By Kyla Pearce for the Denver Gazette
Ashli Jerado teared up as she crossed the finish line of a soggy BOLDERBoulder 10K race on Memorial Day Monday, remembering her friend Oscar who was killed in the line of duty at Little Creek, where the two of them were stationed together.
Jerado, who is stationed in Virginia, ran the race for Oscar, who she said would probably jokingly tell her to run faster if he were there — but encourage her to keep pushing and support her the entire way.
“Today’s Memorial Day, so it just felt really good to be able to run for a reason today,” she said. “At the finish line, I was thinking about him and got a little emotional.”
Jerado was one of more than 50,000 people from all 50 states and 11 countries who ran Monday morning’s BOLDERBoulder, which starts at the intersection of Walnut and 30th Streets and meanders about six miles, or 10 kilometers, through the city. Participants end in University of Colorado Boulder’s Folsom Field, crossing the finish line to a stadium of cheers.
On Monday, runners dressed in everything from standard running clothes to full costume splashed through Boulder’s foggy streets, shoes soggy down to the socks and spirits high despite the gloomy weather.
On the sidelines, race supporters and onlookers cheered for participants in colorful tutus and glittered faces. Mario and Luigi ran side-by-side. Following closely behind, a group of bananas. Elvis trailed, crossing the finish line with a punch to the air. Joined to one another with collapsible tubes, four girls crossed the finish line as a caterpillar.
After the last of the citizen runners and walkers trickled into Folsom Field, professional athletes raced to the finish line, with three-time winner Connor Mantz from the U.S. team taking the men’s lead by less than one second over his Kenya competitor Daniel Simiu Ebenyo.