Susannah Scaroni’s schedule hasn’t allowed her to compete very often at the Bolder Boulder. When she does, however, she leaves as a champion. At the 44th Bolder Boulder on Monday, Scaroni won the women’s push rim race by shattering the course record with a time of 23 minutes, 31 seconds.
The previous women’s record was 25:43, set by Candace Cable in 1996. Scaroni also won the push rim race in 2013, the only other year she’s competed. “Honestly, I love this race and I love the race coordinator, Jacob Heilveil,” Scaroni said.
“He was my kid role model when I was starting wheelchair racing, and almost every other year since 2013, I’ve been in another competition. That competition got pushed back this year, so I finally can come back.” The 2020 Paralympic Games champion in the women’s 5,000-meter push rim race, Scaroni has her sights set on another gold medal this year in Paris.
The Champaign, Ill., native used the Bolder Boulder as a test. “This is also a Paralympic year and a lot of people going other places, so it was kind of a smaller field,” she said.
“I just wanted to see how hard I could go today. Very happy, yes. “All I remember from this course (in 2013) is my lungs hurt at the end, and that’s how I feel today.
” Kendall Gretsch, who won the previous two years, finished as runner-up in 27:08. Gretsch, from Colorado Springs, beat her times from the past two years. Repeating as men’s champion was Howie Sanborn of Denver.
He finished third.
