To be able to do it, and the first one in the stadium, it was one of those feelings like, ‘OK, this is enough.

He was a senior at CU and he went on to make the British Olympic team. The way I put it was that I was on the far side of my bell curve on a toboggan,” Shorter said. He remains thankful he was the first runner to do it. Shorter’s victory also was notable in that it marked the first year the race finished inside Folsom Field. Despite witnessing firsthand all the incredible performances and inspiring sidebars that have crafted the Bolder Boulder story over four decades, what Shorter was able to accomplish that day in holding off Mark Scrutton for the win remains the highlight of his personal Bolder Boulder history. The only American runner to medal twice in the marathon at the Olympics (gold in 1972, silver in 1976), Shorter believes his status among the best of the best in the world was, however slightly, on the way down when he entered the third incarnation of the Bolder Boulder in 1981. This convergence of the reality of aging with a significant milestone of a race he first suggested to Bolder Boulder founder Steve Bosley has Shorter in a reflective mood. Far from it.Īs the Bolder Boulder celebrates its 40th anniversary on Memorial Day, one of the more recognizable and influential figures in Colorado’s vast running community finds himself inching closer to 71 while recovering from knee replacement surgery.

Even Frank Shorter, it seems, isn’t completely immune to getting slowed by the whims of time.

Download frank shorter