91-year-old woman runs BOLDERBoulder with four generations of her family to continue 47-year tradition

A 91-year-old woman is preparing to run the BOLDERBoulder this Memorial Day alongside four generations of her family, continuing a 47-year tradition.

Dotti Fite will be joined by her nephew, grandchildren and great-grandchildren for the annual race. The tradition began in 1979 when her husband, Ken Fite, and son-in-law, Scott Clark, laced up their running shoes.

"They were not elite runners," Karan Clark, Scott's wife, said.

The two men were only thinking about their health and had no idea they were kick starting a family tradition. For the last 47 years, at least someone in the family has signed up for the Memorial Day event, give or take a year or so when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

"And, I mean, we had a party, we had people over, and it was just something that that's what you did on Memorial Day. You did the Bolder Boulder," Fite said.

Dotti Fite initially attended to watch the children, but eventually started running the race herself.

"At first I was with the kids when they were little, but then they got bigger and did it themselves. And so then I did it too," Fite said.

Over the years, she has accumulated multiple first-place medals.

"Only because nobody 91 years old is chasing me," Fite said with a laugh.

While on the course, she said she skips the beer but makes sure to grab a sweet treat.

"Well not the beer, but the donuts," Fite said, looking at her daughter Karan with a smile.

She said the race is a "wonderful" event.

"Something healthy, and it keeps you, if you're going to run it, you got to keep practicing too. So it puts a different thing in your life that you do regularly," Fite said.

The family has preserved decades of memorabilia from the event, including schedules and the original runner's bibs.

"Just think of how far the race has come from a hand written Sharpie marker to that," Karan Clark said, showing off her husband's first bib and last. She had all of them sewn into a big blanket.

For the family, the BOLDERBoulder is not just an activity for Memorial Day, but an event they plan their entire holiday around.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.