CU football coach Dan Hawkins admits he hasn't had much time to run lately given how busy he's been recruiting this month.

Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins talks often to his players about the value of getting outside of your comfort zone and challenging yourself to risk failure in trying something new.

Hawkins followed his own advice a year ago during the offseason when one of his daughters challenged him to go skydiving with her. He's doing it again this summer by participating in the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia in July.

Hawkins is using Monday's Bolder Boulder as part of his training for the marathon run, and he's probably going to need it.

The month of May is one of the busiest of the year for Hawkins and his assistant coaches. They spend the majority of the month on the road and in the skies around the nation recruiting. Hawkins admitted his training has been spotty at best. He said he considers himself fortunate if he is able to find 30 minutes to run every third day on a hotel treadmill somewhere.

"My daughter is not real fired up with me right now," the 46-year-old coach said. "She's like, 'Are you even going to be able finish the race?'"

He said he might enter other local races in June when his schedule eases up and he has more time to focus on preparing himself for what is likely to be the most challenging physical test of his life.

Hawkins wanted to run the Bolder Boulder last year, his first at Colorado after being hired away from Boise State. But his schedule was so hectic last spring, he had even less time to train than he has had this year.

Hawkins said he hasn't participated in an organized road race since the mid-1990s when he ran in a handful of fun runs and 10K races with his wife's grandfather, who was an avid runner.

"At that time, he was about 75, and I was having a hard time keeping up with him," Hawkins said.Hawkins isn't the only member of the football coaching staff running this year in the Bolder Boulder. Hawkins said offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, tight ends and special teams coach Kent Riddle and passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau will participate.

One of those three is probably the favorite to finish first among CU football coaches. Hawkins said he finds a comfortable rhythm and sticks with it. He estimated he averages about 11-minute miles.

"I don't break any land-speed records," he said.

Hawkins has sought out the advice of running professionals and avid runners, including one of his contemporaries in college coaching. He said when he told Clemson coach Tommy Bowden he was considering running a marathon, Bowden suggested selecting one with a relatively flat course.

Hawkins said unlike the Bolder Boulder, the Gold Coast course fits the bill, but that wasn't the only reason he chose it. His wife, Misti, chose Australia as this summer's vacation destination. So Hawkins knew if was going to conquer a marathon, it would have to one Down Under.

"I just want to go and finish," he said.