Having won the Bolder Boulder in his first attempt a year ago, Nickolas Scudder was back Monday looking for a repeat performance.
He got the job done, although in rather unconventional fashion.
Emad Bashir-Mohammed was initially believed to be the winner in the men’s citizen’s race at the 46th Bolder Boulder, as he crossed the finish line in 29 minutes, 50 seconds — eight seconds ahead of Scudder.
However, Bashir-Mohammed was later disqualified because he was registered in the “AA” wave and moved up to the “A” wave for the start. Per Bolder Boulder policy, runners can move down in waves for the start, but not up. Bolder Boulder spokesperson Andy Martin said while itap unfortunate, there are hundreds of participants disqualified every year for moving up.
Therefore, Scudder goes down as a repeat winner, in 29:58, officially just the second sub-30-minute finish in the history of the Bolder Boulder citizen’s race.
“Itap a pretty cool feeling,” said Scudder, who has lived in Boulder for nearly two years. “Not maybe the way I thought it would happen, but I’ll take it. Thatap pretty cool to do.
“Obviously unfortunate, but the way Andy explained it is just you can’t make excuses no matter what place you finished. I understand why they did it, but unfortunate for (Bashir-Mohammed). Thatap just how it goes.”
Prior to Monday, 2009 champion Simon Cheprot (29:14) was the only participant in Bolder Boulder history to break the 30-minute mark. Scudder is now officially the second, thanks in part to Bashir-Mohammed pushing him.
Scudder led for much of the race before Bashir-Mohammed passed him on the hill going into Folsom Field.
“I like to think I’m a good front-runner, but definitely going on those last two miles he was pushing me,” Scudder said. “He was tucked in right on my heels, so I guess he was pushing in the sense of, like, the fear of losing, but it was good. It was definitely good to have somebody because no one started fast this year, so I was glad. Even if they’re sitting on me, I was glad to have him right there.”
Scudder is the first back-to-back winner in the men’s citizen’s race since Sammy Ngatia in 1999 and 2000. Scudder was five seconds faster than he was in 2025, when he won in 30:03.
“We don’t have a nice drizzle this year,” Scudder said. “Itap a little warmer, but I’ll take a PR on this course. For altitude, itap a pretty good time.”
Scudder, who starred collegiately at Charlotte before graduating in 2024, moved to Boulder in August of 2024. He ran his first Bolder Boulder a year ago and said he plans to be back next year.
“Oh yeah, I mean, as long as I live here I’ll make an appearance,” he said.
Braden Nicholson was officially second place, in 30:32, while Sam Parsons was third, in 30:38. Both of them also call Boulder home.
While he wound up being disqualified, Bashir-Mohammed ran a stellar race in his first appearance in the Bolder Boulder.
A Sudan native and 2018 graduate of George Washington High School in Denver, Bashir-Mohammed just started running about six years ago. He attended the Bolder Boulder the past four years as a spectator.
“I didn’t know much about it,” Bashir-Mohammed said after the finish and before learning he had been disqualified. “I just come out and watch the pro race and enjoy the Memorial weekend sort of thing. I’m new to running; I started running, like, basically six years ago, and 2022 was the first time watching a professional race. I just come watch, learn, experience from the professionals and stuff. See how they move.”
On May 17, Bashir-Mohammed won the Colfax Half Marathon for the third year in a row. Bashir-Mohammed, who ran at the University of Saint Mary in Kansas, hopes to run both events next year, as well.
“I’m just a guy that looks for opportunities, so when the opportunity come, I will execute,” he said. “(Running) started as therapy, and then now itap basically trying to make it my full-time job. We continue building from there.”
