RIDOUANE HARROUFI OF MOROCCO WINS BACK-TO-BACK TITLES, U.S. FINISHES SIXTH

By RICHARD VALENTY, Colorado Daily Staff Writer
Originally published 06:08 p.m., May 26, 2008
Updated 03:38 p.m., May 27, 2008

There was one constant found in both of the 2007 and 2008 Bolder Boulder men's professional races - and it certainly wasn't the weather.

It was Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco, who won the individual title in 2007 and followed that act with an encore victory in 2008. Harroufi proved on Monday that he could win in the warm spring weather of 2007 and in the overcast, cool 2008 conditions, but Monday's weather definitely played a factor in race strategy.

The men's field started off at a blistering pace, and the leaders hit the first mile in roughly 4:23. A lead pack of about a dozen runners, including all three runners from the Ethiopian and Kenyan teams, was intact past the first mile mark of the 10-kilometer race.

But the aggressive early pace wasn't kind to Team USA. The team was made up of former University of Colorado track and cross country superstars Jorge and Edwardo (Ed) Torres, who are identical twin brothers, along with Ryan Hall, who has qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in the marathon.

Jorge Torres said he was able to hang with the lead pack for about a mile and a half, but dropped back due to the pace. The top runners Monday kept up a pace in the low 4:30s per mile - through more than six miles - and Torres said he might have been able to keep such a pace on a track at sea level.