Bolder Boulder 10K winner DQ’d after starting in the wrong wave

May 26, 2026

At Monday’s annual Bolder Boulder 10K in Colorado, one of the biggest 10K races in the U.S., American runner Emad Bashir-Mohammed, running in the men’s citizen’s category, stopped the clock in in 29:50. The mark, one of fastest in event history, held off the rest of the field by eight seconds. But hours later, Bashir-Mohammed was disqualified for starting in the wrong wave.

Bashir-Mohammed had been assigned to the second starting wave, AA, but started with the fastest wave, Wave A. On social media, he alleged that while picking up his bib with an AA wave number, he was given the go-ahead to run in the A wave. “I showed them proof of my running times, and I was told I’m good to run in the A Wave,” the 23-year-old wrote. “I mean, let’s be honest, I paid to run with the fastest people and run fast times.” CANADIAN Running Magazine