How did Bolder Boulder co-founder Steve Bosley come up with such a catchy name for the race?
It perfectly captures the spirit of the event and the community it calls home. It lends itself to clever T-shirt catch-phrases and spin-off titles, such as the one the race officials use for the 61 people who have run every race since its inception in 1979: Bolder Boulder’s Boldest.
Actually, it didn’t take a lot of brainstorming. It was just sitting there waiting for the right application.
Bosley was the president of the Bank of Boulder in those days, and he worked closely to promote the bank with Jim Adler of Genesis Inc., a Denver marketing firm. One of the slogans they used to publicize a new bank service, Bosley said, was “The Bolder Bankers Do It Again.” Another phrase that came to them was Bolder Boulder.
“We would sit and brainstorm, turning phrases in different ways,” Bosley said. “This came up and we said, ‘How do we use that?’ I can remember him saying, ‘We’ll use that somewhere, at the right time, at the right place.’ “
The time came when Bosley decided to put on a on Memorial Day weekend.
“He (Adler) said, ‘We’ve got to come up with a name,’ and he said, ‘Bolder Boulder,’ because we were ready to use it,” Bosley said. “It was sitting on a shelf, waiting to be pulled off and put into play. We just didn’t know when and where and how.
“It was perfect.”
