May 25th, 2009 – Memorial Day – Denver, Colorado: NORSA co-founder Tom Saffell awakens on the couch in his cousin’s apartment. Tossing on some shorts and an old shirt, Tom and his cousin, Tim, hop in the car for the forty-five minute drive to Boulder for the
31st Annual BOLDERBoulder 10K road running race. Boulder’s elevation is 5,400 feet above sea level and altitude sickness is a concern for coastal runners. Roughly 53,000 runners participated in the 2009 BOLDERBoulder and, though, they started in many, many different waves, many would not even finish because of the fun sideline events and goings-on along the course.
Throughout the race, there were Blues Brothers impersonators, belly dancers, people giving beer away out of keg parties in their front yards, slip-n-slides, and at mile five next to the last water stop, there was also the last chance for bacon. The course rolls through downtown Boulder, several portions of the surrounding neighborhood, and finally finishes with an uphill run into the University of Colorado’s stadium where the finish line comes up after runners run ¾ of the way around the stadium track while the Jumbo-tron follows their progress.
After the race, Michelob Ultra, the usual health food sponsor snacks, and some fruit were distributed to the racers in nifty little lunch sacks after they turned in their timing chips. Tom’s cousin ran in wave DC and Tom ran in wave G; the waves went up to the letter combination of NP. Post-race events included a sky-diving team parachuting into the stadium with flags commemorating POWs and a runners’ expo with many tents set up for the races many sponsors.
The altitude definitely played a role in the race and many people were unable to finish. Other folks didn’t finish because they were content to simply stop running and join one of the sideline parties. Professional photographers caught some shots of Tom mid-race (above) and as he rounded the track to finish the race. Tim (Bib # DC089) finished in 00:53:49 and Tom (Bib # G014) finished in 01:19:14 and results are available on the race's official
website.
May 25th, 2009 – Memorial Day – Denver, Colorado: NORSA co-founder Tom Saffell awakens on the couch in his cousin’s apartment. Tossing on some shorts and an old shirt, Tom and his cousin, Tim, hop in the car for the forty-five minute drive to Boulder for the 31st Annual BOLDERBoulder 10K road running race. Boulder’s elevation is 5,400 feet above sea level and altitude sickness is a concern for coastal runners. Roughly 53,000 runners participated in the 2009 BOLDERBoulder and, though, they started in many, many different waves, many would not even finish because of the fun sideline events and goings-on along the course.
Throughout the race, there were Blues Brothers impersonators, belly dancers, people giving beer away out of keg parties in their front yards, slip-n-slides, and at mile five next to the last water stop, there was also the last chance for bacon. The course rolls through downtown Boulder, several portions of the surrounding neighborhood, and finally finishes with an uphill run into the University of Colorado’s stadium where the finish line comes up after runners run ¾ of the way around the stadium track while the Jumbo-tron follows their progress.
1 comment:
Congrats Tom! That race definately has a strong rep. I'm psyched you got to do it.
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