I went to the Boulder Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony last night. The inducted class included climber Lynn Hill (who I had never really heard of before last night and is an incredible story), cyclist Dale Stetina, triathlete Tim Deboom, and runner Benji Durden.
It was a cool event. Like many of these sort of gatherings in Boulder it is a bit overwhelming to see so much talent and success in one room. There of course the “normal” guys like Peter J (climbed Grays and Torres every week for a year) and Greg W, and guys I raced with like Todd S and Peter H. 
There are guys that were damn good runners in their own right but are even better people like Marty K and Sandrock. And many handfuls more.
But then you look around the room and there is Jonesy and Troop and Moller and Mackey and Sinclair and Shorter and … it just goes on and on. And those are runners. There are also cyclists and climbers and tri folk in the room. And so when Rock takes the opportunity to introduce you with a laugh to one of them as “the World Champion of Pack Burro Racing” it does make you dance a bit.
It was great to see Benji inducted. His performances in the marathon often get overlooked as he ended up making the 80 Olympic squad that could no go to Moscow. Most people these days who know Benji probably don’t know that about his past … or that he has done 114 marathons including one in every state … or that he beat prostate cancer … but probably run by his finish line as he times racing events all over the front range. In fact, he was timing the Pat Patten XC event that very morning and was off to time another Sunday morning with his wife Amie. I don’t tend to realize how good his timing services are until I have to deal with another race … and then I recall how easy and flawless things are with Benji’s races.
The event also served as a charitable event for One World Running – a great place to donate your shoes locally.
