BOULDER — Ethiopia’s Meseret Tola had survived the punishing surges from American Aliphine Tuliamuk on the latter half of the Bolder Boulder 10K course on Monday, holding on long enough to be in third place near the bottom of the final uphill into Folsom Field and the finish line.
That’s when Tola made her move, the moment when racers are especially fatigued after racing nearly six miles at altitude. She blew ahead of Tuliamuk and her Ethiopian teammate, Hiwot Yemer, but as she entered the stadium to a deafening roar from fans, two strides ahead of Yemer, she mistakenly veered off course to a staging area where an official was directing photographers and other media members who had just left the press truck that had been following the race.