BolderBoulder, courtesy of Andrew Hyde, flickr.com
It’s amazing the things that peer pressure will get you to do. In your mind, you are thinking — No way, that’s not something I will ever do. But then your friends, your family, people you know from work start talking about something. They may not even directly tell you to do something, but the fact that they are doing it gets to you. This is what happened about a month ago as I was innocently perusing the new feed on my Facebook page.
A friend of mine who lives in Chicago had posted about her finishing a half-marathon. Thinking – this is pretty cool, and good for her! — I posted congratulations to her. She responded perkily, “and I’m going to run in the BolderBoulder this year!”. Whaaaat? Come to find out, she and her husband are both coming out to Colorado this May to run in the BolderBoulder. Yikes! Wanting to appear supportive and feeling the need to fit in, I post, “Well, I’ll run in it too, if you are going to do it!” And here I am.
I don’t particularly like running. No, that’s probably too generous in spirit. I REALLY don’t like running. I am an athletic person. I like swimming, biking, rock climbing, skiing, and hiking. But running, just say no. I know, there’s that runner’s high. Well, I’ve yet to experience anything except suffering and pain – the only high I get from running is the high I experience when I’m finished and can stop running. So why on earth would I sign up to run in a 10k race, you might ask?
Back to that peer pressure, group think thing. There are certain famous running races that are iconic and well known throughout the country. I’ve run in two of them, if only to be a part of a scene, and say I did it. They are not just running races, but are more than that, a thing. Something ESPN says you must do before you die, that kind of a thing.
The BolderBoulder is that and more. It is held on Memorial Day and easily attracts over 50,000 people from all over the country. There are plenty of serious runners in the race, who will run to better their personal records, or to qualify for other races. But for all of them, there will be many more who are there to have a good time, be with their friends, get a cool T-shirt and drink a beer afterwards. These people are the ones who might actually stop along the way and throw themselves down the slip and slide on someone’s front yard. Or do a belly dance along with the live drummers. Or sing, dance and skip as they make their way along the streets of Boulder. It’s crazy, it’s memorable, it’s a scene.
But along with having fun, I have some personal pride. Whenever I sign up for any kind of race, I don’t want to be embarrassed. I don’t want to finish in the last group. I don’t want to have to stop running and have to walk the last kilometer. I don’t know if this is point of strength or weakness, but one thing I’m sure of is that I’m not alone. So, I signed up to run in this year’s BolderBoulder this weekend. And what that means is despite my strong inclination not to, I have started running again.
Twelve weeks of suffering and pain to go until the relief of crossing the finish line at Folsom Field puts me out of my misery….
