#52 Boston - A Masterpiece of Organization - June 2 2007

This week, for your reading pleasure - a report from the Bolder Boulder (http://www.bolderboulder.com/) on Memorial Day 2007 – a high altitude -5300 foot- 10 K race. 50,000 people are running, jogging and walking through the streets of Boulder. This race is so perfectly organized, not a single bottleneck, not one. A masterpiece of organization, truly.

Signing up in downtown Boulder’s jam-packed Pearl Street Mall, wall to wall people, enjoying themselves, ready to face the challenge. Race t-shirts, front says Live to Run, back says Run to Live.

Not sleeping much the night before – possible reason – not pre-race jitters but two pieces of home-made rhubarb-strawberry pie with ice cream late at night - this does not help. Tossing and turning all night, not sleeping well at all. Nightmares of flying to San Francisco and missing the race altogether.

Rise and shine at 5:30, nervous and light headed, Rob (Susan’s husband) and I heading toward downtown Boulder. Parking the car, then we have to walk two miles to the starting line, joining the groups of dazed lemmings wandering through the streets of Boulder with one goal in mind. I am amazed by the level of logistical wonderment, runners and walkers are strictly organized in sections, starting with A, AA, AB, AC, AD, AE and moving all the way up to Z. 50,000 runners, walkers, joggers, all ready to go. A group of octogenarians mans hosts the water stops at the start, some of them sitting on chairs with a warm blanket wrapped around them as if ready for a Kaffeeklatsch, only the cake is missing.

The most impressive organizational detail are the FedEx trucks, start and finish are miles away from each other (6.2 to be exact) –your personal belongings are dropped off with one of the staffers at the truck stops and FedEx, doing what they do best, drive them to the University of Colorado stadium where the sweaty and exhausted runners can retrieve them. Just brilliant.

The first wave, A, starts at 7 AM. Then the organizational magic happens, so simple, so effective. Between every section are two staffers holding a rope across. It is the division between A and AA, between AA and AB, and so on. Once A takes off, the “ropers” move up with section AA to the starting line, and once they take off, AB moves up. All sections move up little by little, every section gets a specific time when they take off, and they all do take off on time. Every section gets their own start signal and a pep talk from the organizers – it is wonderful, the air is buzzing with excitement and at exactly 7:13:50 we are off through the streets of Boulder.

Running at high altitude is hard, not because I only had four hours of sleep, but the slightest hill sucks the air right out of you. I try to pace myself, but looking at my splits, I ran actually 1 minute faster the first mile than the other five. Mile 3 is worst, I am almost at marathon pace, this section did include an incline, not even close to other hills I have run up, but again, the altitude does it.

Boulder loves this race – everyone is out in their front yard, PA systems blast music, every other corner has a band playing, Elvis was there (that is where he goes when le leaves the building), families have buffet tables set up, except for the college students, who hold out beer for the thirsty runners (it is 7:30 AM!! Even too early for me). Garden hoses, so welcome (it is 70 degrees even at that early time), many many water stops, I use all of them. Miles 4 through six feel easier.

After 8K, the banners come more frequently, 8.1, 8.3, 8.7, 9.1 – very cool. We are hot, tired and we know that there is one short but painful hill ahead of us leading us into Folsom Stadium. You can see the stadium about 1 mile out, and you keep on running.

Finally the climb up the hill to the stadium, and after a second short incline, there it is - the triumphant entry into the stadium; tens of thousands of people welcome you. There is nothing like it, this is as close as you come to feeling like an Olympian, it is not just you and the finish line. What a wonderful feeling.

The masterpiece of organization continues – tags are being taken, you wander with the lemmings to the next stops, food, water, snack bags from Celestial Seasonings, the Colorado tea company, beer, American flags and finally you turn in your timing chips. You move to the stadium, become a cheerer-oner for all the other crazy folks running in this race, including the folks in costumes, the superheroes, the bunny suits. I am told that in previous years a favorite was the lawn chair brigade – a group of guys running with lawn chairs, and every so often they gave a little presentation on what can be done with lawn chairs. The crowds loved it. 2007 Kudos must go to the guy who walked the whole 6.2 miles “wheelbarrow” style on his hands.

The “Expo” awaits immediately outside the stadium (purchase of “Sea Level is for Sissies” t-shirt), but it is too packed to move, and we decide to hoof it out of there.

11 AM the professional women start their race in teams, Team Colorado, Team USA, Team Kenya, Ethiopia, Japan, Rumania – by that time Rob and I are at home watching the race on television from the comfort of home. We are fried; I am sleeping with my eyes open. Even a beer does not do the trick; I am beyond tired, headachy. Edna Kiragat from Kenya, a very soft-spoken woman with some tough legs with an impressive performance of 33 Minutes left all the other women in the dust, even though the Ethiopians place first in the team competition. The men are dominated by Moroccan Rioudane Harroufi who finishes it all out in less than 30 minutes. Impressively, the citizens’ race winners are so close to the professionals, 31 and 34 minutes respectively.

Greetings from Chicago, where I arrived Thursday on a very rainy day; but this was nothing new, as I had just returned from Colorado Tuesday night, actually make that Wednesday morning, waiting out a most impressive weather display. Tuesday morning prior to my leave, it was the loveliest weather in Boulder, and after dropping off Cara at school, Susan and I went for a killer breakfast at Lucille’s Cajun Café (http://www.luciles.com/flash/), a most exquisite breakfast place – located in what looks like a residential home with an enclosed front porch where I can just see myself on a nice and balmy day. It has scrumptious breakfasts, biscuits the size of car tires, and beignets to die for.

After a lovely walk in East Boulder (sun still shining at this point), Susan dropped me off for a couple of courtesy visits to two biotech companies I work with, and little by little the skies darkened. By the time lunch was done, we had to almost swim to the car, the water came down by the bucket-full. The ride in the SuperShuttle to Denver International Airport was most impressive – a sudden hailstorm the likes had of which I have never seen before. The landscape had turned white; it was as if it had snowed an inch or two; there was a loud crunching noise as the van drove across the sea of hail. Our driver –a transportation genius - got us to the airport 15 minutes early despite the deluge outside.

DIA with its tent structure has some amazing acoustics, and the raging thunderstorm provided quite a scary-sounding background as we made our way through security. We knew at that point that our plane would be late, and every time we looked on the information screen our departure time moved further and further away from the originally scheduled 3:35 PM. We switched gates several times (28, 47, no 43, no 47), but finally made it onto the plane. Meanwhile, back on the tarmac, the lightning started again, so we simply sat there for a while. During that “while” the pilots exceeded their maximum allowed work time, and had to leave the plane. 15 Minutes later the same thing happened to the crew, which meant WE had to leave the plane – somehow the FAA did not think they could not leave us there on our own. At that point Row 19 and 20 decided to go drinking (not that I had anything to do with that….), but thankfully United Airlines hustled and got us a new and very cheerful crew and pilot 40 minutes later. That sure made us very happy, and a plane full of bleary-eyed travelers arrived content but very late ( 1:30 AM) in Boston.

So I had one day to unpack, do laundry and re-pack and now I am in Chicago for the Annual Meeting for the American Society for Clinical Oncology – 30,000 of my closest friends. The weather did brighten today, and I was able to get in a jog alongside LSD (Lakeshore Drive) pre-conference this morning. I just arrived back at the hotel from a business dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world – Nacional 27 on West Huron – if you are ever in Chicago promise you will go there. Their cocktails are not too shabby either – my choice, a concoction of spicy ginger beer, limes and rum named something like “it was a dark and stormy night”, definitely was worth having two of, but now I must hit the hay. 6 AM will come swiftly and too soon, as usual.

Love,

Pet:)

#51 Boston - Hazed and Infused - May 27th 07

Hazed and Infused - That would be my favorite new beer - courtesy of the Corner Bar at the historic Boulderado Hotel (http://www.boulderado.com/?source=googleadname) in, yes you guessed right, Boulder, Colorado. A slightly hoppy concoction, unfiltered, very yummy, not quite as strong as an IPA, but definitely in the ballpark for a tasty experience. The Corner Bar, aptly located at a corner of Spruce and 13th Streets (http://www.boulderado.com/corner_bar), offers a quite lovely ambience, and on the way to the bathroom offers a spectacular glimpse of the Victorian architecture displayed in the Boulderado, a National Trust Historic Hotel. Of particular note is the stain glass ceiling, and more than one visitor is seen wandering dangerously directionless through the lobby with their eyes peeled upward.
Greetings from the Continental Divide! I arrived in the lovely town on Boulder, Colorado this Friday, and the Rocky Mountains welcomed with wonderful 70-degree weather, and, as expected, vividly spectacular scenery. The shuttle bus from Denver International Airport heads straight for the mountains; during the entire ride a panorama view of the Rockies leaves you staring with your mouth open. What an awe-inspiring sight it is!


I am here on a little mini vacation over the Memorial Day Holiday weekend to visit my friend and former California roommate Susan, who I had not seen in 11 years. Susan and her family - husband Rob, daughters Ellie and Cara, and Chesapeake Bay Retriever and resident canine Greta (as in Garbo) - live in the mountains above Boulder. At 7200 feet exactly, in the community of Sugarloaf in a lovely A-frame mountain home. The view from the house is just wonderful, it is nicely nestled into a mountain hillside and one can simply walk out the door for a hike of any length. Susan, Greta and I went for a hike yesterday through Roosevelt Forest and some of the trails neighboring the house, and it was stunning - the wildflowers are dazzling with an array of colors, wild roses, lupines, daisies - you name it. The landscape up here is high mountain tundra, so in between lodge pines, pinch pines and fir trees, you will be amazed to discovered desert yucca plants and cacti.














Boulder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder%2C_Colorado) itself is a town where I felt at home instantly. It has about 90,000 folks living here with a substantial amount of University of Colorado students thrown in - and strolling down the famous Pearl Street Mall, a pedestrian area with a charming layout, a myriad of great restaurants and an equally striking amount of neat stores and other opportunities to spend your money, it is apparent that this is a college town. Yesterday, the Pearl Street mall was a mob scene - two reasons - the Annual Boulder Creek Festival with rides, and booths loaded with unhealthy foods of all categories, which brought out the locals in full force, and the fact that on Memorial Day Monday 50,000 people will run a little road race also known as the Bolder Boulder (Motto - "Sea Level is for Sissies"), a 10 K through the streets of Boulder which leads runners to a the University of Colorado Stadium, where the slower runners such as myself will be welcomed by a stadium full of screaming people. (http://www.bolderboulder.com/default.aspx). This folks will be as close as I will ever get to the Olympics, or at least the feel of it. I got my number yesterday and this morning ran a little around the hillside - I figured if I don't collapse at 7200 feet, I might be OK doing a 10 K in Boulder at 5300 feet. I did quite well except for the uphills, where I felt as if someone was sucking the air out of my lungs with an industrial-size vacuum cleaner. The race starts tomorrow morning at 7 AM, and I am in section DC, everyone is staggered in waves, and they put you in by your previous times for 5Ks or 10 Ks. After everyone is done including the walkers, the professional runners hit the road and of course they are going to be at the finish line probably before I have stopped sweating.
Today we are heading for the mountains a bit, as you know Boulder is where the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountains we must see. Snow covered peaks are awaiting. Just like Moab in Utah, Boulder is a community where outdoors enthusiasts, college jocks and adventure seekers flock to by the thousands - rock climbing (in nearby Eldorado Springs -a Mecca for the vertically inclined), biking, high altitude mountaineering, white water rafting - this is paradise.
Just to add a little tidbit, Boulder is also the setting for literature, in particular our scary friend, Maine's own Stephen King, who lived in Boulder for a wee bit, and wrote "The Shining" here after visiting the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. (http://www.stanleyhotel.com/). Estes Park is located at 7500 feet, and as you know is the birthplace of the American credit union movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estes_Park). Back to Stephen King - his book "The Stand" takes place here, and so did the sitcom "Morck and Mindy"; the house you see on television is on Spruce Street right in downtown Boulder.

Back to Boston for a bit and New Hampshire - while this week has actually brought a glimpse of summer with the temperatures soaring up to 93 degrees F (34 degrees Celsius), the weekend before was mostly crappy. Not that this would keep me from heading up to New Hampshire for a little hiking - our destination this time was Eagle Cliff and Red Hill, located adjacent to beautiful Squam Lake. The lake is huge, stretching for 6700 acres (27.5 square kilometers), and has a gazillion little islands which make it very picturesque. Its Native American name was Keeseenunknipee ("goose lake in the highlands"), but it since has been renamed a few times, and eventually ended up being the exciting "Asquam" (Abenaki for "water). The lake is famous a bit, since the Henry Fonda film "On Golden Pond" was filmed here in the early 80s. (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Squam+Lake&gbv=2).



For some reason, good karma I guess, the rains stopped exactly for the two hours we scrambled up and down the hill, which was good, but for some other reason, bad karma I guess this time, the bugs came out, which meant that there really was no stopping. If you have ever eaten a bagel with tuna salad in three minutes, you know what I mean. It was either that or hold the bagel with one hand and furiously wave the other, and risk dropping the lunch to the delight of the mosquitoes. Eagle Cliff was great, a bit on the strenuous side, scrambling up Granite boulders and such, and I only got lost once. Once one is beyond the cliff, the hike gets considerably easier, and is quite a breeze up to Red Hill, where a nice, tall fire tower invites to great views, that is if there is one. This particular day, the clouds came in swiftly, and there was not that much of a view, but enjoyable nevertheless. Interestingly enough, with all the bad weather, by the time we got to Boston, the sun was out, and we were able to include an ice-cream stop in the day's activities.
And now, to the highlight of the week - this past Wednesday, our running group, Community Running, participated in an official 1-Mile US Track and Field Race at MIT - the first in our summer Grand Prix series, where our scheming coaches have come up with 8 races to complete over the course of the summer. 22 motivated runners did show for the 1-miler, and we did really good. I actually ran the mile in 7:42 minutes, which is the fastest I have ever run without being chased by a large animal with claws. Of course after crossing the finish line I felt as if I had lost my lungs somewhere on the last lap, and a bottle of oxygen would have been very welcome. We did not have any, but decided beer would do the trick and headed to the Crossroads Irish Pub on Beacon Street in Boston, and the Smithwick's made me feel better right away. What escaped me at that moment, but came clear later quite strikingly, was that I had to run back home after the beer-and-burger-fest, which I did, and let me just say to all of you, it is not something I can recommend whole-heartedly. Don't drink and run.
Friends, the mountains are calling, we are heading to the lovely mountain town of Nederland, Colorado for a little outdoors fun and a picnic. Here is a little blurb from Wikipedia on what happens up there (8200 ft) - "Nederland is also the site of the annual "Frozen Dead Guy Days", which occurs every year in early March. The festival commemorates a substandard attempt to practice cryonics on the grandfather of a deported resident using dry ice after several days of warm ischemia."
On that note, I am signing off - next week I will hail from Chicago, where the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology welcomes 30,000 cancer physicians and researchers, myself among them.
Enjoy the spring!
pet:)