Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race: Runners get by with a little help from their friends

PHOTO: Peter Maksimow, Andrea Watkins, Tommy Manning and Sean O'Day. Maksimow and Manning tied for the 25K win, though Maksimow was officially declared the winner. O'Day was third. Watkins is one of the owners of Epic Endurance Events which produced the race.

PHOTOS
Cheyenne Mountain 25K/50K Trails Race Gallery 1
Cheyenne Mountain 25K/50K Trails Race Gallery 2

VIDEO
Start of the 25K Race
Start of the 50K Race


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Running stride-for-stride with a mile to go in the inaugural Cheyenne Mountain 25K Trail Race Saturday at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Peter Maksimow and Tommy Manning saw no reason for a dramatic finish.
"At the end, we were approaching two hours of running, we were tired, we just decided to cruise in together," Maksimow said.
Sometimes, a guy does get by with a little help from his friends. Maksimow and Manning, veterans of the Pikes Peak Ascent, know it's better to have somebody along when the trail tilts up. And the Cheyenne Mountain State park course had some steep sections, not to mention a brisk wind and snow flurries to make things interesting.
"Those big hills are tough to do on your own," Maksimow said.
They hit the finsh line together, but the official results had Maksimow, of Manitou Springs, winning in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 32 seconds. Manning,  of Colorado Springs,  finished one tick behind.

"The wnd and snow probably slowed us down, but we also talked the whole time," Manning said.

Colorado Springs-area runners Sean O'Day  (1:59:06) and Paul Mann (2:08:09) placed third and fourth respectively.
In the women's 25K, nobody could touch Amanda Ewing (above left, Colorado Springs), who clocked 2:17:01, the 10th best time of the day. Melissa Eichers-Bay (Colorado Springs) was second in 2:28:18, followed by Sharon Good (Castle Rock) in 2:30:02.
The 50K: Boulder's Michael Dominguez (right), 27, is new to trail racing, but after taking the win in 4:09:02 (and the $500 cash prize provided by the Colorado Running Company) he might have a new passion. Dominguez ran with Jason Schlarb (Boulder) for the first 23 miles, then  pulled away.
"We were working together, but when you gotta go, you gotta go," Dominguez said.
Schlarb, 32, crossed in 4:11:33, followed by Levi Severson (Boulder) at 4:12:17.
"The last eight miles, my legs just weren't there," Schlarb said.
The women's race may have been the best of the day. Only 43 seconds separated race winner Maria Petzold (left) ,of Eldorado Springs, and Hannah Green, 20, of Colorado Springs.
Petzold said she had to take a restrom break at four miles, but regained the lead by Mile 5.
Green (below right), who had never ran longer than a marathon distance, made up ground on the single track course's final twists and turns, but ran out of gas and real estate.
"By that point, I couldn't speed up," she said. "I'm just glad to finish in one piece."
Leila Degrave finished third in 5:10:11.
Trail talk: The new race received a thumbs up from all the runners. Some GPS devices measured the course a little longer than advertised, but nobody seemed to care.
"This race had  a little bit of everything," Manning said. "Uphill, downhill, dirt and rocks. That's what trail running is to me."

Pikes Peak on her mind: Petzold, who recently won the Salida Marathon, said her No. 1 goal this year is the Pikes Peak Marathon, scheduled for Aug. 21.

"It's a 14er, a great challenge, one of the best in the world," She said. "The top mountain runners in the world race there."

25K Men Top 15

1. Peter Maksimow 1:57:33
2. Tommy Manning 1:57:33
3. Sean O'Day 1:59:08
4. Paul Mann 2:08:10
5. Dan O'Connell 2:10:09
6. Tyler Lobb 2:10:53
7. Don Solberg 2:12:17
8. Ragan Driver 2:20:51
9. Mark Hatch 2:22:23
10. Jeffrey Lucy 2:22:40
11. Thomas Moore 2:24:17
12. Wayde Jester 2:24:34
13. Michael Trimboli 2:25:06
14. Don Byers 2:27:40
15. Adrian Stanciu 2:29:17

25K Women Top 15
1. Amanda Ewing 2:17:04
2. Melissa Eichers-Bay 2:28:21
3. Sharon Good 2:30:08
4. Cary Callahan 2:30:29
5. Chrissy Steigerwald 2:32:21
6. Veronica Creech 2:34:45
7. Susie Howery 2:45:06
8. Susan Nunn 2:45:06
9. Caitlin Reusche 2:45:08
10. Danielle Spivey 2:46:39
11. Deirdre Shearer 2:46:53
12. Tracey Anderson 2:47:20
13. Anne Grete Groenlien 2:52:25
14. Laurie Strasburger 2:54:07
15. Wendy Ingrahm 2:58:11

50K Men Top 15
1. Michael Dominguez 4:09:04
2. Jason Schlarb 4:11:34
3. Levi Severson 4:12:18
4. Brendan Trimboli 4:24:31
5. Brandon Stepanowich 4:31:18
6. Joseph Berg 4:34:00
7. Patrick Garcia 4:48:10
8. Rick Hessek 4:49:17
9. Neil Paulson 4:52:20
10. Paul Doyle 4:56:26
11. Tyson Nunn 5:13:02
12. Wyatt Hornsby 5:25:06
13. Marco Peinado 5:26:26
14. Jim Stanec 5:28:03
15. Corky Dean 5:28:59

50K Women Top 15
1. Maria Petzold 4:59:04
2. Hannah Green 4:59:47
3. Leila Degrave 5:10:15
4. Alyssa Wildeboer 5:18:35
5. Marny Scalard 5:50:36
6. Sarah Weigel 5:51:00
7. Randi Strand 5:56:33
8. Sheila Huss 6:03:38
9. Rochelle Garnanez 6:18:19
10. Maritsa Yupa 6:37:35
11. Chris Poland 6:47:15
12. Dawn Scott 6:50:21
13. Ryan Rowley 6:50:21
14. Sarah Murphy Case 6:56:10
15. Holly Graubins 6:57:48