Bolder Boulder offers cheap registration to no shows

The Bolder Boulder, a huge annual 10K race in Boulder, Col. that attracts over 50,000 runners, has decided to change up how the handle runners who decide not to race, or who are unable to attend.

The race, which happened yesterday, Memorial Day in the United States, will be offering registration for next year’s race for only $15 to anyone who registered this year but didn’t compete, no questions asked.

“We understand that life gets busy,” race director Chris Bosley told the Boulder Daily Camera. “We understand that there’s lots of other things that come up at the 11th hour or things that come up preclude people from running. If that happens, we get it. No problem. We’ll see you next year.”

The new decision goes against the norm of race registration. Generally, if you can’t make it to the start line, whatever the reason, it’s a sunk expense that you can’t get back and racing again the next year will cost the full price.

Now that the race is over, organizers will compile a list of all the registrants who paid the entrance fee but, for whatever reason, didn’t start the race. In a few weeks they will email them a discount code that’s good until the closing of the registration period for the 2015 event allowing them to signup for $15.

Bosley claimed last year there were about 3,500 who didn’t show up to race, about 800 more than in 2012.

As for the race, a pair of East African elites took home the top spots. Afewerki Berhane of Eritrea won the men’s race in 29:11 and Mamitu Daska of Ethiopia took home the women’s title in 32:21.