Betty breaks previous record!

Betty Hoops does it AGAIN! Betty Hoops again ran the BolderBoulder 10K Road Race in 1:14:48.71 while hula hooping. She beat her previous world record. The BolderBoulder was the largest ever, with 54,040 entrants.  See the video here.

Catherine, Michael’s girlfriend, offered the team to stay in her house in downtown Boulder. It had 4 bedrooms and a furnished basement to sleep 3 extras. The night before the race Andy and Seth made the best pasta dinner. We celebrated Tammy and Ed’s birthday. Around 9pm my neck started to spasm. My right side froze up and sharp pain shot down through my arm. It came out of nowhere and I was nervous that I would not be able to race. Siri massaged me for and hour but it did not subside. I took a bunch of Ibuprofen and tried to sleep. I got about 4 hours of bad sleep. I was in so much pain that I had to lift my head with my hands each time I moved. I kept meditating on letting go of the tension. I would not allow myself to entertain any thoughts of canceling the race.

4:30am came too soon. We all got up and made breakfast. I could barely stand up straight and my neck was still in spasm. I wasn’t raised taking pain killers. If I was to overdose on anything it was going to be now. I took 6 Ibuprofen and prayed that the spasm would go away. I decided to try mind over matter. I couldn’t move my shoulders, neck or head. I focused on only using my core and legs and surrendering to the pain.

The 14 of us gathered outside Vics coffee house. This is the meeting place for most of the racers as it is at the start and the coffee is awesome. The excitement help take my mind off my spasm and the drugs were kicking in. We lined up at the end of our wave and did some camera testing.
And they’re off… we had a slow start as usual. Allowing others to pass us until the crowd thins. Toward the end of the first kilometer we picked up the pace considerably. Jason was back blocker and team pacer. He was calling to me to slow down so that we could keep a good pace. I knew I should have listened to him, I did not want to crash early on. I felt strong though. The month of hoop/running had really boosted my cardio and rhythm. Going faster has its price! I had never hooped/ran so fast for a consistent time. Usually the hoops speed is faster than my pace. The forward motion of my gate moves in synch with the centrifugal force of the hoop. This time, my running pace was far faster than the hoops speed. This put my hoop in danger of falling. The hoop becomes wobbly as the force of my body runs forward. Keeping the hoop level take precision in isolating the hips and core. I did not want to slow down so I had to learn to move the hoop faster. This took a lot out of me as I was not training core strength. I was mostly training to synch up running with hooping and increase cardio strength. Running at such a fast pace also made it harder for the team to keep up. Water stations were especially tricky. This is where racers and walkers hang out. Groups gather around the drinking tables. People walk- without looking- straight across the road, from the water to the Gatorade table.

A few members of the team were not used to running this fast. The team works so hard. They are communicating with the outside so that we can pass. They must run backwards at times to make sure that no one is running toward me. They also have to use themselves as a physical barrier when racers move within inches from the hoop. During the third kilometer Mia wanted to grab a cup of water. She did, we lost her for a moment. Jason pulled her back in to our circle and during that instant, she was pulled into the hoop. The hoop popped up on my chest and wobbled as if it was going to fall. I grabbed the hoop while running and quickly restarted it. I knew then, that my chance for breaking both records for speed and distance combined, was gone. That moment was so surreal. I went deep into introspection. I saw my goal flash before me. I saw myself getting angry and upset. I knew this wasn’t what the race was about. I knew that I did not want the rest of my journey to be with resistance and hostility toward a disappointing outcome. I threw out all expectation and moved into a Zen like state. Deeper and more present than I the normal hypnotic state induced by hoop/running.

A second later I yelled out “We’re going for time! Pick up the damn pace!”

I told Mia not to worry, that things happen and now we are setting a new record for time. As exhausted and upset as she was, she hung in there for every step. The team was on there game. We cruised through the next few kilometers. Joe continued to yell out “Team Hoop comin’ through, breaking records and breakin’ hearts.” Michael, with his superhuman power kept within a foot of me to film for the Guinness Book. We weaved in and out of crowds. Jason kept yelling, “Pace yourself” I actually slowed down a bit because I thought that we were farther from the finish than we were. We had never run the course this fast. Before I knew it we running the last stretch.
Right before the last leg, I heard a loud voice which followed us. Almost like a chant, “go team hoop, go team hoop!” I didn’t realize at the time but it was my birthfather. I gave him directions on where to cut through the course so that he could meet us at the finish. He is not a runner and had just flown in from sea level.

Up the hill, through the cattle guards and into the stadium. I motioned to Jason to tell the team to part. Every year my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth and my legs feel like led weights. I have my hand motions prepared with certain members of the group. When I see a straight shot to the finish, I break away from the team and sprint. If the team can keep up to block, that is fine, if not, I don’t mind going for it.

I hoop/ran through the finish and almost collapsed. This was one of the most memorable races yet. Again, I looked around at the team. Here were regular people performing extraordinary feats. None of the members are runners. They do not own fancy workout clothes or extra cushioned running shoes. They are teachers, mothers, fathers and students. And here they are, supporting my personal dream, fundraising and adding so much love to an ordinary race.

1 hour and 14 minutes of extreme focus, strategy and faith. We broke our time by 30 minutes! We were all running 12 minute miles! Thanks again to Cliff Bosley for his hard work and value in thinking and working outside the box.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 10:21 pm and is filed under World Record Race Archives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.