Did it!!!

So I did it. I ran the Bolder Boulder. And I lived to tell the tale.

It was actually a great event. I haven't done a ton of races, but this one was definitely incredibly well organized. They did the start in 80+ waves based on your antipated time. The first group of waves had to be documented and then the rest were on the honor system. Lynn and I ran in one of the sub-70 min waves with a crazy start time of 7:44 and 40 sec am. You can see the signs for the waves in the pic. We were in the GB wave.


After Dr. Oz (yes, THE Dr. Oz) started our wave, we took off for a crazy run. It was a mass of humanity as far as you could see, but there was room to run and maneuver around. Quite a difference from my first 10K where I seriously feared being trampled to death in the first 1K. There were bands and people all along the route. We saw belly dancers, passed a beer stand and a bacon stand (really?) as well as the slip and slide and kiddie pool. It was a party the whole way there. The only thing that really tempted me, though, was the group with the coffee. But they weren't giving any away. Rats.

I lost Lynn early on, but used the Garmin to keep my pace. I didn't want to run out too fast like most people do. It's easy to get caught up with the rest, but I kept myself in check. Although we started early, it was a gorgeous sunny Colorado day. It felt HOT really fast. I started seeking out shade along the route ... But my training had definitely paid off, and I felt pretty good the whole way. The finish was at the CU football stadium (remember Mork and Mindy?) It got pretty crowded at the end as we went from 6 lanes of streets to funneling into the stadium. It was quite a sight and pretty cool to come into thousands of people in the stands!

After the race, we were herded into an area where our timing tags were clipped off our shoes, then given water and gatorade and shuffled into the field house. There were these chutes set up where we went through and got 1) a bottle of water 2) a snack bag 3) a soda and 4) (if you were over 21) a beer. And then into the stands to watch the rest of the finishers and wait for the Memorial Day tribute.

We had friends in another wave so we waited for them. While we waited we saw a group of Marines who had run in formation carrying flags. They got a standing ovation from the crowd. And incredibly, before crossing the finish line, they stopped and did push ups. Very impressive!

A bit later I looked up (our friends started over an hour after we did), and there was our friend, Bob, on the jumbotron entering the stadium. I think they liked his cowboy hat!

We met up with Bob and Andrea a few minutes later and wanted to wait for the tribute. But it was so hot and it was still an hour away, so we finally called it quits. But a great experience.

Now for the 1/2 marathon ...

Play list (didn't use Genius - went with a theme)

The Road Goes on Forever, Robert Earl Keen

Up Around the Bend, CCR

Carefree Highway, Gordon Lightfoot

The Valley Road, Bruce Hornsby

Ready to Run, Dixie Chicks

The Long and Winding Road, Beatles

LA Freeway, Guy Clark

The Road I'm On, 3 Doors Down

Life in the Fast Lane, Eagles

Country Road, James Taylor

Sunday Street, Peter Keane

A Thousand Miles from Nowhere, Dwight Yoakum

Streets of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen

Crossroads, Cream

Going Mobile, the Who

Official results:

Patti Bivona

bib number:GB531

overall place:20031

location:Boulder, CO

division:F48

division place:112 out of 403

gender place:7888 out of 22964

mile 1:00:10:04.43

mile 2:00:10:18.74

mile 300:10:38.86

mile 4:00:10:28.31

mile 5:00:10:11.32

mile 6:00:10:20.73

net time:01:04:15.80

pace:10:20 (based on net time)

So one last picture I wanted to add. I finally got a picture along my training course. It's been tough to get a good one because it's been so cloudy in the mornings and the afternoon sun doesn't make for a good picture. We live directly to the left of where I took this about a quarter mile away. Unfortunately we're on the opposite side of the street from this but the view from the deck is awesome!!!