Bolder Boulder 2011 Wrap up

2012 Bolder Boulder is less than 364 days away…so that means were finished with the 2011 edition.

The course change seemed to play pretty well with most of the runners I spoke with. I actually made the strategic error of running my first mile about 25 seconds too fast—even with the slightly uphill start. I paid for my exuberance in miles four and six however. I achieved my primary goal of finishing in the top 15 of my age group (49), but honestly think I had another 30 seconds in me on overall time.

But, there are no mulligans in road racing so I accepted my fate and ran through my fast start all the way to the finish. My final time was 43:17, good enough for 14^th place out of 408 runners in my group.

I made one decision that I will stick with for next year and that was running in a slower wave overall. Last year I was in AA and that was way too fast. I got passed by about a thousand people I think, So this year I moved back to B. I felt much better overall running with people who ran my pace. I also think not getting passed by a gizillion people on the course helped me retain my edge throughout the run.

Given that my finish group was in the stadium before 8AM, I had plenty of time to take in the expo. I collected lots of treats and wolfed down enough liquids to feel up to walking back to Folsom and Arapahoe to watch the rest of the runners come in.

After a quick trip back home, I decided to watch the professional race this year as well. Ryan Hall, pictured above, ran this years race. He also holds the US record in the half marathon at 59:43!!

I’m happy I watched the pros.  Seeing them run on the same course that the rest of us did was pretty cool.

I think the Bolder Boulder is far and away the best run race on the Colorado calendar. I know there are folks who don’t run it because of the crowds, but it really is a great running experience and should definitely be a must do for all runners.