2017 Bronco's 7K

Last week I was feeling a little blue--the loss of my dad, no longer having the grandeur of Yellowstone out my front door, the feeling that a piece of me was missing.  You know what that means, don't you?  It's time to get out and do something physical.

It occurred to me that I was in town for the Broncos 7K.  It was too late to register online so I dragged Mary out at 6:00 a.m. to make the drive to Denver to see if we could do a same day registration.  We paid a premium for a late registration, but they had room for us.

This is a large race with about 6,000 participants so it starts in waves.  We all have to gather in our assigned corral to wait for our start.  Mary gets a little anxious in corrals.  They're crowded and people generally invade your personal space.  This is Mary breathing deeply with her eyes closed when people invaded her space.

I have to confess something.  It was taking so long for the waves to move forward that Mary and I exited our corral and moved up a few corrals so that we could start sooner.  I know, that's deplorable.

Sunday was one of the warmest days of the summers.  It was about 90 degrees at race time.  We Coloradans are wimps when it comes to heat.  90 degrees is too hot for us.  I was sure we were going to melt along the course.

They have some very clever Broncos themed mile markers along the way.  Quite honestly, I felt like this was the never ending race.  It was too hot and both Mary and I were not in race condition.

Some people go all out with the Broncos regalia.

Here we are about to got through the Bronco's tunnel onto the field.

Running across the 50-yard line to finish.  Yes, that is a stroller and wheelchair in front of us.  Some of those runners with stroller go fast and I really dislike it when they pass.  In the crowded portions of the course it can be quite dangerous.

Everyone got a finisher medal and to be honest, I hate this year's medal.  It's ridiculously large, but I'll gladly add it to my two other Broncos 7K medals.  Usually we hang around and drink a beer or two after the race, but there was nowhere to get out of the sun.  The beer wasn't free this year and they did not supply any food at the end of the race.  We grabbed our complimentary bottle of water and made our way back to the car.

So I came in 4,935the place overall.  350th in my age group.  Not too bad--about 1,100 people finished after me overall, and about 150 ladies in my age group were behind me.

Can't wait until next year!