Tens of thousands turn out for 30th annual Bolder Boulder

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BOULDER – More than 50,000 people turned out on Monday for one of Colorado's biggest Memorial Day traditions: the 30th annual Bolder Boulder 10-kilometer road race.

The race, which started 30 years ago with about 2,000 runners, has grown more than 20-fold in size, as more than 54,000 runners and walkers participated in the 2008 event.

The event has both a citizens' race, which weaves through the streets of Boulder, finishing in the University of Colorado's Folsom Field, and an elite race.

The citizens' race draws people from all walks of life. Musical acts line the course to play music for the participants, many of whom dress in costume for the event.

The elite race draws professional runners and even Olympians from all over the world.

In the elite race, Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco burst ahead on the downhill leading to the finish line at Folsom Field to deny an Ethiopian victory in the 10-kilometer Bolder Boulder for the second straight year Monday.

Harroufi, who passed Solomon Tsige to win last year's race, stayed with Dmessew Tsega and Gebo Berka on their torrid pace through a steady drizzle until they approached the stadium, then sprinted past the Ethiopians for a winning time of 28 minutes, 32 seconds - one second ahead of Tsega.

U.S. Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall finished in 14th at 30:07, a mark he called a good start to his hard training for Beijing.

Fellow Olympian and former Bolder Boulder three-time champion Deena Kastor finished seventh in the elite women's field, where Kenya's Millicent Gathoni posted a winning time of 32:49, four seconds ahead of Ethiopian Amane Gobena, who was also the runner-up a year ago.