Boulderthon - Boulder Marathon

I ran the Boulder Marathon on September 27, 2026, and I am leaving this review because I believe the race organizers need to seriously evaluate how hydration and course support were handled during this year's extreme heat.

To be fair, water and electrolytes were available at the aid stations earlier in the race. My concern is what happened later in the marathon, when runners were still out on the course for hours in intense sun.

As we reached some of the later aid stations, the electrolyte tables were already folded up and packed away. We were still running the marathon and still needed those fluids. This was particularly concerning because the runners reaching these stations were the ones who had been exposed to the heat the longest.

We also came upon an area where it appeared that yellow cooling towels had been distributed. By the time we arrived, the towels were apparently gone, and we could only find discarded, used towels on the ground. My daughter and I were desperate for some relief from the heat, so I picked up two of the discarded towels for myself and two for her. I understand that these were used towels, but after hours of running in the heat, we were simply trying to cool ourselves down. No paying participant should ever have to resort to handling trash for heat relief.

The most concerning part of the experience was what we witnessed on the course during approximately miles 20–26. We saw runners who had collapsed and required assistance, and we saw one runner receiving IV fluids. I cannot say what caused any individual runner's medical situation, but seeing this repeatedly was alarming.

After running for approximately 6½ hours, we reached the finish expecting some meaningful recovery support. Instead, we were given water and a banana, the bare minimum for a premium event. The weather was not something Boulderthon could control. Running a marathon in extreme heat is inherently difficult, and runners are responsible for preparing themselves as well. But the race organizers are responsible for providing adequate course support throughout the run, particularly when conditions are unusually hot. We had expected to run this course faster than our time but the heat slowed us down and added at least an hour to our time. We were further slowed down by the depleted & packed up hydration stations.

The fact that aid stations were being packed up while runners were still making their way through the course is my biggest concern. The runners finishing in the later hours were the ones who had spent the longest time exposed to the heat and needed continued access to hydration, electrolytes, cooling support, and adequately staffed aid stations.

I hope Boulderthon takes the experience of the later finishers seriously and reviews its aid-station staffing, hydration supply, cooling resources, medical support, and procedures for extreme-weather conditions before holding this race again.

This was a beautiful course and a race I was excited to run. Unfortunately, the lack of adequate support toward the end made the experience very difficult and left me concerned about runner safety.

As a 17-time marathoner and Boston finisher, I am deeply appalled by this gross lack of support and safety infrastructure at Boulderthon. I ran this race alongside my daughter to support her through her very first marathon. ALL runners trained for months for this event so why would slower runners receive less?!

Compelling slower runners to pay full price only to receive a fraction of the safety support is a dangerous breakdown of race directing. This is a beautiful course, but until the race directors prove they value the lives and safety of every athlete on the course—not just the front-runners—I would not recommend Boulderthon.

Absolutely stunning course. Impeccably organized. Tons of amenities and AMAZING finish downtown. Can't wait to run again!