Olympians use Bolder Boulder to train

BOULDER - Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall enjoyed running in the Bolder Boulder, but their competitive focus is on this summer’s Olympics.

That’s why neither U.S. marathon team trials champion was concerned about finishing in the middle of the field Monday. Hall finished 14th in the men’s professional race, 1:35 behind repeat champion Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco. Kastor was seventh in the women’s professional race, 1:05 behind Kenyan Millicent Gathoni, who won for the first time.

Kastor and Hall said they hadn’t been training specifically for the race, so they weren’t bothered by their times.

“If I’m running a super good 10K here now, it means I’m going to be flat coming out in Beijing,” Hall said.

Hall took a break from training after running the London Marathon last month, and is trying to peak during the Olympics in August. The pace on Monday was fast from the start, in the light rain and 55-degree temperature, and Hall wasn’t prepared to keep up.

“To come out here and expect to run any faster today would be unrealistic,” Hall said.

Harroufi passed Ethiopian Dmessew Tsega when they entered Folsom Field for the final leg of the race, and held on to win by 1 second. He became the first repeat men’s champion since 1991-92.

“It was a big push,” Harroufi said.

Kastor has won the Bolder Boulder three times but like Hall, has bigger goals. Like Hall, she had taken a couple of weeks off from training.

“It’s really early in our training,” Kastor said. “We both wanted this race to be a few weeks after the date actually is, but we can’t change Memorial Day.”

Hall was making his Bolder Boulder debut, and said he enjoyed the experience. He said he wanted to come back when he can put more focus on being competitive in the race.

“One year I’m going to come back and really rock it,” Hall said.

The event itself grew once again, with an estimated 54,250 entrants. Last year, 50, 816 people entered the event, which set a record.

“Today was very gratifying,” race director Cliff Bosley said.

The race was the third coldest in its 30-year history. Rain started early in the morning and continued through the final race. That was fine with the runners. Harroufi’s winning time of 28:32 was the fastest since 1996.

“It was perfect for running,” Kastor said. “Not great for barbecues later today, but great to run in.”