A new foot race and festival is coming to downtown Colorado Springs, with a three-fold mission to celebrate running, wrestling and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum.

The museum will be the starting and finishing point for the inaugural Colorado Springs Mile, slated to kick off at 8 a.m. Oct. 23 and lap around the southwest part of downtown. Runners will end at a festival put on by Wrestle Like a Girl, the nonprofit with offices in Colorado Springs and Washington, D.C., that uses the sport to inspire women of all ages.

Proceeds from the race will benefit the organization. The Wrestle Like a Girl Sports Empowerment Festival is expected to include Olympic competitors, wrestling exhibitions, food trucks and a kid zone. Exhibitions are set to start at 10 a.m. The festival is free for anyone to attend.

Olympians are also expected for the race — steeplechaser Hillory Bor, fellow local and 2020 Tokyo Games teammate Bernard Keter and Shadrack Kipchirchir, who ran the 10,000-meter race in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Steve Brenner, the promoter representing King of the Mountain Sports of Colorado Springs, said in a news release he expected the race to be both social and competitive — with "a distance most people are familiar with." He co-founded the event alongside Gary Staines, owner of the Runners Roost shop downtown.

"Sure, we welcome the serious runners," Staines said, "but we also want to attract the runners who may want to see how fast they can complete a mile, not to mention comparing their times with Olympians."

Some will be in curious attire. Singlets are mandatory for runners in a wrestling team category.

The race also features a team category for nonwrestlers, along with an "open" individual division and a "master's" division for runners 40 and older.

Registration is $20 for individuals and $50 for teams at coloradospringsmile.com.

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