Duke City Marathon still cruising at 40. Here's what to know about this weekend's anniversary run.

Competitors in the 5K run during the Duke City Marathon in 2014.

Greg Sorber / Journal

Rick Wright Rick Wright Rick Wright Of the Journal

Published October 18, 2023 - 9:48 p.m. Modified November 22, 2024 - 2:00 a.m.

Sunday

Big 5 Duke City Marathon: 7 a.m., start and finish at Civic Plaza. Registration information: dukecitymaration.com

When your running event is older than your average participant, you know you’re running in front.

Yet, for Tico and Marge Navarro, the finish line is still out there. Somewhere.

In 1984, the Navarros, husband and wife, staged the inaugural Duke City Marathon.

On Sunday, they and the DCM are back for a 40th anniversary celebration.

“Some people will never learn,” Tico, 82, said in a phone interview.

Actually, the Navarros learned a lot, year by year, keeping the DCM going over the years as enthusiasm for distance running waxed and waned.

They learned, Tico Navarro said, and listened.

“For 39 years, we’ve made all the mistakes,” Tico said. “We’re always in contact with the participants, and we’ve tried to fix everything.”

Marge Navarro, in a separate interview, was asked if back in 1984 she’d thought she, her husband and the DCM would still be around 40 years later.

“All I knew,” she said, “is that I knew so little about putting on an event this large that I didn’t even know enough to ask that question of myself. I just assumed it would go on forever.”

Four decades aren’t quite forever, but the Navarros have no intention of seeing the DCM come to an end — even if the time comes when they’re not the ones doing it.

Their son Carlos, Tico Navarro said, already has assumed major responsibilities.

The Navarros moved to Durango, Colorado some 10 years ago, and Carlos lives in El Paso. But distance has not made the heart less fonder when it comes to Albuquerque’s premier and most venerable running event.

“(Carlos) has always been very interested, without any real financial reward,” Tico Navarro said. “… I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do it.”

The Navarros have done it this long, in part, because they’ve been runners themselves; they were in Albuquerque out training for the 1982 New York Marathon one morning when, seeing hot-air balloons overhead during the Fiesta, they decided Albuquerque needed a fall marathon.

Two years later, it had one.

Fitness, as well, has been a characteristic of many who have served on the DCM’s board of directors. Some original board members are still serving.

“But I think, getting older, we’re better at applauding the winners than at running ourselves,” Marge Navarro said. “Everybody’s in good spirits, but age is a factor, no doubt about it.

“We’d love to have more of the younger or middle-generation people who are interested in the marathon to help us in the future.”

What’s been the key to the DCM’s longevity?

Continuity is paramount.

Tico Navarro credits board member Burt Trembly for the marketing he’s done for the past 20 years. Title sponsors have come and gone — the Albuquerque Journal among them — but Big 5 Sporting Goods has been that for 12 years.

The DMC has used several different courses for its running festival — marathon, half-marathon, 10K, 5K run, 5K walk, marathon relay. For the past nine years, though, the courses have been essentially the same, making extensive use of the Paseo del Bosque bike trail.

One constant: Races start and finish at Civic Plaza, where friends and relatives can await and applaud the runners’ arrival.

Navarro cites the smooth working relationship he and the DCM have fashioned with the City of Albuquerque — Special Events, Cultural Services, APD — over these 40 years.

The Navarros have sought to make the 40th DCM special, and runners have responded. Registration won’t end until Saturday, but Trembly said on Tuesday that this year’s numbers already have surpassed last year’s.

Every registrant this year, Trembly said, will receive a 40th anniversary commemorative coin.

Sunny skies and mild temperatures are forecast for Sunday morning.

Registration continues online and at Big 5 locations, and on Saturday at the DCM’s Health and Fitness Expo at the Albuquerque Convention Center. There is no race-day registration.