In December of 2010, I went to Colorado to a Mason cousins Christmas gathering. We enjoyed shopping, eating, exchanging White Elephant gifts, drinking margaritas and catching up with each other.
Sometime during the consumption of those margaritas, we all agreed that it would be a fabulous idea to run a 10k together in the spring. In December, that seemed like plenty of time to train and prepare. No matter that I hadn't ran in years and had no routine or consistency when it came to working out.
Before I knew it, spring was just around the corner and I still hadn't been running with any consistency. Occasionally I would hop on the treadmill for intervals of walking and jogging but nothing too strenuous.
In March, I decided it was finally time to get my butt in gear and to start running regularly and started jogging three times per week following the Couch to 5k program. Come May, I could jog 4 miles without stopping.
Memorial Day weekend came quickly and I headed for Colorado to participate in the Bolder Boulder 10k event. I was very worried about the altitude and hills and how those would affect me but knew that I would have fun running with family and could walk anytime I needed.
There were over 60,000 participants in this race. I started in the "N" waves. The first waves started at about 7 a.m. and my wave didn't start until 10 a.m.
Before taking our place in the gate, we hit up the porta potties.
My cousin Jennifer who was the ring leader for getting all of us together.
And we are off...I am in the blue shirt behind the number "2" of the watermark in the picture.
The first stretch of the race. Perfect running weather - 60 degrees and cloudy with very little wind. A few rain drops fell during the race but the nasty weather waited to hit until later in the afternoon.
The woman in the pink shirt is Ginger, a friend of my cousins that ran with us. She had just completed a marathon earlier that month. She was a pleasure to meet and really fun to run with. We started with a nice, relaxed pace and just had fun taking in the sights and sounds. Lots of bands playing, belly dancers, people handing out beer shots, stilt walker, the works!
My self portrait that I took during mile 3 of the race. Sorry it's so blurry but you try taking a picture while huffing and puffing and bouncing up and down.
This picture was taken by the race photographers. Apparently, I'm a cheese ball even while running.
Another photo from the race photographers. Still cheesy and smiling.
Coming up the hill that leads to the University of Colorado's football stadium. (Another blurry shot courtesy of my running photography skills.)
Finally made it inside the stadium! Final push for a lap around the track to the finish line. See how full the stands are? It made me feel like kind of a big deal. ;)
At the finish line. Why do the other two look so fresh and I'm all red faced and sweaty??
Celebrating our conquering of the Bolder Boulder. 6.2 miles and my finish time was 1.06. A nice, easy run. Proud that we ran the whole thing without walking and taking time for pictures along the way and enjoying each other and the atmosphere.
Following the race, we visited the expo and then went back into the stadium to watch the International, professional runners. Then I enjoyed the Memorial Day service very much. They had parachuters representing each of the armed forces and one for the American flag that landed on the field, lots of patriotic music and honoring of a few veterans.
The Mason cousins that participated in the 10k. Jennifer, myself, Jonathan and Becky. (Jonathan ran in the elite group and placed 2nd for his age division. He represented us well!)
I enjoyed the event more than I ever thought I would and it reminded me of the runner's high that comes from completing a race. Maybe I'll sign up for a few more...
I'm already thinking it would be fun to make this a tradition and do it again next year. I love that we were able to bond over a healthy and physical activity. I think this type of event is a great example for the generation coming up behind us.
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