BOULDER, Colo — Health leaders encouraged all of us to stay inside this weekend. But the bad air didn't stop endurance athletes from competing in the Half Ironman in Boulder on Saturday.
The Ironman 70.3 Boulder consisted of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run.
"I love it," said Sam Long. "It's one of the most beautiful places in the world to train."
Boulder attracts some of the best athletes in the country, like Long. He was born and raised in Boulder. Training for an Ironman in his hometown is typically gorgeous but part of the race on Saturday was under a plume of smoke.
"To be honest, I didn't notice it while I was racing," he said. "It was only after the event that I was like it smells like a campfire out and kind of noticed it."
Long finished first place in the Half Ironman. He even broke a course record as air quality continued to go downhill in the morning.
"Just a scratchy throat this morning, red eyes. But nothing too much," he said. "Yes, the faster you went yesterday the less time you had breathing in the campfire."
Sam Appleton finished second behind Long.
"I didn't notice the smoke until maybe the last 20 or 30 minutes of that race," Appleton said. "You know people were out there for a lot longer than us so I definitely feel for those athletes that were out there for five to six hours."
These incredible professionals may have missed the worst of it because they finished so quickly. Denver's air has been pretty awful even before this race. The city recorded 30 straight days with bad air.
"It is unfortunate," said Appleton. "When I first came here in 2015, I feel like it wasn't like this. Maybe last year in 2020 and this year, its been lingering a little bit."
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