The Bolder Boulder Postpones May Race

Cliff Bosley hopes one day folks around Boulder recall the wild year in 2020 in somewhat nostalgic terms as the year the Bolder Boulder did not run on Memorial Day.

Until then, race organizers will deal with the stark reality of what is becoming the new norm in Boulder and across the country.

As expected on Monday morning, the 42nd annual Bolder Boulder, along with its many Memorial Day festivities, was postponed due to the ever-expanding fears regarding the spread of the new coronavirus.

Race organizers announced the delay of the annual Memorial Day 10K extravaganza. No makeup date was announced, though race organizers said they are exploring options to run the event in the fall.

“Difficult for a lot of reasons. Since 1979 I’ve not known anything other than the Bolder Boulder, and running the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day,” said Bosley, the Bolder Boulder race director. “I suppose that’s a nice way of saying there’s a lot of nostalgia and history steeped into Memorial Day and the race. The flip side to this, and it’s the way we’re looking at it, is it’s the first time ever we aren’t running on Memorial Day. Maybe just in 2020 we’ll have it somewhere down the road.”

Those who already have registered will have those registrations honored for the new date in the fall. If registrants cannot participate in whatever new date is announced, the Bolder Boulder allows registrations to be rolled into another year for a $20 fee. Bosley said at this point there have been no discussions about waiving that fee, though that could change in the coming weeks and months, particularly if the race is scuttled altogether.

The Bolder Boulder has been held annually since 1979, and since 2002 the event has featured at least 45,000 participants every year. That figure does not include the thousands of spectators who routinely line the course throughout Boulder, as well as those in Folsom Field. The CU football stadium is the site of the finish line as well as the gathering point for the event’s many Memorial Day festivities.

posted Wednesday March 18th
by Pat Rooney