Running at altitude

Rebecca Robinson and Claire Hallisey Team UK

The trip was setup by Phil O'Dell who had previously taken GB teams to the Bolder Boulder 10k on behalf of UKA.  Phil got in touch with the race organisers this year with the proposal of taking an unofficial UK team and they were keen for us to attend.  I obviously jumped at the opportunity as did the rest of the team. This is the second biggest race in America with 53,000 runners this year and sits behind only the New York marathon in popularity, but more on the race later.

Boulder is situated in the Rocky Mountains at an altitude of 5600 feet.  Anyone who has ever run at altitude will appreciate just how much harder things are at that height.  The lower air pressure means less oxygen is able to reach your muscles and as a result you find yourself gasping much earlier than you would at sea level, especially on the slightest of inclines.  However, science shows that the body compensates by increasing red blood cell production which means things get a little easier as you adapt and also leads to improvements in performance at sea level.

I have long known Boulder to be a runner's paradise and it is no coincidence that many of the world's elite runners choose to base themselves there, many of whom stay there permanently upon their retirement from competitive athletics.  Not only is it incredibly beautiful with a whole series of mountains and trails on your doorstep but there is also a vibrant and friendly town where it is impossible to be bored.  This is what sets Boulder apart from almost any other altitude training location in the world.  You will never find a place better geared to running and everywhere you run people smile and wave and say hello which is a stark contrast from the 'run forest run' comments I get back in Hatfield!  There are more restaurants, bars and cafes than you could possibly hope for to get the vital post training replenishment and entertainment and they genuinely seemed to love the Brits out there.

Early on in our trip the race organiser invited us to a talk given by Steve Jones and Arturio Barrios both former world record holders for the marathon and 10,000m respectively.  After this talk we got chatting to Steve and he took us under his wing from that point on.  This is one of the legends of British running - in 1985 he ran 2:07:13 in the Chicago marathon, passing half way in 1:01.  This time still stands as the British record and is in no danger of being eclipsed any time soon.  Steve invited us to run a long run around the reservoir with the group he coaches.  The run started at a very leisurely pace but by the end we were really shifting which is pretty tough at that altitude!  Steve also cooked a barbecue for his training group and invited us all to that. Half way through Benita Willis (formerly Johnson) the 2004 world cross country champion arrived.  This was all getting pretty surreal as within the space of a few days we had met some of the best runners there have ever been and they were also some of the nicest most down to earth people you could ever wish to meet.  

The race came at the end of a 10 day block of training.  The elite race comes in the middle of the day after the mass race has finished.  This means there is a stadium packed with 50,000 spectators all waiting for us to finish and celebrate Memorial Day in spectacular fashion. 

After seeing the other runners in the very small elite field including the Kenyan and Ethiopian teams strutting their stuff, we decided to ask the race statistician how he had predicted we would perform - his confidence boosting response was 'not too good'.  To say we were a little worried about this and the prospect of running into the stadium in last place is a huge understatement and a certain member of the group who shall remain nameless described the race as "the punishment at the end of an amazing trip".   The gun went and the Ethiopians set off with a 4:18 first mile - an incredible pace at that altitude and already over 30 seconds ahead of us.  However, the crowds were going crazy for the UK team which was a big help and they were willing us on to beat the Japanese runners who were at a similar level to us.  The eruption of noise on entering the stadium was unbelievable and helped us all squeeze out every last bit of effort we had left.  Fortunately none of us were last and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience.   To top it all off we were interviewed live by both CNN and Fox news which was almost as daunting as running the race itself!

After a pretty eventful post race party it was time to pack our bags and head home but hopefully this will not be the last time we visit Boulder.  I would thoroughly recommend Boulder to runners and non runners alike - you will struggle to find a better place to give your running a boost and you cannot help but be inspired by the environment and the people who live there.