Memorial Day weekend means a lot of things to a lot of people - a chance to honor our fallen vets, camping, BBQ's, picnics, a day off from work, gardening, or maybe even a chance to just enjoy the weather and do nothing at all.
For me, Memorial Day Weekend has meant a weekend spent working for the last few years, but it's the kind of work I love so that's no complaint. It can be the busiest weekend of the year in Boulder and it's a chance to get out on Pearl Street and talk to people about Trek Light Gear and always results in a busy sales weekend. I get to see a lot of people heading home with smiles, eager to enjoy the rest of their long weekend from the comfort of a hammock.
While I'm working, there's always a million great things going on all around me in Boulder every Memorial Day. One of those great things is the Bolder Boulder 10K Race which is now in its 30th year.
Over 50,000 people take part in the race, from professional athletes to small children walking the race with their parents. It brings people from all over the world to train for the high altitude conditions and it's hard to even imagine the scene it brings to Boulder until you see it firsthand. Thanks to a rainy day which meant I couldn't even open up the Trek Light cart, I was finally able to do just that after all these years.
In true Boulder fashion, thousands of people run the race in full costume. There was a giant Slip and Slide setup along the course, 29(!) bands were setup in an official capacity throughout the course to provide an ongoing soundtrack and wherever you looked you could see anything from an Elvis impersonator to belly dancers cheering on the racers and contributing to the great scene that is the Bolder Boulder. You'd never guess from the pictures, but there are international teams competing in the race as well (they run after the 'non-professionals') and the teams are competing for the largest non-marathon prize purse in the world. This years award was for $110,600 "before bonuses", although I'm not exactly sure what you can score bonus points for in a road race. Maybe that's what the Slip and Slide was for.
While I can't exactly hope for rain next year, I'm glad that I finally had the chance to check it out and I hope that I get to see the Bolder Boulder again soon.
The pictures below probably look more like a parade than a race, but taking pictures of the serious runners whizzing by just isn't as much fun..
