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When Conner Mantz completed his thrilling win at the 2024 Bolder Boulder professional race with a tremendous finishing kick, there, holding the tape at the Folsom Field finish, was Kent Wories, owner of the Runners Roost retail running stores.Michael SandrockQuite an honor for the long-time runner and one Wories did not expect when he signed on as the presenting sponsor in a three-year deal that continues through 2026. It was, Wories said in a Tuesday interview, “the cherry on top” of the sponsorship, which sends thousands of race participants into one of the 10 Runners Roost retail stores along the Front Range for packet pickup.
Kent Wories, owner of the Runners Roost retail running stores, said signing on to become the presenting sponsor of the Bolder Boulder was a big decision, one that is paying off by driving traffic to his stores for packet pickup. The race “procrastination fee” goes into effect Monday. (Courtesy photo)“It was incredible,” said Wories, 39, who started running in middle school in southern Illinois, continuing in high school and on through running on the team at Butler University and on into adulthood.
“I’ve run from the front and in the pack at the Bolder Boulder, which is a blast, but this was a different sort of energy.”Nike joined Runners Roost last year as one of the major race sponsors, forming a three-way partnership that goes back to the 1970s roots of the running boom, said race director Cliff Bosley, pointing out that Nike was founded in 1971; Runners Roost in 1977 and the Bolder Boulder in 1979.“We all came out of that era,” said Bosley, 58, himself a product of those salad days of running.
“Talk about the heritage and history that connects us to our founding. We all grew up in a time when running was growing; it is still growing, and we are in the next generation.”Kent Wories, left, holds the finishing tape inside Folsom Field as Conner Mantz crosses the line to win the race for the second year in a row.
(Janice McLoughlin /Kay Gibbs Photography – Courtesy photo)That next generation was evident when I visited Runners Roost Saturday morning to see how packet pickup was going. The store was already full, with young and old trying on shoes and apparel, including two-time Olympic trials marathoner Deanna Ardrey. She was picking up bib numbers for herself and her 3-year-old daughter, Kikkan Phebus.
“She loves to run,” said Ardrey, a 2:39 marathoner who raced for Team USA in the 2019 Bolder Boulder. “This race means so much to me because it’s my local community race. It’s a new experience for both of us.
I get to share my love of running with her at what I consider the most fun race in the USA.”That’s what Luke Martin, the race partnerships manager, likes to hear. The Bolder Boulder, he said, “is able to bring new folks into running, which is where Nike wants to put its emphasis, to create the youngest, most diverse group of runners.
It works hand in hand with their goals and our goals, including continuing to grow the sport of running. It is mutually beneficial.”The logos and names of presenting sponsors Runners Roost and Nike are visible throughout the Bolder Boulder, including on the mile markers.
(Courtesy photo)While the sponsorship cost is not significant for the global behemoth Nike, it is for the family-owned Runners Roost. Bosley said that Wories “is a big thinker” who saw the benefit of using the stores’ good relationship with Nike to form the partnership and how it drives traffic to his stores.“Kent is a numbers guy,” said Runners Roost Boulder store manager Tricia Vieth who, along with the local Nike tech rep, Mikelle Acklery, provided the early impetus for fostering the relationship with the Bolder Boulder.
“He crunched the numbers, and the race pulled on his heartstrings. If it looks like a win-win, it is because this is a win-win. The Bolder Boulder speaks to the fact that anyone can do it, and the Wories family encompasses that.
They treat it like Christmas Day.”Indeed, Wories’ parents, John and Joan, charter a bus in Denver to bring a large group of family and friends up to a pre-race breakfast and race preparation at Runners Roost before heading to one of the later waves, or starting groups. “It is such a big event, and we are excited to be involved in the biggest way we can,” said Wories.
“We all go to the race together and have a grand time.”To follow Sandrock on IG: @MikeSandrock..
