{"id":826,"date":"2026-05-26T08:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826"},"modified":"2026-05-26T08:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:03:54","slug":"rachael-rudel-uses-late-surge-to-finish-as-top-american-in-bolder-boulder-womens-pro-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826","title":{"rendered":"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n

As a Colorado native who trains in Boulder, Rachael Rudel had been eagerly awaiting the day she received an invitation to compete in the Bolder Boulder.<\/p>\n

Read more Four-star receiver commits to Colorado Buffs<\/a><\/p>\n

When that opportunity finally arrived, Rudel couldn\u2019t have been blamed if she had passed on the invite.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Rudel\u2019s brother got married in Hawaii. More than 3,000 miles away, Rudel, with her brother\u2019s blessing, toed the starting line at the 46th annual Bolder Boulder as part of Team USA. Rudel, a Fort Collins native and a former standout at Colorado State, became the top American finisher, using a gutsy late kick to surge into a third-place finish in the women\u2019s pro race.<\/p>\n

Rudel recorded a time of 32 minutes, 46 seconds, finishing 10 seconds behind runner-up Jesca Chelangat and 13 seconds behind women\u2019s pro winner Rebecca Mwangi. Those top two runners were from Kenya, which ran away with the title of the International Team Challenge.<\/p>\n

Rudel was part of a USA Red Team that also featured ninth-place finisher Kassie Parker. It was the second win in three seasons and the third overall for the Kenyan women in the International Team Challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still in shock,\u201d Rudel said. \u201cYou never know what you expect on race day. You just pray that you\u2019re ready. Just proud to race for the USA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudel was running third behind Ethiopian Lemlem Nibret as the leaders hit the uphill climb into Folsom Field, but the former CSU star put together a dominant kick to overtake Nibret as they approached the Folsom Field entrance.<\/p>\n

Read more Kenya\u2019s Patrick Kiprop wins Bolder Boulder pro race<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy race plan is always make sure you stay comfortable,\u201d Rudel said. \u201cEspecially these very, very difficult races, and especially when they\u2019re in the double-digit Ks. You gotta race your race. You\u2019ve got to stay calm. If you\u2019re not calm, you crash at the end. I\u2019ve crashed at the end too many times in races, and that\u2019s when I started hating racing. I always love having that surprise kick at the end. I felt strong throughout the entire time, and I honestly probably should\u2019ve kicked it in a little bit quicker. Sometimes you get a little too comfortable feeling real good in a difficult race.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI gave it all I got and definitely think I raced my race. That\u2019s all you can ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon entering Folsom Field, Rudel had a moment in which she considered flashing a Rams sign with her hands. Instead of rubbing it in to her old collegiate rivals, Rudel then wondered if it might look too much like a Buffalo sign, which would have dented the pride of a former CSU Ram. Instead, Rudel focused on her kick, which led to the strong finish.<\/p>\n

Among the rest of the American runners, Biruktayit Degefa finished 10th, while former CU runner Sara Vaughn \u2014 last year\u2019s winner in the citizen\u2019s race \u2014 finished 11th. Molly Grabill, the winner of the women\u2019s citizen\u2019s race in 2023 and 2024, placed 13th.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to run the Bolder Boulder in my hometown, at my competitive college, there\u2019s something that I can\u2019t even explain,\u201d Rudel said. \u201cIt\u2019s beyond an honor. It\u2019s something I can\u2019t even explain and it makes me want to tear up. To be able to do it in the place where I found love for running, I don\u2019t have words for it. I\u2019m beyond blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump says Iran deal should include additional countries joining Abraham Accords<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Colorado State star Rachael Rudel used a late surge to place third in the Bolder Boulder women’s pro race, finishing as the top American in the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nRachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Colorado State star Rachael Rudel used a late surge to place third in the Bolder Boulder women's pro race, finishing as the top American in the field.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T08:03:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"headline\":\"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T08:03:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826\"},\"wordCount\":623,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826\",\"name\":\"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race - Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T08:03:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=826#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race - Colorado Springs Moverss","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race - Colorado Springs Moverss","og_description":"Former Colorado State star Rachael Rudel used a late surge to place third in the Bolder Boulder women's pro race, finishing as the top American in the field.","og_url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826","og_site_name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","article_published_time":"2026-05-26T08:03:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"headline":"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race","datePublished":"2026-05-26T08:03:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826"},"wordCount":623,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826","name":"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race - Colorado Springs Moverss","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-26T08:03:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c67a319fc7536d0d7677e57228a18fd4.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=826#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rachael Rudel uses late surge to finish as top American in Bolder Boulder women\u2019s pro race"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/","name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}