After watching our own Eugene Marathon, some of the same runners are probably going to enter the one in Denver, Colorado this month. The 20th anniversary Denver Colfax Marathon weekend takes place May 15-17, 2026, with the main marathon, half marathon, 10-miler, and relay races occurring on Sunday, May 17, 2026. It is Denver's largest running weekend, featuring a scenic course, a post-race party at City Park, and a new "Zoo Mile" in the half marathon.
More than 25,000 runners typically participate in the Denver Colfax Marathon weekend, which is the largest running event in the region.For the 20th anniversary in May 2026, organizers are expecting over 27,000 runners across the weekend's various events. I know our caretaker Lake Oswego runner has already entered, expecting his ankle to have been recovered. Harrumph; he was born and raised in
Denver. When he's in good form, he's like The Runner (Marvel): Considered the fastest being in the Marvel Universe, this Elder of the Universe channels the Power Primordial and has achieved "Absolute Speed," allowing him to move faster than thought. That's our man.
Of course, what I first think of are: The "Runners" of 164 BCE: the urgency of the moment of Macabees—seeking pure oil to relight the Menorah immediately upon returning—is a central theme of restoring the Temple, and during one time in Jerusalem, runners had to go to the next town and bring back the pure olive oil..; The Maccabees (Hasmoneans) who liberated the Temple were from Modin, which is about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem.A man can run 20 miles in roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes to over 4 hours, depending on fitness and pace. Elite marathoners may complete this distance in about 2:15, while average recreational marathon runners typically take between 2 hours 45 minutes and 3 hours 30 minutes for a long training run of this distance.
Denver City Park
Key Details for May 17, 2026:
Location: Starts and finishes at City Park, Denver, CO.
Race Day Schedule (Sunday):
Marathon & Relay: 6:00 AM start.
Half Marathon: 6:30 AM start (includes 1 mile through Denver Zoo).
Urban 10 Miler: 7:45 AM start.
Events Weekend:
Expo: Friday, May 15 & Saturday, May 16 at Empower Field at Mile High.
Charity: The event supports over 125 local charity partners.
Highlights:
7 miles of waterways
"WOW" Moments: Over 40 special entertainment spots along the course to mark the 20th anniversary.
Course: The marathon runs through the Empower Field stadium, along 7 miles of waterways, and through the Denver Zoo. [1, 2, 3]
Now, getting to Denver is another thing. One-way flights from Portland (PDX) to Denver (DEN) in May and June 2026 are available for as low as $44–$59 on budget carriers like Frontier Airlines, with typical fares for other carriers like Southwest or United ranging from $109 to $150+. Nonstop flights average about 2 hours 40 minutes.
It takes 2 hours 21 minutes to fly over 981.39 miles. To drive would take 12 hours 28 minutes to go over 1,243 miles; or the train that would cost $399 one way, or the bus that would cost $488 one way.
I was just scared to death for the Nahal Unit's Center that 5,200 Iranian missiles hit them YESTERDAY. It was told on You Tube, another big lie. There was much more to this disaster: Now, the truth below:
Based on reports from early May 2026, the claim that Iran hit Israel with 5,200 missiles and killed 1,200 people in a single day is false and highly exaggerated, which appear to be part of ongoing, unverified information surrounding the 2026 conflict. [1, 2, 3]
As of May 2, 2026, reports indicate the following:
Conflict Status: A US-backed ceasefire was in place following intense fighting in March and early April 2026.
Casualties: Data from the 40 days of war preceding the April 8 ceasefire shows a total of 24 deaths in Israel, not 1,200, according to and.
Missile Numbers: While Iran did launch significant barrages, the total for the first 40 days was roughly 650 missiles, not thousands in a single day.
Social Media Misinformation: Reports from early March 2026, which featured similar, but lower, numbers of casualties, were identified as misinformation. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The situation in early May 2026 remains highly tense, with US President Donald Trump rejecting new peace proposals, but massive, casualty-heavy strikes on the scale described in the prompt are not supported by the available news reports.
On 10 June 1982, the Israeli air force mistook a column of IDF Nahal forces for a Syrian commando unit. An IAF F-4 Phantom attacked the Battalion 931, advancing in open APCs in south-eastern Lebanon with cluster ammunition. The unit suffered 24 soldiers killed and 108 wounded, with a further 30 soldiers shell shocked. It was the worst friendly-fire incident in the history of the IDF.
In the Gaza War: On 7 October 2023, brigade commander Lt. Col.Yonatan Steinbergwas killed during theGaza War.Steinberg lived in Shomria, a religious kibbutz in southern Israel with his wife Yiska and six children, On 7 October 2023, Steinberg was killed in action in an exchange of fire with Palestinian militants during the Hamas-led attack on Israel. He was one of the most senior IDF officers to be killed in action for some time.His army-issued weapon was found by Israeli commandos in the Hamad City neighbourhood ofKhan Yunis, along with personal effects of Israeli abductees, in March 2024
In April 2024, Nochi Mandel, the chief of staff of the Nahal Brigade, was dismissed following the World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack that killed seven aid workers. Mandel, a religious nationalist Israeli settler, had previously signed a letter calling for the flow of aid into Gaza to be restricted.
The Nahal Brigade has lost 67 soldiers and commanders during the war, including during the October 7 attacks itself.
I note that October 7, 2023 is the turning point for Israel: and hardened the hearts of Israelis from now on. These same Palestinians had acted as friends, were in the Israeli homes as friends before the gruesome attack; worked with Israelis, with those killed being the most sympathetic and helpful to the Palestinians, and what happened was too horrible to describe.
And then they have the chutzpa to create a video such as what I saw this morning !!!
The Golan Heights? Why is it important to Israel? Prior to losing the territory, Syria heavily bombarded Israeli communities from the Golan Heights, prompting Israel to capture the territory. The Heights were high up and they dropped bombs on Israel below. Syrian forces and Iranian-backed proxies in Syria have primarily used rockets, anti-personnel landmines, and drones to attack Israeli targets in the Golan Heights. Key weapons included Iranian-made Falaq-1 rockets with 50 kg warheads, improvised rockets, and Claymore-style anti-personnel charges planted near the border.
Syria last launched a major, coordinated attack on Israeli forces from the Golan Heights on October 6, 1973, marking the start of the Yom Kippur War. While numerous skirmishes and post-1967 artillery exchanges occurred, the 1973 offensive was the last conventional military attempt to retake the Golan.....
Shifting Identity and Citizenship: For decades, few Druze took Israeli citizenship (roughly 11 per year between 2000–2014). However, as the Syrian civil war began (2011) and the prospect of returning to Syria faded, more began to apply. By 2025, over 20% of the Golan Druze held Israeli citizenship.
The Druze emerged as a splinter group from Islam in the tenth century. Rejecting core Islamic tenets, they faced immediate persecution. “Once a person converts to Islam, there is no way out,” Kedar notes, referencing the severe punishment for apostasy in traditional Islamic law. The Druze, deemed heretics, fled to the mountainous regions of modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Israel—a strategic choice. “Minorities always live in the mountains,” Kedar observes. “The Sunni Muslims live in the plains . . . but the mountains provide protection.”
The Golan Heights are still a bone of contention. A few Israelis have taken the issue into their own hands to make sure the area is Israeli despite the fact that it is legally. Last August 19, 2005, this happened. It was in Haaretz. "IDF Detained Israelis Who Crossed Border Into Syria in Bid to Establish Settler Outpost."
Then, the bone was just picked up again...BELOW-The New Arab at 8:01am
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Settlers from the 'Pioneers of Bashan' movement raised an Israeli flag in an occupied Syrian village, before being arrested by the Israeli army:
On April 22-23, 2026, about 40–50 Israeli settler activists from the "Pioneers of the Bashan" movement crossed from the Golan Heights into Syria, barricading themselves on a rooftop near the Druze village of Hader to demand the establishment of new Israeli settlements in southern Syria. IDF troops intervened to remove the individuals, who were later handed over to police.
The Pioneers of Bashan (Hebrew: Halutzei HaBashan) is an Israeli far-right settler movement founded in April 2025 that aims to establish Jewish settlements in the Syrian Golan Heights and beyond, specifically in the biblical region of Bashan (modern-day southwestern Syria). The movement seeks to "reclaim" these regions to create a "Greater Israel" and argues that building settlements there is essential for securing northern Israel.
The Golan Heights, historically known as Bashan, holds profound significance in Jewish learning, featuring numerous ancient synagogues and biblical sites. Archaeologists have uncovered over 30 ancient synagogues, such as in Gamla and Ein Nashut, which reveal a thriving, literate Jewish community during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The area was often called "Golan in Bashan".The region was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh and served as a city of refuge. It was a key site for battles against the Syrian Greeks in the Hanukkah story, led by Judah Maccabee, and later, the site of a final, defiant stand against Rome at Gamla (67 CE). (Oh My Goodness!) This has not been made to our general public, that I know of.
Are they meshugana or what? The Golan Heights, often identified with the biblical region of Bashan, is controlled and administered by Israel, which annexed the territory in 1981. While the U.S. recognized Israeli sovereignty in 2019, most of the international community still considers it occupied Syrian territory.
The Pioneers must be trying to make it conclusive with the international community as well as Israel has made it, being it's basically populated with the Druse. The group was founded following the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024, aiming to fill the security vacuum with civilian, rather than just military, presence.
The fact is that as of early 2025, approximately 31,000 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights. These residents are spread across more than 30 settlements, residing alongside roughly 24,000 Druze residents, with the Israeli government having approved plans to further expand this population. So the group could have waited for government approval and planning. Evidently they hadn't.
The Druze in the Golan Heights hold a complicated, shifting position, traditionally identifying as Syrian but increasingly leaning toward Israel for security and stability as of 2025–2026. While many historically maintained loyalty to Syria, recent violence in Syria and the collapse of the Assad regime have prompted more to seek Israeli citizenship for better economic opportunities and safety
NPR reported on July 18, 2025, that: Syrian forces who fought Druze militias left Sweida province under a ceasefire. Israeli soldiers stood guard as Syrian Druze people crossed back into Syria at the Israel-Syrian border in the Israeli Golan Heights town of Majdal Slhams on Thursday.
Based on reports from early 2026, the Druze-majority Sweida province in southern Syria, where the fighting is happening, while maintaining a level of local control and autonomy, has faced severe shortages of water and other essential supplies. The region did not have full, self-sufficient access to all necessities, suffering from critically low resources due to conflict, blockades, and damaged infrastructure.
As of early 2026, Sweida Province (or As-Suwayda) is not part of the Golan Heights, though it borders the Daraa Governorate to its west, which in turn borders the eastern Golan Heights. Sweida is predominantly populated by the Druze minority, who maintain a separate, often tense relationship with the central Syrian government in Damascus, rather than being under Israeli administrative control.
While Israel has shown strategic interest in Sweida, often acting to protect the Druze community from jihadists or supporting their independence from Damascus, this is conducted through military influence (airstrikes) rather than direct territorial occupation, acting as a "buffer" rather than an annexed region. Again, remember that Israel is also trying to protect the Druze, who are good friends of Israel. Druze and Jewish populations, particularly Ashkenazi Jews, share a very high degree of genetic similarity, often showing close proximity in genetic studies due to shared ancient Levantine and Near Eastern ancestry. Research suggests that, while having distinct origins, they share common genetic markers and are closer to each other than some other Middle Eastern populations, likely due to ancestral connections and historical interactions.
7 miles of waterways
