BOULDER, Colo. – Since 1981, the third year the race was run, BOLDERBoulder runners and walkers have finished the race at Folsom Field on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus. It's a long partnership and one that retiring CU President Bruce Benson says makes a lot of sense.
"You've got 50,000 people out there running. They might think about sending themselves or their kid to CU," Benson told Denver7's Anne Trujillo during a recent interview. "The BOLDERBoulder does something that I really am very high on: collaboration. You've got the City of Boulder, the BOLDERBoulder, and you've got the University of Colorado-Boulder, and I think that's a neat deal."
Benson is retiring this summer after 11 years of leading CU and is being honored by being named the official starter for the race. He says since he agreed to the job, he's learned it's a lot more work than he first thought.
"My good friend Steve Bosley called and said, 'You’ve got to be the starter.' I thought you shoot once and that’s it," Benson said. "I think he told me the other night it’s 94 times you start."
Benson isn't the first person from CU to be named the race's official starter. In fact, Benson's favorite story involves basketball coach Tad Boyle.
"You know what he did is shoot a hole in the tent roof because they do not just 'pop' and … these are a lot of gun powder and stuff. So I told Bosley I’m going to shoot a lot of holes in his tent."
This year is the 41st running of the BOLDERBoulder.
