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50,000 Participate In Annual Bolder Boulder

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - It's a favorite way to celebrate Memorial Day -- the Bolder Boulder 10K marathon.

Copter4 flew over the action around noon as the Memorial Day observance got underway complete with parachutists carrying in flags from the military branches.

PHOTO GALLERY: Bolder Boulder

More than 50,000 runners hit the streets of Boulder to race along to cheers and music of another 100,000.

RELATED: First-Ever Bolder Boulder Winner Trains Today's Runners

In the women's elite division Mamitu Daska from Ethiopia broke away from the field in the first mile and cruised to an easy victory. American Shalane Flanagan, who led the Boston Marathon for a while, finished second.

Mamitu Daska Bolder Boulder
Mamitu Daska (credit: CBS)

"I tried to keep her within distance to see if maybe she would kind of falter or misjudged herself. So I was playing a little bit of chess out there," Flanagan said. "There was a point where she was definitely pulling away from me, I wasn't closing the gap and at that point the competitor in me; it was hard to go … I was wanting to just safely hold second for my team."

In the men's elite race Afewerki Berhane from Eritrea captured his first Bolder Boulder. The top American finisher was Lafayette's Sean Quigley.

Afewerki Berhane Bolder Boulder
Afewerki Berhane (credit: CBS)

The Bolder Boulder is third largest 10K in the United States and the seventh largest in the world.

LINK: Bolder Boulder Results

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