Even if you've never had to sprint through Denver International Airport (DIA) desperately trying to make a flight, you've likely seen a poor fellow traveler panting and sweating to make it to their gate before boarding closed.
But recently running enthusiasts have turned the airport hustle into something that's for more than just the late traveler. Runners using an app called Strava that tracks workouts and ranks users running the same routes have been trying their luck with a route called "Gate change gnar" that runs through DIA's Terminal B.
More than 130 people have competed in the informal airport race. The current record is 19 seconds. One runner commented in the app that his family set up finish line tape made out of toilet paper. The current leader wrote that he completed the run to make it to McDonalds before it closed.
Daniel Belk recently ran the segment before a flight to promote his Denver-based running club, cooldown.
He recorded himself sprinting through Terminal B, in a video that quickly went viral on Instagram and TikTok.
"I think people honestly thought that I was going to miss my flight," Belk said of the looks he got at the airport.
After running Division 1 in college, Belk started cooldown with a friend to grow community among young people in Denver. They started with a casual jog followed by drinks with around 15 people last September, meeting on Tuesdays at 6 pm.. The group grew through word of mouth and Instagram, and now has around 300 people coming out for runs. A cooldown group has started in New York, and Belk plans to host pop-ups across the country.
"I think there's a decent amount of demand for community, especially post-college," Belk said. "It's just kind of a fun passion project for us because we like galvanizing people, bringing people together, starting community. We both loved running and walking and seeing people come that feel comfortable at all paces, all ability levels, come out and just have a good time is really fun."
While most segments on Strava cover popular routes through parks and along trails, Belk plans to continue promoting cooldown through stranger segments that make Denver unique. He's run through Red Rocks Amphitheater and around both Union Station and Empower Field.
Belk cautions people attempting to break records at the airport to only go when the terminal is less crowded to avoid the risk of running into people. And while he is trying to top Strava's leaderboard for unique routes across the city, Belk welcomes a challenge.
"I don't care if people beat me or not," he said. "It's just a fun thing. If there's people that go out and beat me, that's great."
