Boulder Buzzes with Pre-race Excitement
A welcome sign in downtown Boulder greets athletes
Boulder is buzzing with excitement as athletes arrive from every continent for its first IRONMAN race. M-dot tattoos and finisher shirts are everywhere (yes, even more than usual) and the “Welcome Athletes” signs have gone up at all of the downtown restaurants. For those of us that have been to IRONMAN races all over the planet, having the IM world descend upon our town for the very first time brings with it a very special kind of anticipation. The finish line is right in front of Colorado Triathlete’s first offices on 13th Street (1999-2005) and the expo, check-in and T2 are just a few blocks south of that. Newton running, also on 13th Street, has a goofy shoe art piece on display in front of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art along the finish line chute, and the course direction markings are taped on the ground along the Boulder Creek Path where the marathon course will be.
But the biggest question overheard time and again at the expo this morning is: “Which pros are racing?” Well here is the pro starting field, which includes many Boulder pros. The most fascinating of the group is certainly Olympic-distance specialist Laura Bennett, who is doing her first iron-distance race ever. On the men’s side the clear favorite is Richie Cunningham, who represents Australia but has lived in Boulder for several years. Cunningham only has a single full distance IRONMAN (Arizona, 2009, 4th place) under his belt but has a whopping ten 70.3 victories, and is in peak shape coming into this weekend.
Pro Men Start List
1Richie Cunninham (AUS)
2 Justin Daerr (USA)
4 Scott Defilippis (USA)
5 Mark Hillers (USA)
6 Karol Kristov (EST)
7 Jared Milam (USA)
8 Joe Umphenour (USA)
10 Dantley Young (USA)
11 Steven Zawaski (USA)
12 Kyle Buckingham (RSA)
13 Fabio Carvalho (BRA)
Kristen McFarland is an editor-at-large for Colorado Triathlete. As an athletic trainer and massage therapist, she works with professional triathletes in Boulder that have included both ITU and IRONMAN world champions.
