The Bolder Boulder, ready to step off for its 40th year, has long been acclaimed as one of the largest and most respected road races in the world. But the race that draws more than 40,000 people every Memorial Day has a secret: It was almost dead before it even started. For a few tense hours on Memorial Day weekend of 1979, it looked as if that first Bolder Boulder might have to be canceled when organizers realized no one had secured a permit from the city.