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DeMoor wins second Golden Leaf title while Arritola takes women’s victory

Aspen's Katy Stege runs through a cheering section toward the end of the Golden Leaf half marathon on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Aspen. Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times.

After a year off because of the pandemic, Aspen’s popular Golden Leaf Half Marathon returned on Saturday.

Carbondale’s Joseph DeMoor won the backcountry race for the second time, his first win coming back in his first race in 2018. He finished Saturday’s half marathon with a time of 1 hour, 23 minutes, 58 seconds — about two minutes faster than his 2018 time — and a convincing 11-plus minutes ahead of runner-up Bridger Tomlin of Boulder (1:35:26).

DeMoor, 31, is a former University of Colorado runner who grew up in Buena Vista.



In third overall was Derick Williamson of Colorado Springs in 1:37:46.9, while Denver’s Conor Frantzen was fourth (1:39:51.3) and Carbondale’s TJ David was fifth (1:40:25.2).

Finishing sixth overall and taking the women’s title on Saturday was Carbondale’s Morgan Arritola in 1:41:10.4. Arritola, 35, was a 2010 Olympian and former member of the U.S. cross-country ski team who moved to the Roaring Fork Valley last winter to coach for the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club.




Behind her among the women was another Olympic cross-country skier in Basalt’s Sophie Caldwell Hamilton, who was 11th overall in 1:45:42.2. She is married to Aspen native Simi Hamilton, himself a three-time Olympian, although he did not race on Saturday. Simi Hamilton recently won the Grand Traverse trail run, among a handful of local wins this summer since his retirement from ski racing.

In third among women on Saturday was Aspen’s Kristin Layne (1:47:43), who won the Power of Four trail run and the Aspen Backcountry Marathon earlier this summer.

The Golden Leaf Half Marathon began at 8 a.m. Saturday in Snowmass Village and took runners to the finish at Koch Park in Aspen via the Government Trail.

For more on the race and to find the complete results, click here.

acolbert@aspentimes.com