Boulder Backroads Half Marathon
Boulder, Colorado
Sunday, September 20, 2009

I have recovered enough from my pulmonary embolism to be able to walk the Boulder Backroads Half Marathon on Sunday, September 20, 2009 in Boulder, Colorado. As expected I took it easy; however, it was nice to begin to fell normal. The half marathon course was almost entirely on rural, sand, gravel, and dirt roads which remain open to a sparse amount of traffic. The course was out and back that mainly climbed 350 feet to the turn around and then was mainly downhill to the finish. Water/Gatorade stations were located every 2 miles and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Unfortunately the station at mile 6 ran out of water before I got there on the way out so naturally there was no liquid on the return. The mile 2 station had no Gatorade on the way back. Since the temperature varied from 65 to 75 degrees during the event, several runners suffered heat and dehydration problems as a result. The day was mainly sunny and fortunately there was some wind to help it not seem so warm. The half marathon started at 9 AM even though the sun rose before 7 AM. Overall I enjoyed the event even though it could have been managed better.