Whenever you move somewhere you tell all of your friends to
visit. They never do. Until one day one of them did. Adam Goode, one of my
running friends from Maine (and the Cabot Trail Relay) said he was coming by in
November. I was excited not just because someone was coming to visit, but because I had a chance to show
off this running Mecca to someone who would appreciate it.
For our first run I wanted to do a tour of Boulder. I wanted
to get in a climb on the trails, a view, part of the bike paths and maybe a brew (okay, definitely
a brew). Since Adam is a stronger runner than me a sea-level, I figured he
could handle a bit of a climb so we first did a partial climb of Flagstaff
Mountain to Realization Point. After a nice climb to get the blood flowing, we
were rewarded with great views of Boulder. I gave him an overview of the town before we descended to Eben G. Fine Park.
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| Adam at Realization Point on Flagstaff Mountain |
I had not seen Eben G. Fine and the upper portion of Boulder
Creek since the flood and the damage was amazing. Adam and I were both seeing
this for the first time – even though I have run this section many times. I
wanted to show Adam the Boulder Creek Path to show off the Boulder’s bike path
system. We made a mandatory diversion
from the Boulder Creek Path to get a photo at the Frank Shorter Statue.
I decided to end that day’s run at Avery Brewing. Avery has
always been a great supporter of the running community in Boulder. Adam Avery himself
often wins his age group in the local race scene. Alita graciously agreed to
pick us up to keep the run at 11 miles.
The next day I took Adam on one of my favorite easy runs –
the Greenbriar / South Campus Loop. This is a great run at this time of year
because you can almost always have great views when the sunrise lights up the
flatirons. This morning we got a special treat as the full moon set behind the
Bear Mountain just as it was in full sunrise red.
Finally, I got to introduce Adam to the Boulder running
community. We did an out-and-back tempo run on the newly re-opened Mesa Trail
with the Boulder Track Club’s Mountain and Ultra Trail Team. We got a
stroke of good luck when the Boulder Trail Runners joined us for a solid crew
of 13 runners. Adam graciously hung back with me and took in the views. We were also treated to one of the best sunrises of the year.
If anyone else want to come see me in Boulder - bring your running shoes and I'll show you a good time.
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