After a two-year hiatus of a marathon in Boulder, the Boulder Backroads Marathon made a momentous return and revival with a successful event held at the Boulder Reservoir this past Saturday. Runners were treated to a similar experience as races prior, with a double-loop, spectator-friendly course that’s not quite as hilly as the original. The festive mood and runner-centered approach remained. The race expo included some favorite local and national brands; the post-race party was headlined by Avery Brewing Company and included food from Niwot Market, Savory Cuisines and more.
New event host, Flatirons Running Events, successfully captured the atmosphere of the former race and brought it back to life with flying colors.
You guys did such a nice job with the race today – I had a fantastic time, aid stations were perfect (the enthusiasts at mile 10 were beyond precious and got me going to the end), the route glorious. I felt blessed to be able to run that race and will recruit everyone I know to do it with me next year. I had a special thrill being lapped by the winner on both mens and ladies side…WOW! Some people are amazingly speedy. Thank you!
-Race participant
Speaking of speedy runners, there were quite a few of them on course. The men’s marathon saw Boulder’s own Mario Macias take the win in a blistering time of 2:28:28. Leadville’s Corre Wolfering took second in 2:45:04, with 50-year old Johannes Rudolph finishing third in 2:52:05.
Quite possibly the performance of the day goes out to women’s marathon winner Mizuho Nasukawa of Boulder, who not only took the win for the ladies in 2:47:38, but also finished third overall. Coming in second for the women was Kristin Grab of Westminster in 3:38:20. Denver’s Katrina Bevan rounded out the top three in 3:49:56.
The men’s half marathon saw the top two podium spots go to non-U.S. runners. Kevin Kochei of Iten grabbed the win in 1:08:58, with Kyoto’s Shouhei Tomita coming in second in 1:10:37. Hot on his heals was third place finisher, Michael Kettler of Boulder in 1:10:55.
In the women’s half marathon, young runner Azusa Sumi (19 year old) crossed the line first in 1:15:09. Kayoko Fukushi, another runner from Kyoto, finished second in 1:18:35, with Boulder’s Kaoru Nagao rounding out the podium in 1:19:54.