By Monica Smith

Lauren Kleppin, 23, of Fort Collins, finished first among the women at the 36th annual Garden of the God's 10 Mile Run Today in 1 hour, 3 minutes, 03 seconds, a solid 5:31 ahead of the second-place finisher.

“My plan was to just take it out really easy and controlled. I knew it was a hilly course - I wasn’t sure how hilly - and I’m glad I did," Kleppin said. "It was also really windy, but it definitely worked really well and I felt good through the whole thing.”

Kleppin, a Western State College alumnus, earned a career total of nine NCAA Division II All-America honors in track and field and cross country. She also recorded the fastest ever women’s 10,000-meter run in Division II at 32 minutes, 49 seconds.

But while was the most decorated female runner galloping through the picturesque Garden of the Gods, there were many other astounding women at the race.

Second place Kelly Ramirez, 26, of Fort Collins, finished in 1:08:34. And she did it while training only 35 miles a week with little speed work. She said the people around her helped to push her.

“I made some friends and tried to hold on,” Ramirez said.

Rachael Cuellar, 30, of Albuquerque, an expecting mother 15 weeks into her pregnancy, finished fourth among the women in 1:10:41. She has continued training and didn't want to miss the Garden of the Gods race.

"Yea, I signed up for it months ago, even before," she said. "So, I kind of was committed to it, and wanted to do it. So I just came out today to try it."

Cuellar said she has been maintaining about 40 miles per week, but refrains from doing any hard workouts to protect her baby.

"I think the most I've ran is nine to 10 miles once a week and then I usually do six to seven miles five days a week. I haven't really been training that much," she said, adding that racing is her hard workout.

She said she has more energy as she enters her second trimester and plans to run a few more races throughout her pregnancy. She also knows she'll have to slow down.

"In the beginning I just had to keep trying to do a little bit, and now I can do a little more," she said. "Eventually in the third trimester you're going to go back down hill again in what you can do."

Like many runners, Cuellar was hooked by the Garden of the Gods. She said she'll come back and try for a faster time.

"I had fun out there," she said. "It was kind of hard with the wind and I'll probably do it again next year. Maybe I'll beat my time by five minutes, or something."

Joyce McKelvey, 67, of Black Forest, the women’s 65-to-69 age division winner, said she simply enjoys the environment the race offers.

“There’s a lot more women running,” McKelvey said in regards to the development of women’s running.

There were 665 women that ran the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run this year - a 237 person increase in 1991, 20 years ago.

The Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Running series, which also includes the Summer Roundup 12K Trail Run July 9, and the Pikes Peak Ascent or Marathon August 18 and 19.