Couple who met at Garden of the Gods 10-Mile continues to compete years later
Gerald Romero and his wife Kari Taylor-Romero have raced all over the country, with Hawaii and Utah atop their favorites list.
No matter how many races they compete in and no matter where they travel two particular locations hold the most sentimental value.
The first is Las Vegas, where they got married seven years ago in their running clothes before a race.
And the second is Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. They met competing at the Garden of the Gods 10-Mile run in 2014, first crossing paths at the park entrance sign. A few years later, Romero proposed in the same location.
“It’s always wonderful,” Romero said of Garden of the Gods. “Great memories.”
Romero and Taylor-Romero are runners through and through, marking key moments in their lives with races and trails. But they are different runners. For Romero, a Colorado Springs native and graduate of Sierra High School, running has been his entire life.
“I’m a racer. I’m a runner,” Romero said. “I’ve been doing this for 35 years. I started running cross country in high school and then I got into road racing. I’ve been doing it ever since.”
The 51-year-old has competed at Garden of the Gods for over 30 years. Romero even has the shirt from his first race. It’s blue, with an image of the sun shining. But with so many competitions under his belt, it’s hard to wear all the memorabilia, so that shirt is currently being used as a pillow case.
Romero has experienced four different courses at GOG, but this year’s is one of the hardest.
“This is the most hills,” he said.
The Garden of the Gods course is inarguably beautiful, but Romero doesn’t see the scenery when he runs.
“I’m usually in a lot of pain,” he said with a laugh. “I’m just focusing on running hard and competing.”
The lifelong runner finished this year’s race in 1:05:40, which slotted him second place in the Masters division.
He then chatted with other runners and took a much needed seat in the grass while waiting for his wife to cross the finish line.
Taylor-Romero picked up the sport much later than her husband of seven years, but it changed her life.
She loves how it feels when she crosses a finish line. It gives here a sense of accomplishment. Taylor-Romero started running 15 years ago, when she had a heart attack at the age of 30.
She had a heart arrhythmia that needed to be corrected, and the intense health scare made her realize she needed to make some changes.
When she took up running Taylor-Romero weighed 260 pounds. Since then, she’s lost 150.
“That woke me up to get the weight off and get healthy,” she said.
She’s found joy in running.
Unlike her husband, Taylor-Romero pays close attention to the scenery around her. Garden of the Gods, she says, is a beautiful course, and that beauty “distracts from all the hills.”
They may have different approaches, but running keeps the two bonded.
“That’s how we spend our time together, is training,” Taylor-Romero said.
And the Garden of the Gods 10-mile run is a huge part of that.
Race winners
Men’s 10k: Matthew Robertson (0:35:23)
Women’s 10k: Amber Blackhurst (0:45:15)
Men’s 10 mile: Michael Biwott (0:55:31)
Women’s 10 mile: Sarah Marie Guhl (1:05:23)
Scenes from the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile, 10K and Trail Run on Saturday, June 11, 2022. (Parker Seibold / The Gazette)