runners, but still appealing to the average runner or walker.

For the fourth straight year, the Pecos cross-country head coach will coordinate the Panthers 5K Run/Walk, which is set for 8 a.m. Saturday and begins on the campus before heading out onto the town’s streets.

While the campus has been the start/finish line for the course for the past two years, Ortiz made some concessions to accommodate participants who walk to the course, with some of them bringing strollers for their infants.

“We used our course on campus [that the Panthers run on during the season], and what it seemed like was that a lot of strollers and people with kids were on the course,” Ortiz said. “The course was not that stroller accessible.”

Ortiz opted instead to use the streets as an alternative, so that it was more participant friendly. That’s a good thing, because the event attracted more than 150 people last year and Ortiz expects a similar number for this year’s run/walk. While the main event is the 5K run, about 80 people participated in the 5K walk.

Then there is the 1K children’s fun run that draws kids from around the Pecos community.

The proceeds go to the Pecos middle and high school cross-country teams to help purchase equipment, uniforms and gear as well as to help with transportation costs — especially when the team hits the road. Ortiz said last year’s run made about $2,500 for the program. He wants to bring the team to the Joe. I Vigil Open that Adams State University holds at Alamosa, Colo. Pecos competed in it for the 2013 and ’16 seasons, and Ortiz feels like the level of competition will be good for his runners.

“We do get donations and stuff [for the program],” Ortiz said. “This really helps us with the shoes we get the kids each year, the gear and bags and things. It also allows us to stay overnight for some races, like at [the state meet in November].”