A Broncos Kind of Day

Yesterday was my new favorite race of the year--Broncos 7K.  Last year a group of us did this run together and it was quite a fiasco.  Seven thousand people showed up and it was chaos.  They sent out surveys afterwards and asked for feedback.  I'm glad to say they listened and this year it was as fantastic of an experience as a Rock and Roll race.  However, this year there were two thousand less people so obviously a lot of people were not willing to give them a second chance to fix their mistakes.

This year I was solo so I got up early and left the house at 5:30 to get up there in time to pick up my packet.

 

One really cool thing about this race is that they do personalized bibs if you pre-register in time.

 

No race is complete without a group picture and since I was a group of one, a selfie did the job.

 

This year there were corrals based on your expected finish time.  I checked my corral assignment at the beginning of the week so that's the corral I put myself into.  Then as we're moving forward after the race began I heard an announcement that your corral assignment was on the bib.  I looked at my bib and discovered I should have been in corral K instead of M.  Oh well, I could have started two waves sooner, but I wasn't going to try to move forward at this point.

 

A lot of people get really decked out in their Broncos gear.

 

After 42 minutes my corral finally made it to the start line.  The Broncos cheerleaders were there to send us on our way.

 

This race has a really nice course.  There is some uphill for the first mile or so and then it levels out.  It runs through the neighborhood around Mile High Stadium which is lovely with big trees, beautiful homes, and a lake.  If I were ever to move to Denver I would definitely be interested in living in this area.

 

So I was pretty proud of myself because I actually caught up with the wave that started before mine.  I passed a lot of people.  I always find myself a target--someone to catch up with and pass, then I find another one.  It keeps me motivated when I have a goal.  I didn't feel good for very long though because the strollers started  passing me.  They had to start in the last wave which means they were flying through the course.  I'm sure that next year Adam and Georgie will pass me too.

The last mile is downhill right into the stadium parking lot.  My last mile was three minutes faster than any other mile because when you can visualize the finish line it's easy to get that last minute burst of energy.

Last year we ran around the stadium and in through the south tunnel.  This year we ran in through the north tunnel, straight down the center of the field to the finish line on the 50-yard line.  Then you had to keep going straight out the south tunnel and into the beer garden.  Quite a pleasant change from last year.

 

Here's a little video from my finish.  It is really cool to run onto that field and see your image on that big screen.  That field isn't nearly as big in person, it seemed like that run from end to end only took a few seconds.  I was in the stadium and then I was out before I knew it.

 

Last year there was no water or anything else at the finish line.  They were overwhelmed by the crowd.  This year they handed everything to you as you entered the beer garden.

So I got my free beer and sat down on the ground to enjoy it.  I don't know why, but a beer is a great way to recover even if it was only 10:00 in the morning.  After a few minutes the group sitting next to me starting yelling frantically for help.  One of the guys was apparently having a heart attack.  It took forever for the EMTs to arrive and once the got there they jumped into action.  It was at this point that I made my exit.   If I were in medical distress in a public place I hope others would respect my privacy.  I said a little prayer for him then made my way to the car for the long drive home.

My back has been in really bad shape the last week or so.  There were times that I considered not participating in this race, but I'm really glad I did.  My time was decent--10 minutes less than last year.

A great day with fellow Bronco fans!  See you next year!