Surviving the BolderBOULDER 10K

Memorial Day was a day for remembering, as well as achieving, for Ronny and I this year.

My goal was to run the BolderBOULDER 10K in Boulder, CO  with my Uncle Mark - who has ran it for several years - in honor of my Gramps, a US Navy Veteran, and Ronny's Grandpa Pope, a US Air Force Veteran. And also in honor of grandpa's being cattlemen, we ran, "Fueled by Beef"!

I've been training and getting ready for this race from the past 5K and 10K. Ronny decided that since he was going to be out there anyways, he might as well run with me. I was a little worried about the altitude, but I really only felt it about halfway through the race, and walked for about 30 seconds, then was on the go again.

All along the race route, there were bands and people cheering. Some college guys were handing out beer, others were handing out popsicles and Doritos chips. It made for entertainment, that is for sure!

The coolest part was running into the stadium (cue "Chariots of Fire"). I felt like an Olympian when you watch the marathoners run by a big crowd cheering into the final lap in a stadium. I did push myself a little hard - which caused me to start gagging - and can you imagine what my husband said? "You can puke on the finish line - let's go!" Love you too, honey.

I guess even though he was yelling at me to finish, Ronny was nice enough to "lend his hand" and run together across the finish line. It really would have been a lot harder to finish if he wasn't there motivating me.

But it was an amazing feeling to accomplish something like this, and do it in honor of someone I love.

I remember this picture looking at the jumbotron - Ronny was pointing out our time - 1:01 - the same as my last race and I even walked some in this one! 

My mom took all of the great finish line photos with her telephoto lens- thanks Mom! All along the race, they take your picture and even video the runners (You can watch us here). This was probably my favorite picture they took of us... :)

After the race was done, we filed up in the fieldhouse and met up with Uncle Mark (who is a rockstar and finished in 49:33 minutes!)

Then found my hot beef-supporting-mama!

There were several very funny looking costumes on people running - especially near the end of the race.

But the coolest part was seeing this troop of soldiers, who ran the entire 10K together, and just before finishing....

 Then ran into the side of the stadium floor...

 And did 20-some pushups! Pretty impressive.

 Then got up....

 And finished the race!

It was truly an awesome experience that I hope more of my family members can experience next year!