It was a perfect sun-splashed day to run, walk or a little of both. Temperatures were in the upper 60s and low 70s during the citizens A through Z morning stages, with not a cloud above Folsom Field. The weather was as pleasant as the collective mood of the finishers, including the following who shared their stories about what brought them to Boulder to participate in the annual Memorial Day celebration:
All about heart
Five months after undergoing open-heart surgery in Cleveland, Denver resident Bob Alexander raced for heart awareness and the upcoming New York Marathon. The 54-year-old wore a personalized T-shirt Monday to emphasize the importance of undergoing an echocardiogram.
“I shouldn’t be here,” Alexander said. “(In October) my wife pushed me to get a physical, and I learned I had an undetected genetic heart defect.”
Alexander said he’s been running for 31 years, including marathons and triathlons. He feels fortunate to be able to continue to compete after knowing his heart problem could have turned deadly.
Fighting obesity
Cheryl Saipe, a pediatrician and director of the Get Fit Clinic — an obesity-fighting project under The Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics umbrella — ran the race with her daughter, Michelle Saipe, 17. It was Cheryl’s sixth Bolder Boulder and Michelle’s second.
“I used to do it before I had kids and then took a 20-year hiatus,” Cheryl said. “It’s just so much fun. It helps you get in shape, but it’s just so much fun to be out here with all these people and fans cheering you on. . . . All these things get you motivated to just come out and do it.”
Personal pace
Mia Sundstrom, 10, looked a little lost at the finish line after completing her fifth Bolder Boulder. She ran the race by herself and was looking for a section number to find her family when she gladly accepted a reporter’s interview request.
“I started with somebody but then I went ahead,” she said, noting that that “somebody” was a 10-year-old classmate. “I knew I was going to run and then meet them in the stands. I almost ran the whole time. I ran the last three miles. In the first three I ran and walked.”
Staying the course
Tamra Cullwell of Highlands Ranch is nearing her first anniversary of becoming a runner. On July 4 last year, she took up the sport, and Monday was her first Bolder Boulder.
“I’m here with the Highlands Ranch Running Club,” said Cullwell, 45. “I was slower than I wanted, but I made it and I ran the whole way — I did not walk.
“This is way fun. It reminds me of the Susan Komen 5K, because of all the supporters. Thank God there were people out there squirting water. I would have never made it without the people with hoses.”
Prepping for the altar
In anticipation for her October wedding, 27-year-old Vermont native Elizabeth Henry-Hooker ran with a wedding gown alongside bridesmaids-to-be Mara Stewart, 33, and sister Siobhan Henry-Hooker, 31. The bridesmaids also wore gowns.
“We went to Goodwill and Savers and found gowns and had a craft night (Sunday),” Siobhan said. “Lots of safety pins.”
No stopping him
Despite paralysis on the left side of his body, Denver’s Jay Jones, 57, completed his fifth Bolder Boulder with the help of a cane. He lost the use of his left leg in a 1974 car accident.
“I’m a cripple, I hobble along as best as I can,” he said with a smile. “It’s just fun. I don’t know (how I did). . . . I’m just here for the food!”
Injured runner
Zach Fornelius, 8, ran his first Bolder Boulder with a bandaged wrist, an injury suffered while riding his wheelie shoes outside his home in Castle Pines.
Zach completed the race with regular running shoes.
“We walked a little bit,” he said while standing alongside his mother, Michelle Bush. “It was fun.”
Lifted spirits
Boulder resident Dick Gardner, 82, estimated that he has entered 27 Bolder Boulders, and said it never gets old.
“It’s a happening. You go out there and it just lifts your spirits, being there on the course,” he said.
Gardner took it easy Monday.
“I have a very bad hip and going to get it replaced here shortly — again — so I had to walk,” he said.
Buddy time
Denver resident Kelsey Beytien, 28, ran in her second Bolder Boulder, and first with boyfriend Rec Vertuca.
“It’s awesome having a running buddy,” Beytien said.
“It’s just a great race, good weather, a lot of fun,” she added. “Tons of awesome people out running, and it’s so cool to see out-of-shape people and older people run, and if they can do it there’s really no excuse to not run at least part of this.”
Family walk twice as nice
Boulder couple Alan and Theresa Lembitz are experienced runners. Now they’re experienced walkers with toddlers. The couple walked the course with their 7-month-old twins, son A.J. and daughter Pearce, strapped to their stomachs.
“We wanted to start them in a running tradition,” said Theresa, 46.
“It was a good time, not too hot today,” Alan, 50, said.
A.J. was awake and interactive at the finish line. Pearce appeared to be worn out, sound asleep.
“We were surprised at all the people watching the twins,” Theresa said.
Dedicated sister act
Veronica Johns-Richardson, a former CU women’s basketball player (2001-05) from Fullerton, Calif., and a current Boulder elementary school teacher, ran her seventh Bolder Boulder in nine years. She was introducing the event to her sister, Valoria Jones, who recently completed her graduate degree at the University of Southern California.
Valoria used to travel to Boulder to watch her older sister play hoops for the Lady Buffs. This time, she visited to run alongside Veronica, who in 2001 was the prized recruit for former women’s coach Ceal Barry.
“I’m loving the weather,” Valoria said.
“We ran well,” Veronica added.
