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Next time, Mario Macias should consider slowing down and taking in the Front Range views.
The competitors he left far behind wouldn’t mind.
The Alamosa road racer didn’t waste any time Saturday morning, setting a quick pace in the early going and pulling away in the higher elevations to surprise his nearest competitors, and winning the Pikes Peak Ascent men’s overall title in his first attempt in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 57 seconds.
“I kept thinking, especially with his fast start, that he’d come back or at least be in sight,” said runner-up Tommy Manning (2:15:43), of Colorado Springs. “When the winner isn’t even in sight of you and you’re in second, you got your butt kicked.”
It was the Mexican national’s first time on the summit of America’s Mountain and he was in a hurry to get there.
“I’m an aggressive racer, and I’m more of a road racer so I knew I needed to go out fast,” he said.
Not to be outdone, women’s overall champion Kim Dobson, 27, set a new age group (25-29) record and flirted with breaking the women’s overall mark set by Lynn Bjorklund (2:33:31) in the first half of the 1981 marathon.
Dobson, of Aurora, completed the 13.32-mile course in 2:34:07.
She beat runner-up Cynthia Arnold, 27, of Glenwood Springs (2:48:21), and Lisa Goldsmith, 46, (2:50.55) of Nederland, for top honors.
The two-day event concludes with the Pikes Peak Marathon, a 26.2 race to the summit and back, starting at 7 a.m. Sunday in downtown Manitou Springs.
The other records to fall, thanks in part to good weather conditions, were: Mike Kloser, 51, of Vail (2:38:56), in the master male category (2:39:44, Dale Petersen of Denver, 2007) and Chuck Smead, 60 of Mosca (2:58:47), to break the ages 60-64 mark of 3:02:25 set by Boulder’s Verne Carlson in 1994.
Simon Gutierrez was happy to take third in such a strong field, especially after a knee injury kept him from competing in last year’s Ascent. He finished in 2:18.15.
“Mario is so fast and so good,” said Gutierrez, who holds the men’s 35-39 record (2:13:29 set in 2003). “Speed is every bit as good as training on the mountain. I’m getting up there in age and my goal is to keep on running this race no matter where I finish.”
It wasn’t as easy as it seemed for Macias. Like most all the other runners, he had his low point. In his case, it came somewhere in miles 7-10 when fatigue and altitude took a toll. But he felt better by treeline, when Manning and Gutierrez hoped they could overtake him, and he powered through to the easy win.
Women’s champion Dobson had hopes of breaking the overall record, but was satisfied by her strong performance.
“It was truly a blessed day,” she said. “I knew (breaking the record) was a long shot.”
The bad news for the men is Macias, 29, plans to be back - and he could be even better.
“I didn’t train for it and I didn’t know what to expect,” he said of this year's race.
Or the good news could be he may take his time next year.
“It’s my first time up here and it is beautiful,” he said, looking out over the city. “Next time I’ll hike so I can stop and enjoy the view.”
His competitors may hope it is during the next Ascent.
- See a photo gallery of Ascent runners going all the way to the top of the peak.
- See a photo gallery of the leading Wave 1 Ascent runners.
- See a second photo gallery of Wave 1 Ascent runners.
- See a photo gallery of the final runners of the Ascent's Wave 1.
- See photos of runners near the 16 Golden Stairs.
MORE PHOTOS BELOW
Overall results:
1 - Mario Macias, 29, Alamosa, 2:08:57.
2 - Tommy Manning, 35, Colorado Springs, 2:15:43.
3 - Simon Gutierrez, 45, Colorado Spriings, 2:18:15.
4 - Jason C. Delaney, 31, of Golden, 2:20:03.
5 - Josh Eberly, 30, Gunnison, 2:22:26.
6 - Rickey Gates, 30, Woody Creek, 2:22:58.
7 - Peter M. Maksimow, 32, Manitou Spriings, 2:27:24.
8 - Jean Pellissier, 39, Saint Vincent, Italy, 2:30:03.
9 - Alex F. Nichols, 26, Colorado Springs, 2:32:04.
10 - Mark Mayall, 39, Maynard, Mass., 2:33:00.
11 - Oscar Roig, 38., Lleida, Spain, 2:33:52.
12 - Kim Dobson, 27, Aurora, 2:34:07.
13 - Chris Grauch, 38, Boulder, 2:34:40.
14 - Oscar Casal Mir, 32, Andorra la Vel, 2:335:25.
15 - Xavier E. Martinez, 37, Lleida, Spain, 2:36:57.
16 - Andy Ames, 48, Boulder, 2:37:45.
17 - Mike Kloser, 51, Vail, 2:38:56.
18 - Johannes Rudolph, 46, Boulder, 2:40:25.
19 - Marc Casal Mir, 28, Andorra la Vel, 2:41:55.
20 - Craig R. Howie, 34, Longmont, 2:42:33.
See photos from the first runners in Wave 2 of the Ascent.
See more photos from Wave 2 of the Ascent.
MORE stories from the PIKES PEAK ASCENT
A marriage proposal on the peak
First-time Ascent runners find the race difficult, challenging
Other news from the start, trail and finish of this year's race
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