BOULDER — Aaron Braun ran into Folsom Field, into the thunderously cheering crowd of 50,000 at the finish of the Bolder Boulder 10K on Monday, and — for the first time — wasn't asking himself: Is this over yet?
In fact, the Fort Collins native probably would have preferred the race be even longer.
"The whole last mile or two, I just kept looking ahead," Braun, representing Team USA in the men's elite race, said of the runners in front of him. "I would go back and forth, thinking: 'Oh, I'm not going to be able catch them.' 'Oh, I'm closing ground, maybe I will.' 'Oh, no, it's too late.' 'Oh, I'm closing more ground.' Just heading up to the stadium, hearing all the cheers, I was just like, 'OK. I need to give it one last go.'
"And unfortunately, I just left a little too much to catch them."
Braun finished as the top American, placing fourth in 30 minutes, 11.02 seconds — just under four seconds behind third-place Brihanu Gedefa of Ethiopia and within striking distance of second.
"I think if I had been a little more aggressive, I would have had a shot at getting second," Braun said.
Allan Kiprono broke a years-long individual first-place drought for the Kenyans, winning in 29:54.43 after taking an early lead and never letting it go. Ethiopia's Tadese Tola finished second.
"I was feeling really good today," said Kiprono, who received the winner's prize purse of $3,250. "It's been a long time since Kenyans won this race. My goal was to win this race with my team."
But they fell short. The Ethiopians again took top honors, with Kenya second, Mexico third and the U.S. — represented by Braun, Chris Barnicle and Scott Smith — just three points behind third for fourth place.
Now training in Flagstaff, Ariz., with the McMillan Elite group, Braun's breakout performance at this race has been a long time coming. The Adams State graduate finished 12th overall last year (30:51) at the Bolder Boulder and placed third for Team USA.
This year — wearing a neon-orange singlet — he positioned himself in front of the pack of elites early before fading behind the aggressive racing of the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners.
Braun, along with the rest of the U.S. and Colorado teams, appeared left for dead by the second mile along the 10-kilometer course. But for Braun, that was part of the plan.
"My goal was to be top five," he said. "The last couple of years I was 10th and 12th, so I wanted to run smarter, and I did a great job. My whole thing was trying to stay patient."
He will be at the Portland Track Festival on June 8-9 for a tuneup race before the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., which he qualified for in the 10K by running 27:51 at Stanford this year.
Former University of Colorado distance runner Kenyon Neuman, who represented Team Colorado and also expects to compete in the Olympic Trials, was sixth overall Monday in 30:36.51.
"I've been feeling fit and training's been going well," he said. "In a lot of the earlier races I've had, I feel like I made tactical mistakes. Today, I don't think I made any tactical mistakes. I tried to go with (Braun) for a while and it served me well."
Chris Barnicle of Team USA — a former Massachusetts prep star, alumnus of the University of Arkansas and the University of New Mexico, and a New Balance athlete training in Albuquerque — placed 13th in 31:13.09. Jeremy Freed, last year's citizens race winner running for Team Colorado, was 16th overall in 31:33.86. Patrick Rizzo of Team Colorado was 17th in 31:39.34 and Smith of Team USA was 19th in 32:04.07.
"I haven't trained as much as I did at point in the season (last year), so I'm hoping that will pay off at the Trials," Braun said. "When I got to USAs last year, I was dead. This year I will be at my peak."
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