The Naked Tour - Boulder

May 1st was International Barefoot Running Day. It was also the day Chris McDougall's Naked Tour came to Boulder. He visited the Boulder Bookstore to sign copies of the newly released paperback copies of his book "Born to Run". Marshall Ulrich was also on hand to sign copies of his new book "Running on Empty". Also in attendance were Eric Orton, McDougall's trainer who helped him learn to run without pain, and Scott Jurek, ultra superstar.

It was the most amazing, fun and laid back running experience!

The schedule had the group meeting at the bookstore for a book signing session. Then, they ran from the bookstore up Flagstaff trail to the Sunrise Amphitheater. At the amphitheater, there were snacks and beverages and chocolate truffles. Mingling with these famous running folks was pretty cool. They were all very approachable and laid back. They took photos with everyone who asked and chatted up those of us who were more reserved than the others. They each did a little talk about their own running experiences and encouraged all of us to keep on going no matter what society tells us. It was very uplifting I thought. I was encouraged by them all and enjoyed it thoroughly. After the talks, the group ran back to the bookstore for some Q&A and more book signings.

Here is Natasha consulting the iPhone as we try to find our way up the trail. 

 High above Boulder, about half way up the trail or so.

After about an hour and a half of hiking (not running), we reach our destination!

Marshall Ulrich, Eric Orton, Chris McDougall

 Scott Jurek

I attended with my awesome running friend Natasha.
 

She has turned me on to trail running this year and we've shared a few cool running experiences already this year. She'd already run 9 miles the day before and we really weren't feeling confident we'd make it from the bookstore downtown all the way up Flagstaff to the amphitheater and back. A quick Google mapping showed the round trip was close to 12 miles. So, we opted instead to drive to the trail head and head up from there, which was described in the trail running book as "only a 5 mile loop, but it would feel like 10". Whew!

After the event at the amphitheater, we ran down the trail back to my car to drive to the bookstore. After some Q&A, Natasha got her book signed by Scott and we took a photo with him. AWESOME!!

Oh, and there was no naked running going on. The only naked things were people's feet and even then, not very many were.

:-)