The Bolder Boulder: one of the biggest races in the country, it was recently named the best 10km by Runner’s World.

My absolute favorite day of the year is just a few days away.

No, it’s not the 420 celebration at CU.

It’s Memorial Day—my Christmas.

I’ve been running the Bolder Boulder since I was a six-year-old whipper snapper.

I can remember vividly trotting into the stadium alongside a troop of Marines while thousands of people cheered and waved American flags.  I was instantly hooked.  I’m 31 now and have missed it only three times, once while living in Sweden and two while serving with the Peace Corps in Honduras.  I’m such a BB nut that I woke up on those mornings at 7am to run in spirit with the A-wave.  I may not have been striding down the streets of Boulder,  but I could feel the magic, thousands of miles away.

To me it represents the best of Boulder.  I love all the people who come out to celebrate, I love the butterflies I get in my stomach when the jets fly over, I love the patriotic songs that get me all choked me up, I love watching some of the best runners in the world compete in the elite race, I love watching the 90 year old and 5 year old finish proudly in the stadium, I love how it brings families and friends together, I love how it brings strangers together, I love how it instills the value of exercise in little kids…I just plain love it!  There’s no bigger one day community event in Boulder.  It’s one of the largest Memorial Day celebrations in the nation!

It doesn’t matter if you run, walk, leap Frog or stop every mile to slam a beer like my brother.  It’s all about celebrating a long standing tradition together, waving cheesy American flags and pushing your body to its limits.  On Monday May 31st for the 32nd year in a row, the Bolder Boulder will once again be responsible for over 50,000 smiles in our already happy little town.

And here I am rockin’ the BB in my super obnoxious red white and blue uniform which I’ve worn every year since Spandex was invented.

Wait, there’s more!

And yet more…

And here’s an interview with race co-founder and Olympic gold medalist, Frank Shorter