Got Oxygen?

My wife rounding the final turn en route to a 10k PR

Unofficially I ran my age today, that is if you count all 362 days since my 50th birthday. My watch says 50:59, the official results should be posted in the wee hours of the morning (update: 50:55 posted preliminary result). For those of you following my blog, you will know that I was targeting a 49 minute finish. Nevertheless, I am very happy with my run today. No doubt I would have finished under 49 minutes......at sea level. I felt great, the weather was perfect, my legs were there and the race went smoothly. I just could not generate enough speed.

I listened to a professional runner from Great Britain yesterday exclaim that he runs the 10k in 29 to 30 minutes and was just hoping to do 32 at this altitude. Indeed, he finished in about 32:08. Steeeve commented that this is not a PR race with its hills, turns and altitude. He was right, altitude counts.

So I am content, I ran my best race and left nothing on the course. I'll be back, please excuse the rest of the blog which will gush shamelessly about how great this Memorial Day event is. The real star of my family is my wife, who knocked an estimated 17 minutes off her 10k finishing time last year.

Security getting final instructions at the start line

This race is incredibly well organized for 45000 participants. The first wave went off at 7 am sharp. I was in the ninth wave at 7:08:45 and it started right on time. There are 82 waves in total with the final wave starting at 9:12:30! I was in the second row in my wave and all the runners were of similar pace, with the roadway wide enough so there was no crowding. I saw Bruce Mansur, from Bayou City Runners, before the start and introduced myself. Bruce was running in the second wave at 7:01 am and this was his sixth Bolder Boulder. He will be running the Casper Marathon in Wyoming next weekend and a race in Colorado Springs the weekend after. Wow.

I ran the first kilometer in about 4:41 as it is a long downhill incline. I felt controlled and this pace was a bit quicker than I expected. However the uphill inclines and sections then began and it did not take long for me to know I could not find the oxygen to generate the speed I needed up those hills. I hung in there and hit the 5k marker in 25:10, so I thought 50 minutes was still in sight if I could run a negative split. Alas it was not to be as I struggled through the last mile and died on the final, nasty hill at the Frank Shorter statue before hitting the stadium. I did not even have my normal strength to sprint to the finish, hit my watch at 50:59 at line and nearly tossed my cookies.

The race is only the beginning of the Memorial Day festivities. After refueling, I went over and picked up my bag from the Fedex locker. They allow you to drop off a bag at the start for pickup at the end. Time to hit the real nice Expo and collected the various freebies. There I ran into Bruce once again looking all refreshed. This year they provided shower facilities in the CU Fieldhouse so Bruce had showered and changed.

Back into the Folsom Field at 11 am for skydivers from the military drop into the stadium as the final walking waves complete their race. This event is all about honoring veterans and those who serve as befits Memorial Day. We then were treated to a flyover by a Marine jet formation, the National Anthem, and a ceremony honoring some noteworthy Colorado veterens.

A Marine Corps squad finishing their 10k

At about 11:30, the women's professional race begins, followed by the men's. The race format is an international team 10k challenge, with three team members from each country plus one team from Colorado. The women's race was quite exciting as Sara Slattery of the USA busted it open after 5 miles and hung on to nip runners from Poland and Kenya by one and two seconds respectively. The crowd was going nuts as Sara is two time NCAA individual champion and a 10 time All American from CU.

Kenyan woman leads professional race at halfway point

The men's race was also close with an Ethiopian competitor breaking away up the final hill to beat racers from Mexico and Kenya. I'm not sure which countries won the event, and will post some more information tomorrow.