Well that was certainly the most fun (and only) 10k I've ever done! I entered the Bolder Boulder. The event is held every Memorial Day through the streets of Boulder, Colorado. I've heard a lot about this event and it had a rather large repuatation to uphold... which it did. There were over 54,000 participants. Many of them in great costumes (had I known this, perhaps I would have been more aptly prepared... we all know how I love to wear costumes). And this race was really for people of ANY ability level. Literally, at the starting line, I was jumping over small children and running around men dressed in gorilla suits. This was not a race to get my record time by any means, but it was sure was an entertaining jog...
The race went through the neighborhoods of Boulder, where we ran through keg parties and belly dancing squads. Music was blaring from every corner and slip n' slides and sprinklers were a standard part of the course. The finish came into the CSU stadium which was filled with thousands of people in the stands (see photos). It was pretty frickin' cool.
After "the common folk" race was over, they bought on the elite racing teams. Men and women from ethiopia, kenya, morocco, mexico, japan, etc all competed on the same course we had just completed (though I have a funny feeling they didn't stop for a beer along the way). The winner was a guy from ethiopia who ran 6.2 miles in 28 minutes- averaging just over a 4 minute mile!!! He was SO fast and the crowd was going NUTS when he came barreling throgh the final gates. After that, an airplane flew overhead and started dropping skydivers and then a fleet of fighter jets roared through. During the national anthem and the 21 gun salute, the thunder rolled and then the rains came POURING down, putting a little damper on the afterparty, but it was still overall a SUPER fun experience and one I definitely plan to be a part of in the coming years...
