Boulderthon '22 Race Recap

The Good

Two weeks before the 2022 Boulderthon, I could not put a running shoe on. I am grateful that I was able to put in some consistent running the week leading into Boulderthon and then finish the marathon on October 9, 2022 surrounded by friends.

The Boulderthon course is spectacular. The majestic Flatirons are ever-present on the course. The foliage is bright yellow and red. Along the course are farms, ranches, mountain vistas, antique barns, mansions, and a downtown Boulder finish on the Pearl St. Mall. This was the second running of the Boulderthon and it really felt like the city of Boulder was out in force to celebrate the day.

The course is also incredibly challenging. Strava says that I gained 1,148 feet during the race so to say the course is a little hilly is an understatement. On top of that, since it is Boulder the entire race is a mile above sea level. There is very little shade throughout the course and the Colorado sun is absolutely relentless.

I went into the race not really knowing if I'd be able to finish. I also did not intend to race the marathon but rather pace a close friend and teacher. This was uncharted territory for me so of course I could not sleep at all the night leading into the race.

Marathons are so much about the mindset you have going into them and I was looking to maximize enjoyment and focus on gratitude, rather than compete for time. The race vibes were awesome. It was great to see so many runners pushing themselves on this challenging course. I cheered a lot and made sure to thank all the crossing guards, water station volunteers, and cheerers that I could.

The Ugly

The race itself was a disorganized mess and I definitely will not race this marathon or recommend it to other runners. I am always anxious going into a marathon. Had I been racing the race day snafus and poor planning on the part of the organizers would have absolutely infuriated me and ruined my experience. Marathon racing is hard enough without the awful race organization that characterized my experience at the '22 Boulderthon.

For the second year in a row I decided to purchase the VIP registration, which admittedly felt both indulgent and a little scammy. Here's the thing, marathons are hard and I'm willing to spend another $60 to reduce the surrounding inconveniences. The VIP price promised better packet pickup, pre-race breakfast and coffee, a special waiting area at the start, no wait toilets at the start, a finish line beer, a finish line massage, and special parking. I felt the VIP package delivered on its promise last year, so again, this year I had very little hesitation when I registered.

The packet pickup did not have a special line for VIP runners, but I thought nothing of it. I was still too excited and nervous about the run.

The parking was probably the only piece of the package that actually proved to be worthwhile. Parking in downtown Boulder probably would run at least $30, so getting a spot at the high school where the shuttles depart for the start was very convenient. That said, no one checked that I had a VIP registration and it could have been that I just showed up early enough that there were still spots available in the lot (5:45 am).

The shuttle to the start was an unmitigated disaster. What should have been a 20-30 minute drive stretched to an hour long crawl through north Boulder backroads. There seemed to have been some unexpected road closures and the driver was given no directions or instructions. There was no central dispatch who could assist the bus driver. A cop gave some unintelligible string of multistep directions that was unclear to me, and our driver was not a native English speaker. I knew we were in trouble when the guy visiting from England in the front row pulled out his phone to help navigate. The organizers should have had supplied precise directions for the drivers. If there were unexpected road closures, the drivers should have been radioed with updated instructions.

Upon reaching the start area, I made my way to the VIP start area for the promised no wait bathrooms and breakfast. Of course there was a wait for the two porta-potties. There were two porta-potties this year, but I remember at least three in last years VIP area. The breakfast was mostly gone by the time I arrived. From what I could tell it consisted of a tray of soggy looking pieces of wheat bread with peanut butter and browned banana slices - pretty gross looking considering there were no utensils and the sink-less porta-potties were just a few feet away. I was able to snag a banana and then departed the over-crowded VIP waiting area.

The next fiasco came at corral loading time. The corral signs were on the far side of the barriers so as the corrals filled up they became obstructed by runners. Further more there were very few (I only saw one) entrances into the starting corrals. All races of this size should have porta-potties lining the corrals, clear signage, and they should be loaded well before start time.

The race was supposed to start at 8 am. They were still doing the national anthem at that time. They also had a waved start, which was shoddily organized, but necessary to avoid a stampede. It consisted of someone at the start line saying, ready, set go! and then letting a few hundred runners go and then repeating the process. In well organized races, racers are assigned waves with specified start times. This can ease start area congestion, which was a huge problem at the 2022 Boulderthon. I finally crossed the starting line at 8:24 am. I knew that this delay doomed me to a significantly warmer race.

The next issue was the infrequency of aid stations. It is always important to take in calories and drink plenty of fluids during a marathon, but given the late start and heat, this was especially true of this year's Boulderthon. Unfortunately the hydration stations were often 2 or even 3 miles apart. Last year I brought a hand held bottle so I don't think I noticed this as much, but this year I relied completely on the support for hydration. I found my self stopping at most stations and downing two and sometimes even four cups of fluids. On the plus side many stations had Skratch chews which, in the orange variety, are delicious. If I do this run again, I'll likely bring a handheld or even a hydration pack.

Another problem was the lack of mile markers late in the race. I know for sure that there was no mile 24 marker and it's easy for one's mind to lose track of progress that deep in a marathon. I found myself doing mental math based on the half marathon mile markers that lined the final miles.

I'm going to give the race organizers the benefit of the doubt with respect to my experience in the finish area because, admittedly, I finished towards the end of the race. The VIP finishing tent was devoid of food and I was counting on that as my post race nourishment. The beer I was promised was unavailable because I did not run with my ID card (I guess that is reasonable and might have been communicated ahead of time - I can't recall).

I've run larger and smaller marathons than the Boulderthon, but none were as disorganized. None showed less forethought, planning, and consideration for the experience of runners.

While I can see myself doing the Boulderthon in the future, I would only do it like I did this year - as a long training run with dear friends. Racing this marathon would be out of the question. The organizers showed no ability to support a race of this scale and when going for time and really pushing myself, I would have had no patience for the many aggravations.

Here's the letter I shared with the organizers after the run.

Hey Allie,

I hope you are well and I wanted to thank you for organizing a beautiful race yesterday. I also wanted to share some feedback about where I think the race fell short of my experience at the first Boulderthon. I can only imagine how hard it is to organize a race, so I do not intend this to be mean-spirited. I just want to share an honest take from a committed runner who also ran last year's Boulderthon.

1. The shuttle I was on got horribly lost. I left the Boulder HS parking lot at roughly 5:50 am. I arrived at the start at 6:50 am. The bus driver was redirected by a police officer at a road closure and got completely lost. A few of the race participants had to provide directions to the driver who had no idea where to go. It was really stressful and could have been mitigated with better communication and instructions to the driver.

2. The VIP start area was over crowded. The VIP package promised no wait porto lines and breakfast. The portos definitely had lines. Also I think there were fewer portos this year than last and far more VIP runners. I'm not sure why that wasn't accounted for in the planning process. The breakfast was disgusting. When I arrived there were soggy wheat bread slices with peanut butter and banana slices. There were no utensils and we were steps away from the heavily trafficked portos. I was able to snag a banana, which was all I really needed, but this was a far cry from last year's appetizing spread.

3. The corrals were a complete mess. It was impossible to get into the corrals. The signage was obstructed by runners. I've seen many marathons with portos in the corarls, which I think could be a good way to improve next year. I waited outside the corrals for about 10 minutes after the initial start before being able to get into the corral. I recommend loading the corrals earlier, but that of course requires that shuttles operate more reliably.

4. The waved start was poorly organized. I understand we needed a waved start for safety, but why we started the marathon and half marathon at the same time is beyond me. This increased start area congestion - a major problem this year. Also, in other marathons I've run with waved starts, people are assigned actual starting times and the corrals are loaded in waves. The waves could have been used to mitigate pre race congestion, but instead they just added another inconvenience.

5. The start was delayed. I assume / hope the start was delayed to make sure runners had extra time given the horrendous bussing situation. But the national anthem didn't start until 8am. I did not cross the start until 8:24 am. These times could have been prescribed and communicated ahead of time and then would not have been an issue. But, I was expecting to start about 20 minutes earlier.

6. The course could have been improved with more frequent hydration stations. With the sun and heat, hydrating is so important and waiting 2 and sometimes 3 miles for a hydration station is way too long.

7. Towards the end of the race I think there were missing mile markers. I know I did not see mile 24 signage which confused me late in the race.

8. I was told by friends that the runner tracking system did not work.

9. The VIP finish area had no food when I arrived. I'll give you all the benefit of the doubt here because I finished late, and I'll assume at one point there was food. But still, a disappointment compared to my experience last year.

10. The beer area was congested and I didn't realize I needed to have my photo id. I'm not sure if that requirement was communicated.

I look at my VIP registration basically as an overpriced parking fee. And no one even checked my bib when I got to the Boulder High School parking lot. It could have been that I just got there early enough that there were spaces available.

I may run the Boulderthon again in the future - the course is beautiful. This year I luckily treated it as a long training run so the pressure of beating a specific time was not present. But given the disorganization, I'd never race it and I'd never recommend racing it to a friend. Racing a marathon is too high stakes and the disorganization would have ruined that experience. If I use this as a supported training run next year I likely will not get the VIP package and just pay $30 for downtown Boulder parking instead.

Thanks,

Jesse Spevack

Update

The race director responded very nicely to my email:

Hi Jesse,

First of all, thank you for writing in with your support and your feedback - I really appreciate it. We definitely take it as constructive and not in any other way.
I wanted to take the time to respond to each of your points:
1. The shuttle I was on got horribly lost. I left the Boulder HS parking lot at roughly 5:50 am. I arrived at the start at 6:50 am. The bus driver was redirected by a police officer at a road closure and got completely lost. A few of the race participants had to provide directions to the driver who had no idea where to go. It was really stressful and could have been mitigated with better communication and instructions to the driver.We are unfortunately well-aware of this and it created a number of issues down the line, as you point out. We will be addressing this with the shuttle/limo companies we hired.
2. The VIP start area was over crowded. The VIP package promised no wait porto lines and breakfast. The portos definitely had lines. Also I think there were fewer portos this year than last and far more VIP runners. I'm not sure why that wasn't accounted for in the planning process. The breakfast was disgusting. When I arrived there were soggy wheat bread slices with peanut butter and banana slices. There were no utensils and we were steps away from the heavily trafficked portos. I was able to snag a banana, which was all I really needed, but this was a far cry from last year's appetizing spread.Agreed. We will be increasing the # of toilets for VIPs from 2 to 6 next year. We marketed No Wait toilets at the Start, and did not come through on this. As for the breakfast, we did use a different bread this year for the toast, and I am sorry that didn't hold up and wit as soggy. Very good to know for next year as we plan the menu. Do you recall which parts of last year's spread you liked the most?

3. The corrals were a complete mess. It was impossible to get into the corrals. The signage was obstructed by runners. I've seen many marathons with portos in the corarls, which I think could be a good way to improve next year. I waited outside the corrals for about 10 minutes after the initial start before being able to get into the corral. I recommend loading the corrals earlier, but that of course requires that shuttles operate more reliably.
Agreed on having the corral signage standing tall so everyone can see it - that was an operational oversight and not what was planned - and a good idea on the portos if possible.
4. The waved start was poorly organized. I understand we needed a waved start for safety, but why we started the marathon and half marathon at the same time is beyond me. This increased start area congestion - a major problem this year. Also, in other marathons I've run with waved starts, people are assigned actual starting times and the corrals are loaded in waves. The waves could have been used to mitigate pre race congestion, but instead they just added another inconvenience. We are likely going to go back to the earlier Marathon start to avoid the congestion. I agree with you.

5. The start was delayed. I assume / hope the start was delayed to make sure runners had extra time given the horrendous bussing situation. But the national anthem didn't start until 8am. I did not cross the start until 8:24 am. These times could have been prescribed and communicated ahead of time and then would not have been an issue. But, I was expecting to start about 20 minutes earlier.Agreed, it was a bit of a domino effect with the buses and was hard to recover from that.

6. The course could have been improved with more frequent hydration stations. With the sun and heat, hydrating is so important and waiting 2 and sometimes 3 miles for a hydration station is way too long.
Good feedback, thank you - I will take that to the team.
7. Towards the end of the race I think there were missing mile markers. I know I did not see mile 24 signage which confused me late in the race.
Yes, there were. We have addressed this with Ops.
8. I was told by friends that the runner tracking system did not work.
It took about an hour for it to start working for everyone, which is completely unacceptable. Some folks said they tracked their runners the whole time with no issue. Regardless, that's unacceptable and of course must be 100% reliable and consistent. We are already looking into other timing/tracking companies, as this reflected poorly on us. I think having good tracking is essential to any great marathon.
9. The VIP finish area had no food when I arrived. I'll give you all the benefit of the doubt here because I finished late, and I'll assume at one point there was food. But still, a disappointment compared to my experience last year.
Thank you for letting us know about this. Do you recall what time you arrived?
10. The beer area was congested and I didn't realize I needed to have my photo id. I'm not sure if that requirement was communicated. Noted. I don't think that was communicated and should have been.

I look at my VIP registration basically as an overpriced parking fee. And no one even checked my bib when I got to the Boulder High School parking lot. It could have been that I just got there early enough that there were spaces available. I know our staff was checking for VIP bibs so I am not sure why they didn't with you. Thank you for letting me know.

I may run the Boulderthon again in the future - the course is beautiful. This year I luckily treated it as a long training run so the pressure of beating a specific time was not present. But given the disorganization, I'd never race it and I'd never recommend racing it to a friend. Racing a marathon is too high stakes and the disorganization would have ruined that experience. If I use this as a supported training run next year I likely will not get the VIP package and just pay $30 for downtown Boulder parking instead.
Understood. I am sorry that it wasn't a VIP experience for you and we disappointed. I know you are not writing to us to get a discount or refund, but to provide feedback that would be helpful. Regardless, I don't feel comfortable that you paid for a VIP experience and then had the experience that you had.
Alli, can you please refund Jesse the extra he paid for VIP?
As the Race Director, I take full responsibility for the staff, our subcontractors, and the overall experience, and I am truly sorry for your experience.
Please do know that I do take all your feedback seriously and will be addressing it with our team for 2023. Thank you again for taking the time to provide this thorough feedback - it means a lot to me and goes a long way in improving Boulderthon for future years.
Best,PCD