A new location resulted in familiar fun at the Pikes Peak Soap Box Derby on June 1.

Held for the first time on Higby Road in Monument, the event drew 43 racers from across the state, including Pueblo, Denver, Centennial, Woodland Park, Longmont, Brighton and Colorado Springs.

After a double elimination bracket in each division, the Stock division (ages 7-13) winner was Blake Elston and the Super Stock division (ages 9-18) winner was Ethan Elston. The brothers will head to Akron, Ohio in July to compete in the Soap Box Derby World Championship.

While the race itself was a success, the path to Higby Road proved an even bigger challenge.

Since 2004, the races have been held on the 400 block of Costilla Street in Colorado Springs, but that road has degraded to a point where it was deemed unsafe for the race. The needed resurfacing, at a cost to the city of $250,000 to $500,000, was not scheduled anytime soon.

Race organizers sought another solution for this year’s race. A member of Monument Hill Kiwanis Club, Greg Bielanski, brought attention to Higby Road between Bowstring and Clover Leaf. This road had the correct slope and runout area and was close to Lewis Palmer High School, a space that would be needed for pre-race inspections and impound.

Plans to redo this road threatened to interfere with use of the road for the race. Gleneagle Sertoma Club member Jim Taylor, who has been Director of the Pikes Peak Soap Box Derby for five years, sought answers. He learned that Jim McGrady, General Manager of Triview Metropolitan District, was the lead on the Higby project.

“I emailed him information on our gravity race event and our desire to use Higby,” Taylor said.

McGrady responded immediately showing strong interest in helping.

“From this point on” Taylor said, “our event became a Monument community project, with event support from so many.”

The Superintendent of Parks and Open Space of Triview, Matt Rayno, provided a road crew to install road shoulder protection along the 650-foot track, transporting straw bales donated from Big-R to be positioned for safety, and the setup of pipes donated by Front Range Winwater Company. The pipes’ function was to keep racers on the track and away from the heavily sloped shoulder. Taylor explained that historically, these pipes were just shoved together, and would roll apart when hit, where the hay bales provided backup.

“This year we ran a cable through the pipes, and applied 400 pounds of tension to the cable, which kept this from happening,” Taylor said. “This would have been challenging for our volunteers to manage.”

Tom Martinez, Town of Monument Civil Engineering Inspector, was also involved throughout the planning and implementation phase, providing guidance on detour routes and extra pathways for pedestrians moving between Lewis Palmer and the racetrack.