The Bolder Boulder is touted as the largest and best 10k in the US and it didn’t disappoint. From the non-stop spectators, to the fun costumes, and just the shear amount of people running, this is a truly unique and special race.
This is the race that all of Boulder +some run. It’s amazing! So let’s jump in!
Expo
If you register early enough you can skip this step, but I never received my packet or information via email so I knew something might be up with my registration. The expo is held at the Pearl Street Mall so you can kind of meander through all the vendors, and there were a lot of great vendors out. After sorting out my registration and grabbing my shirt I was on my way!
I almost grabbed this shirt too…
Race Day
I had just run the Colfax Marathon the weekend before so I had very low expectations for the race. I did want to race it though and come in sub-9min/mile. With 50k runners, I expected some confusion but it was so easy. I was able to walk to the start line and didn’t check a bag so I just had to get in my corral. I was in BB which was pretty early and I had zero issues.
People warming up as I walked to the start.
The Start Line!
In my corral!
The race begun and it was so fun to be a part of something this huge. The corrals were all well managed and so you rarely found a bottle neck because everyone really was basically running the same pace as you. It was great.
Most of the time you were on 2-4 lane roads so there was plenty of room to run for the most part. There were people cheering everywhere, miles and km were all marked clearly and this was just a super fun time. People dressed up and all of Boulder was out to run or to cheer!
At the end you make your way into the Colorado University Boulder stadium and there is a nice little hill there, but running through the stadium at the finish was totally worth it!
The finish loop in CU – Boulder Stadium!
I finished in 49:43 – woo hoo! A couple weeks after the event they mailed this super nice summary page, as a lover of all things data, this was a really nice plus!
Finish Area
After the race they funneled us out to grab our post-race goodies and head into the post-race expo. This was a little congested because there were so many people but they kept everyone moving and there was so much swag! There were lots of post race vendors too handing out freebies to racers.
Once I was through I walked back over to my friends house on the course and cheered for the 2+ hours of remaining runners and the elites.
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