GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — There's no time of year that 90-year-old Mary Eleanor Cockerham loves more than Bolder Boulder weekend.
"I live for the Bolder Boulder. I love it. Just love it," she said. "The first word is B-O-L-D-E-R, bolder, and I guess I feel at 90 that I'm a little bolder."
For decades, it's been a family tradition.
"It'll be the 32nd time I've run it. But now I'm sort of walking and maybe trotting," she said.
She runs in honor of her late husband, Kirby Lee Cockerham Jr.
"My husband was in World War II. He ran the Higgins landing boat at Okinawa," said Mary Eleanor. “He was always proud of his service in the Navy.”
The race is a special way to pay tribute to him and many other veterans on Memorial Day.
“It does get me going from about February on and I tend to train more and it inspires me to get out," she said. "Then, the people, and the atmosphere, and the Bolder Boulder and the Flatirons and the stadium. It’s just all wonderful. I just love every minute of it, even though the sweat's pouring down my face."
Like every year, she'll be surrounded by family and plans to finish the race this year with her granddaughter.
"As the years have gone by and my hair has turned gray, a few people will come up behind me and say, 'Good going! Good going!'" she said with a laugh. "So, that's encouraging."
While she jogs down the pavement on Monday, she'll be thinking of her husband, her loving family and all the memories 32-years of Bolder Boulder has brought her.
"Well, it freed up my spirit. If you're out in nature, you're freed up from some of the troubles of life," she said. "Get outside, young people!"
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