Boulder, Colorado, is known for its fair share of athletes. We are home to Olympians, world-famous skiers, ultrarunners, and more. When you walk down the town’s famous Pearl Street Mall, you can find many local athletic gear stores. If you take a trip to Boulder around Memorial Day, you’ll see about 50,000 people running the annual Bolder Boulder 10k. We are also home to Boulderthon, a popular marathon held in late September. It is safe to say that when it comes to sports, Boulderites like to overachieve. And while there is nothing wrong with loving sports, it can be intimidating to move here without your own athletic passion project. I never understood this personality…until I tried to develop it for myself.
I moved to Boulder from Houston, Texas, which was quite a shift in cultures. Houston is an enormous city with almost 2.5 million people, coming from all over the world. I lived there for all my life before I moved to Boulder towards the end of middle school. It took a while to get used to living in a place where people would walk and bike everywhere — I never knew bike lanes on roads existed before I moved. However, the most surprising, new lifestyle trait I observed was this athleticism. In Houston, I did some sports at school, or occasionally went to a nearby gym, but this was on another level. These kids were competitive climbers, triathletes, tennis stars, mountain bikers, and what the f*ck did I do?
In my first semester at CU Boulder, I succumbed to the pressure and signed up for a marathon. No one actually pressured me, but I kept seeing all these people I knew doing extraordinary things, and I wanted to be extraordinary too. I thought running a marathon would mean I belonged, and that I would be like all the other Boulder athletes I envied. I started training for the 2024 Salt Lake City Marathon. When I succeeded in finishing it, I began to understand why people liked overachieving so much — it pushes your mind and body to do things you never thought you could do. I had discovered a new hobby.
Running races has changed my life in marvelous ways, but that is not to say falling for this glamorized lifestyle has a guaranteed positive impact. It can turn into an obsession, rather than a hobby. For me, I started to become obsessed with staying consistent. I would run even if I had a cold, or if it was below freezing outside, or if it meant staying up later/waking up earlier than I should. This would keep me in a cycle of constant sickness, and my grades started to drop. But I hated the idea of not running, because how would I get faster, how would I succeed? I strayed from having fun, to being completely neurotic.
After I started running marathons, it didn’t change how I viewed myself. I still felt less achieving than others, and like I didn’t belong in Boulder. That’s when I realized — no matter how many races I ran, it would never be enough. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was the only one putting pressure on myself to go that extra mile, and let go of the idea that it would make me like myself more, because it didn’t. After realizing this, I have become more accepting and loving of myself each day, because at the end of the day, all you’ve got is you, and understanding that has been freeing.
After observing the athletic culture here in Boulder, succumbing to it, and moving forward, I have learned this: you should be open to trying new things, as it can lead you to new passions, but the reasons behind it should never be in the effort of being someone else — that will never happen. I have also learned that running a marathon is f*cking hard, and if you don’t like running, don’t force yourself to. Take it from my best friend, who tried running, then said she “would rather get shot in the arm than run a marathon.”Â
While Boulder has a reputation for sports, it is a lot more than that. When I think of Boulder, I think of the Flatirons and the sun, and the sandstone buildings that make up CU Boulder. I think of my friends and community. No matter who you are or what you love, there’s always a place for you.