Bolder Boulder 5/28/01

For a variety of reasons, none of them particularly good, I decided to run the Bolder Boulder 10K again. Only a year earlier, on a spur-of-the-moment-decision, this massive event became my first-ever race (at age 40) of any kind. For a variety of reasons, none of them particularly good, I got a little carried away and ended up running seven more races that season (all substantially longer and harder).

This time, it was a very different event for me. To start with, I’m 25 pounds heavier than a year ago — a good thing, I’d lost too much weight on an expedition in Nepal, but perhaps not ideal for racing. And prior to the BB, I’d run a grand total of 3 times in 2 months — a bad thing, broke my collar bone skiing. So I’m sorta fat and out of shape but at least I was moved from the back (TT wave) to near the front (CA wave) based on my previous year’s time (49:27).

Like the previous year, I biked to campus and the hopped a bus to the start. Fortunately, unlike the previous year, the weather was pleasantly cool. This time I wore a pair of real road shoes that I’d been given the day before (Adidas Boston 2…seemed fine but noisy and very white). No longer a complete newbie, I at least had a clue about pre-race prep and was warmed up, empty bladdered, and in position for our wave’s start. Once again, I didn’t recognize anyone around me so I was on my own the whole event.

We took off only 8 minutes after the FRB’s (front running bastards) and were soon up to speed. Where the previous year I’d had to weave and dart through the hoards, this time it was almost an unimpeded run from the get go.

In 130+ miles of racing the previous year, I still didn’t have a clue about pace or splits with which real runners seem to be obsessed. This time I had a toy (Fitsense FS-1) that told me all kinds of trivia: speed, distance, pace, heart rate, time. So that’s what a 7:15 pace feels like! It was fun to glance down to see the numbers at various points but I’m not a slave to the machine and still just ran at what felt right.

By my warped way of thinking, the BB is a flat course with a couple of imperceptible hills (don’t be fooled by the exaggerated elevation profile above). In 6.2 miles, you only climb 240 feet and you lose 198 of those, for a net gain of 42 feet. So it’s just a matter of cruising at what you think you can handle and enjoying the bands along the way — the swing band was my favorite but there are also some good rock n' roll groups to help speed you along.

Can’t say that I remember many details of the course; it’s rather unremarkable until the end. I do remember some details of the cute women runners but we won’t go there. I did notice that the aid stations are a lot less hazardous when you’re in the first couple of thousand runners instead of behind 30,000 who have dropped sugar water on the road.

No doubt about it, charging into Folsom Field for the final push to the finish line is a real rush! Since I hadn’t paid attention to my time, I was somewhat pleased that I’d at least beat myself. My time was 46:13, so I shaved over 3 minutes; more-or-less off the couch and mostly due to a better placement. Would have been nice to break 45 though, oh well.

To put this in perspective, roughly 2,500 people were faster than me that day. I wasn't fast enough to make the top 2000 men listed in the local paper (cutoff at 45:37), though only 350 women were faster. And I did out run approximately 27,500 runners (the 10,000 walkers don't count).

Unlike my friend Bill, who enjoys suffering and cares about splits, I just like to go comfortably hard and see how things develop. He and the other "real runners" push the pain-meter, while I’m just a "pretender" who pushes the fun-meter. To each their own; we both accomplished our goals (he ran an impressive 40:09 and is a master of trip/race reports).

Whether I run the BB again is questionable. To better my time at this point would probably require training on roads or a track, both of which are completely out of the question. Not even sure if I’ll do any more races this year. But the Elephant Rock century (non-competitive100-mile road bike ride) is this weekend. And both the Mt. Evans running and bike races were kinda fun….

Placed 2604 out of 34,799 runners
Placed 2245 out of 19,218 male finishers (includes walkers)
Placed 73 out of 473 male finshers my age (includes walkers)


Trivial Pursuits
From the FS-1 log (Note: not calibrated because that required finding a track.):
Distance: 5.99 miles
Calories burned: 504
1 mile split: 6:58
2 mile split: 14:38
3 mile split: 22:34
4 mile split: 30:30
5 mile split: 38:23



Bolder Boulder 5/23/00
I've lived in Boulder since '84 and have never run the infamous Bolder Boulder. In part because I never run on roads unless it's to access a trail. And in part because the thought of running with 40,000 of my most intimate friends somehow has never been very appealing.

Well mostly out of boredom and partly out of curiosity to see what all the hype was about (plus I read that there are more women than men), I decided to try out this road racing thing. So Sunday I stopped off from a crossbike ride at the Harvest House and paid a lot of money for a t-shirt and a bib in the TT wave. Never having run a race before, thus not having any reference, I guessed my time would be 55 minutes. I remarked to a friend, "it's only 6 miles after all, how hard can it be?" She smirked.

So I got up at 7 and road my bike to the stadium and then caught a bus to the start. What a zoo! Having never seen it before, the mass of humanity was impressive and amazingly organized. After lolling about for a 1/2 hour, our wave finally got to the starting line at about 8:30 (well over an hour after the first wave). Then we were off!

Supposedly this wave start thing helps spread out the racers but it quickly became apparent that it doesn't work. Not only does the pack never thin out but there are so many walkers blocking the road (usually 4 or 5 across) that it's more a game of dodging the moving targets (aka people slalom).

With no racing, or even training, experience, I have no clue what my "pace" or "splits" should be, how hard I should go, or how much reserve I'll need to finish. I never really found any other runners going at my own speed, so I just went at what felt comfortable. It was pretty hot but I took advantage of the aid stations for fluid and all the water hoses were refreshing so the temp wasn't a problem.

The way people talk about this thing, I expected some serious hills on the course but I can't say that I noticed any -- it's pretty darn flat the whole way. The bands along the course were interesting but you blow by them so fast that the tune is barely recognizable.

Finally, the meandering course turns onto Folsom so I know it isn't too far from the stadium and I realize I've held back a bit too much...I'm barely tired. It's flat and straight for a while but I can't really turn it on because of the crowds. The final hill and into the stadium was so packed with slow folks that it's hard to squeeze by. With all the people dodging, there was never more than 20 yards of clear road the whole time, I'd guess I ran about 12k.

As it turned out, I was 5 minutes faster than what I had guessed (49:27). I'm sure I could have dropped that to sub 45 if I had been in an early wave. To get faster than that would require training, so that is ruled right out...I'd rather play. My calves are a bit sore (haven't run in 2 months) but otherwise I feel fine.

All in all, it was a fun event and I'm glad I did it -- not sure if I'll bother again though. My impression now is that a 10k road race really is no big deal. Perhaps I'll try a marathon sometime to see what that's about.

Trivia:
Overall, I finished 3,650 out of 30,803 runners (another 9,721 walked). But there were only 623 women faster than me, which seems shockingly few (21,572 women finished).
The fastest time for my age was 31:46 (!)
My time was 49:27 which placed me 121 out of 500 guys my age.