When Rich Castro was an elementary-age school kid growing up the son of immigrant farm workers in California, he was not tall enough to play basketball, was too small for football and never tried baseball, because he spent his summers working the prune and walnut orchards alongside his parents, earning 25 cents for each filled crate.
As an inveterate athlete, running became Castro’s outlet, his sport and his life’s work and passion. It was a way, the 50-year Boulder resident said, to find his place by being selected for school relay teams. Castro, 76, a retired coach, agent and a former University of Colorado director of intramurals, always remembered his elementary-school running, one reason he started the Columbine Mile Marathon back in 1978 — yes, a year before the inaugural Bolder Boulder.
The 2024 Columbine Mile is set for Tuesday morning at Columbine Elementary School, 3130 Repplier St. Hundreds of kids will run a mile through neighborhood streets, each grade with its own wave start, cheered on by teachers, family, friends and some of the local Olympic runners who come out each year to lend their support.
“This is a community event, not just any school event,” said Melanie Schoenberg, parent of a Columbine third grader, adding that the Mile Marathon, which starts at 9 a.m. and is free to the public, fosters a joy of running and helps teach life skills. “It is heavily led by the kids; they design the T-shirt; they train for it; they fundraise for it.”
The Columbine Mile, said Castro, “helps connect the kids with the world outside of their school, and that is a great thing.”
The Bolder Boulder 10K, for which Castro served as the elite athlete coordinator for many years, helped spur the youth running movement, which is booming in Boulder and nationwide. The race recognizes and tracks age-group competition and has given tens of thousands of children their first taste of running, often with their parents holding their hands.
Many of these youngsters continue running through high school, college and beyond and are now parents taking their own children to the annual Memorial Day race, a week from today. The Bolder Boulder expanded its youth program this year, with every entrant 14 or under getting enrolled in the new “Bold Squad.”
“When we evaluated the race, we wanted to bring in the largest number of kids possible,” Alice Swanson, Bolder Boulder partnerships director, said. “It has been really fun to watch them get their training packets, stickers to track their training, and we send them emails monthly. So far, it seems to be popular. We are excited to see the end results.”
Added Swanson, “The coolest thing is that everyone in the Bold Squad who finishes the race gets a Bold Squad medal.”
These Bold Squad kids must be special; not even the winners of the professional race receive a medal (although they do get a hefty check). Roughly five thousand youngsters are enrolled in the Bold Squad, with most of them expected to finish.
“It’s a lot of medals,” said Swanson. “We planned for a lot of medals. We want to make it special for them, and we know if they run early and have a good experience they will keep running. That is our goal.”
Kick2Build Summer Camp: Former Ghanaian professional soccer player Nana Boakye has the energy of an exploding supernova and is the center of another vibrant youth athletic program, the Wawa summer day multi-sport and cultural arts camp from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 3 to 7 and again Aug. 5 to 9. The energetic and joyful camp, for ages 5-13 at Horizon K-8 Charter School, combines soccer, track and field and other sports with music, drumming, dance and the arts to build the same sense of community and camaraderie many runners get through the Bolder Boulder training programs. Details: kick2build.org.
Follow Sandrock on Instagram: @MikeSandrock.
