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Photo by Bob Kane, Design Photography
By Neal Reid, OutThereColorado.com
For hundreds of Colorado Springs runners, a picture-perfect Sunday morning was a great backdrop for the third installment of the Pikes Peak Road Runners’ Fall Series.
Nearly 400 runners – some clad in Halloween costumes – took to the 6-mile course that started at the track at Eagleview Middle School and wound through Ute Valley Park in northwest Colorado Springs for the third of four Fall Series races. Cloudless blue skies, warm sunshine and a fall breeze greeted runners of all abilities and ages, ranging from 9-69.
Check out a photo gallery from the race!
A challenging course that included several hills, a trek through a dry creek bed, narrow trails and even a stack of hay bales as a hurdle awaited the competitors, who pushed themselves to the limit.
Alex Nichols, who works at Colorado Running Company, extended his lead in the series by winning the race in 34 minutes, 18 seconds, a full 40 seconds ahead of Peter Maksimow. Justin Ricks was third in 35:46.
“It was rocky and hilly, so it made for a good trail race,” said Nichols, who is also working on a documentary on Kenyan runners called “Where Dreams Don’t Fade.”
“I’ve lived here for eight years, and this is my first time running in Ute Valley Park. It was a good introduction to it. It was definitely really tough. I was just trying to keep my lead in the (Fall) series, so it’s good to have a cushion.”
The 26-year-old, who ran track and cross country for Colorado College before graduating in 2008, will look to secure the series title Nov. 13 at Palmer Park.
The women’s winner wasn’t even supposed to be in the race, but Mother Nature intervened. When Wednesday’s snowstorm canceled a Thursday race in which Clare Bar and her husband, Dan, were planning on competing, the couple switched their schedule to include Sunday’s Ute Valley Park race.
Men's results ... women's results
Good thing for Clare Bar, who won the women’s division with a time of 43:32. That time was good for 26th overall and was exactly a minute ahead of Connilee Walter. Amanda Ewing finished third in 44:44.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Clare Bar, a navigation payload analyst for GPS who works at Schriever Air Force Base. “There was so much different terrain, and I’ve come to like running on hills. I tried to go into this race with the mentality of going out easy and catching people on the hills. It was very tough and challenging.”
More importantly for Bar, she finished ahead of her husband, who was 36th overall with a time of 44:59.
“This is the first time I’ve ever beaten him,” she said. “He had a tough week and wasn’t as amped up and prepared for this race as I was. That’s the only reason I beat him.”
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