BolderBoulder reimagined for 2021
By Shaun Kernahan; courtesy photos
Lindsey crosses the finish line of the BolderBoulder at the University of Colorado’s Folsom Field.
A Memorial Day weekend staple in the state of Colorado since 1979, BolderBoulder began with around 2,700 participants. By 2004, it had become the world’s largest timed 10K with more than 47,450 participants – and has grown ever since. This year, as a result of the ongoing pandemic, the event won’t follow the traditional route through the streets of Boulder, but instead will have six different locations across the Front Range that will allow runners to participate in smaller groups.
The Greenland Open Space Trail, located south of Castle Pines in Larkspur, will be host to one of the smaller BolderBoulder events. There are also trails in Erie, Firestone, Loveland, Littleton, and the Interlocken Business Park in Broomfield.
Castle Pines residents Lindsey and Mark Gerstner will be running in the event again this year, as they love all the BolderBoulder events. Although Lindsey is partial to the COLDERBoulder 5K event, typically run in December. She said, “I like to run when it’s cold.”
Lindsey’s goal is to break an hour this year as part of a steppingstone to compete in the Colfax Marathon in October, which serves as a qualifier for her ultimate goal of running the Boston Marathon.
Lindsey and Mark take a selfie among the crowd of the BolderBoulder in 2019.
In 2009 Lindsey and Mark got married at Cielo at Castle Pines but moved to Nashville soon after for Mark’s work. When they moved back to Colorado a couple of years later, they were naturally drawn back to the area. It had good history for them along with proximity to the outdoors and nature.
Lindsey ran her first BolderBoulder in 2016. She used the race as a target goal to get back running after having a son, their middle child, a couple of years earlier. Mark has since joined Lindsey in the events and now they run them together. Mark recently went out for a 6-mile run and was feeling so good that he decided to push it and complete his first half marathon distanced run.
Their oldest daughter (9) has no interest in running, but their son (7) has been getting into it lately. Time will tell if their youngest (4) will pick up running as well.
