Boulder Backroads Race Wrap Up

I didn't run into star ultrarunners Dean Karnazes nor Pam Reed, but I ran essentially the same pace as they. The difference is they ran a full marathon at that pace and finished just under 3:47, while I ran a half marathon and finished just under 1:53 to capture a PR.

The full marathon starts at 7 am, one hour before the half, which is a very civilized thing to do. It certainly breaks up some added congestion at the start, which we will experience again in January 2007 at the Houston marathon and half marathon. A fun thing about the staggered start is that over the last few miles, the top two marathoners passed me. For all you females out there, you will be glad to know that the overall winner of the Boulder Backroads Marathon was a woman, Nuta Olaru, who finished in 2:43:10. While Nuta is listed from Longmont, Colorado, she is actually one of the fastest Romanian distance runners in history. She came in 13th at the Athens Olympics with a marathon time of 2:34:45 and has a personal best of 2:24:33 set at the Chicago Marathon in 2004 where she finished second. According to today's article on the race in Boulder's Daily Camera, Nuta is preparing for Chicago. The top male, Steve Krebs from Denver, came in second overall at 2:49:09.

The Backroads course is not considered fast, but I like it. The half marathon course is an out and back that is never boring with beautiful vistas. The Rocky Mountains any time of year are stunning. Package that with clear skies, little wind, bright sunshine and temperature in the low 40s and you find yourself in running heaven. Usually I pay no attention to the surroundings when I am racing. However, this time I did marvel at the mountain views, without losing any pace of course.

Are you worried about the altitude and oxygen deprivation? I'll trade Houston humidity for less oxygen any time, there was enough O2 for me to run a PR. I think 8000' plus would be a big problem, but 5300' was not. The race is run primarily on dirt roads which is forgiving on the muscles, so I found myself capable of running a nice 3 mile recovery run one day later. The course has some elevation changes, but these are all rather gentle with the race a net 300 feet uphill during the out portion. This means that the race back goes downhill 300 feet back to the finish. Great for a negative split and I ran approximateily 58:30 on the out leg and 54:30 in.

The toughest part of the course is the last three miles since there are a few hills before the finish. However, they are too small to be anything but a psychological impediment and they all have downhills afterwards. None of them are as difficult individually as the Kemah Bridge. As long as one stays focused, runs ones race, and refuses any intimidation, they are easily manageable. Race organization and support is excellent, though I would have preferred getting a chip time rather than just a gun time. The start is just a two lane road, so it does take a little time to get 2000 half marathoners off. I lost about 20 to 30 seconds getting to the start line otherwise my PR would have been lower yet. Then again I have some time in hand to see if I can go lower at the upcoming Lukes Locker half marathon.

If you ever get a chance to do a race at higher elevations, give it a try, you might like it.