Boulderthon proved to be a great running event
Boulderthon is known as one of the best running events in the United States. The event includes the usual four distances – 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon. I had heard about the half marathon event and ever since we got to Colorado, I had wanted to dive into the deep end and start running again, and I was going to drag Melissa along with me.
“Drag” may not be completely accurate. The truth is Melissa began her running journey long before I did, and while I still enjoy it and love doing the events, Melissa had essentially “retired” from serious running a while back. But when I had said to her some time ago that I would love to do ONE half marathon with her, she said she would, but I shouldn’t harass her about it.
When we made the decision to finally move to Colorado, and embrace the culture, and get back to the routine of running, biking, hiking, and going to the gym, she said that the Boulderthon half marathon could be what we worked toward, and that would fulfill her “commitment” to me to do a half marathon.
I willfully, and lovingly, gave way to her training schedule, and she somewhat begrudgingly did the almost daily runs with me. “No zig-zagging…don’t make up the route as you’re going along. Out and back…that’s it. And if we don’t get exactly to 3.1, if we only get to 2.9, I don’t care. You can walk around in circles. I’m done.” Okay, I got it.
The training went well and we were on pace with our “long” runs to be right on target to be ready for Boulderthon. But then came a trip to Iowa, followed by a short trip to New Jersey. And while we had agreed that we would not interrupt our training schedule, well, the best laid plans…
When we got back to Colorado after those trips we felt like we had fallen behind. But we had taken some somewhat long and difficult hikes, navigating rock scrambles and scaling the high elevations, so we figured that we had still worked on our endurance.
Ready or not, here we come.
Boulderthon had a LOT of people participating. And everything started and ended right near the popular Pearl Street mall. The corrals weren’t really corrals but Pearl Street was packed. Off in the view was a beautiful sunrise that lit up the sky with vibrant colors.
Parking was a concern but we managed to get there early enough to not only score a great spot in an underground garage, but we were also able to use the facilities of the office building that the garage was in. Now that is unusual because “back where I come from” that would never be allowed. But the security guard on duty in the building opened the rest room doors for everyone who came up from the garage. That’s just the culture in Colorado as opposed to the New York/New Jersey culture. You can use rest rooms, and public rest rooms are abundant. And everyone talks to you. But that’s for another story.
The temp was 49 degrees when we started out. Perfect for Melissa, but not so much for me. I am not great in the colder temps. I hate the cold, she hates the heat. She would be happy at the beginning but not so much at the end when the temp got up to 79 degrees. Hey, in Colorado you can experience four seasons in one day. One extreme to the other is no surprise.
We had to get the last minute fuel in us just before the start. When I was in high school, my “go to” before any soccer game or basketball game was a good old peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Now, Melissa and I rely on our Bobo’s PB&Js before a long run or as a snack on one of our adventurous hikes. And it was good to see so many of the runners using Bobo’s products as well, and happy to see them as a sponsor of the event.
I, like most people, get fueled by the energy of the people lining the streets and screaming encouraging words. Although yelling “…you’re almost there…” makes me want to come to a dead stop and say “Oh YEAH?!” when there are still miles to go.
As my friends and relatives know, I am easily distracted by the things going on around me and I tend to get obsessed with the signs that people are holding up along the way. Some are pretty common, but others are kind of unique, while others can make you cackle no matter how hard you are trying to concentrate on your pace and breathing. My favorite in the NYC Half Marathon years ago was “You’re moving faster than the NYC Subway!”
Right at the start, within the first mile, I found my favorite sign “Easier Than Finding Parking At A Trailhead…” And much like the one about the NYC Subway…it is SO true. Anyone who goes on hikes around these parts of Colorado, or anywhere else we have hiked around the country for that matter, parking is the No. 1 stressor.
We agreed that Melissa would take the lead and I would just follow. We had set on a run/walk scheme that would bring us in around a 15-minutes mile, and since we were so out of practice for doing a long distance run, and given it was our first at such a high altitude, we said we would be happy just finishing within the four-hour mark. Of course that would be way off our personal bests, but our goals have since changed and we were simply trying to finish feeling like we weren’t going to die. I think that is the right way to put it.
Well we came out of the shoot and were going faster than we intended. We got passed the Mile 3 marker faster than we had been training and passed Mile 4 in under an hour. That was great considering we wanted to come in around 15 minutes for each mile but I guess I jinxed it when I mentioned to Melissa that we were ahead of our intended pace.
“Shut up or you’re going to jinx it!” Okay, got it.
I had to stop to use the facilities at Mile 5 and Melissa continued. It was a bit of a wait as it usually is at the port-o-potties along the way. As such, Melissa was about a mile ahead of me, so I ran and caught up to her just before Mile 7.
I asked her if she was okay. “You jinxed it! I told you.”
And even though we were still ahead of our planned pace, we were definitely slowing down. In the meantime, the temperature was rising and although the route had changed to be a more flat route then in the past, there were still some elevations and those elevations are pretty steep. So you’re climbing and moving in direct sun.
The mountains are still beautiful and people with the signs along the way were great. Other than the first two miles, there were port-o-potties, water, electrolytes, etc. at every mile. There were some sponsors set up at some of the mile-markers handing out fuel. Everything was great and well orchestrated, with a lot of support all along the way.
The Boulderthon app allowed for family and friends to follow us, send messages through the app which I heard in my earphones, and I was provided information in my earphones about where I was at each mile-marker and even talked about the history of some the spots. It was like being on an historical tour of Boulder.
Melissa was not in the best of moods by the time we got to the half-way point between Mile 6 and 7. And I would keep asking her if she was okay, but she just kept waving me off.
Finally, somewhere after Mile 9, I could sense things were going a tad differently and our pace had slowed to a point where we were no longer ahead of where we wanted to be, but starting to fall behind that. So, again, I asked Melissa if she was okay.
“If you ask me ONE MORE TIME if I am okay, I’m going to punch you in the fucking face. I hate the race, I hate everyone.”
That’s not how we started but it was inevitable that we got to this point. Melissa’s knee was giving her pain and her feet were killing her. My Achilles were very sore but I was doing fine. But I have to admit, after not having done a long run in a long time, I could feel the toll it was taking. It takes a while of really getting used to the altitude, exerting yourself in this atmosphere. And once the temperature got up over 60, even though I don’t like the cold, combine the high temperature with the high altitude, it wasn’t something we had experienced before.
The last three miles were not easy. But once we got near Mile 13, we were able to rally and finish strong to the cheers of a huge crowd at the finish line.
There were 5,294 people who finished the half marathon, 74 did not finish. Emad Bashir-Mohammed (22) came in first place with a time of 1:06:31, a pace of 5:04. Priscah Cherond (45) was the first female finisher with a time of 1:16:48, a pace of 5:51.
The full marathon saw 1,999 people finish, with 53 getting the DNF. Milton Rotich (39), a world-class runner, came in first place with a time of 2:21:00, a pace of 5:22. The female first place finisher was Liv Tabor (26), coming in at 2:59:10, a pace of 6:50.
The 10k had 1,904 finishers and 26 DNF. First place winner was Brendan Fraser (26) at 32:13, a pace of 5:11. Finishing 7th overall, Emma Lopez (21) was the top female finisher at 38:35, a pace of 6:13.
The 5k had 1,701 finishers and 19 DNF. Coming in first was Yemane Heileselassie (27) at 13:46, a pace of 4:26. The big news, though, was the top female finisher, Everlyn Kemboi (29), she came in 16th overall but broke the Colorado state female record with a time of 15:40, a pace of 5:03.
Over 11,000 people took part. Regardless of the distance. No matter if they ran, walked, crawled, or clawed their way along the route in order to cross that finish line…I always say…the human body was not meant to take such punishment…and I applaud each and every person that stepped across that start line and reached the finish line.
The Boulderthon experience was great. I will be doing it again next year. Melissa…won’t.
