Race day

Yes, after all the adventures we’ve packed in over a week, we still have a race to run. Sort of the “point” of the trip is the Bolder Boulder 10k; we just used it as an excuse to take a trip to Colorado. I don’t think anyone of us is really feeling like running after sitting in the car for hours yesterday.

We stayed in a hotel about 15 miles away from Boulder, and with a start wave of 7:30, we figured we would need to leave by 6:30. Caroline had stayed at her house (probably happily away from us for a night!) so she picked us up at the hotel and we jumped on the highway where we sat in more traffic than expected. So, we missed our wave by 10 minutes, but the joy of this race is the 90 waves continue until 9:30, so we easily joined a later one.

I’m not sure if it was the long hours in the car, or not really having dinner, or lack of hydration, or the warm temperatures, but my legs were not feeling it. Vicki and Kim ran ahead of Carol, Caroline and I, and we barely made it a mile before walking. Carol wasn’t feeling well from a bout of food poisoning, so the fact that she was out there doing the race at all just proves she is the Braveheart that we said she is!

Soon we caught up with Kim, but Vicki was trucking along ahead. Kim, Caroline and I walked a lot after mile two…most of it actually, and it was so fun to take the time to see all of the shenanigans going on that I have missed in years past when I have focused on RUNNING!

There’s at least one Slip N Slide, a keg stand station, a cotton candy corner, someone cooking hot dogs for the runners, belly dancers, bands galore, a donut stand, a mimosa tent and many, many, many spectators offering shots of all kinds. And since it was hot, a lot of the spectators had their hoses out to lightly spray the runners, and kids had super soakers to help out.

Vicki, the little engine that could, kept running and finished 20th in her age group! The rest of us didn’t do quite as well and poor Vicki had to wait and wait and wait for us at the finish.

We finally all caught up with each other, got our snack bags and sat down in the stadium, but the heat and sun and tiredness had us taking off after about 15 minutes. We walked back to the car, which had overflowed its coolant upon our arrival earlier, by the way. We tried getting the radiator cap off but it wouldn’t budge, so we climbed in, crossed our fingers and headed back to the hotel to shower and check out.

There’s not much more to report for today. Carol, Kim and Vicki got to their hotel in Denver for their 5:45 am flight. I am staying with Caroline for a few more days of exploring. And yes, we’ve already taken care of the radiator issue, so stay tuned for more adventures!