Air Academy High School senior Andy Boyle had lots of support in the Winter Series IV 20K on Saturday.

RESULTS: Where did you finish?
PHOTOS: Gallery 1, start of the long- and short-series races ** Gallery 2 ** Gallery 3

VIDEO:  Start of the long-series race ** Start of the short-series race **Interview with 17-year-old long-series champ Andy Boyle ** Runner completes 50th 10K, raising $50,000 to fight cancer

Andy Boyle powered around a muddy corner in the Black Forest on Saturday, pinned his eyes on the finish line and dashed through a cold wind to win the Winter Series IV Long-Course (20K) race and capture the overall series championship.

Boyle, a 17-year-old senior at Air Academy High School,  finished in 1 hour, 19 minutes and 41 seconds, one tick ahead of Tyler Dimson.

The Winter Series includes four race dates, and runners have a choice to enter the long-course (four races of longer distances) or short-course runs. A senior at the Air Force Academy, Boyle never imagined he'd win the long-course series, he was just trying to get in shape for his spring track and field season. But he won the first race at Cheyenne Mountain State Park and held off a tough challenge from Dimson in the remaining three races.

"That's where I built most of my lead," Boyle said. "Without that, I wouldn't have won, Tyler would have won."

To his credit, Dimson, an Air Force Academy sophomore who competes on the Air Force Marathon Team, battled through the race's final, painful strides.

"With about a half a mile to go we really picked up the pace and then I ended up just sprinting at the end," Boyle said. "I just barely got him."

A longtime member of the Pikes Peak Road Runners committee Stephanie Wurtz, 31, won again and swept the women's long series. Wurtz finished in 1:29:25, caught her breath and took over as race announcer. Shannon Meredith, 42, finished second in 1:32:27, setting an age-group (40-44) record in the process.

In the short-course races, series leaders James Burns and Sheila Geere won easily. Geere, 50, who was undefeated in four Winter Series starts, finished in a new age-group-record time of 43:24. Burns, who finished 25th last week in the US Track and Field Cross Country National Championships, clocked 33:50, just 14 seconds off the race record to claim his second-consecutive series title.

"That hurt," he said between deep breaths. "The wind was really blowing and my legs were really struggling. But I love the Winter Series, this is just a great event."

Burns, 25, is known as an up-beat triathlete, but said he may turn his focus to trail and mountain running.

"I really feel like I'm loving running so much," he said. "I'm mixing it up on the trails. I think I'd like to try to earn on place on the U.S. Mountain Running Team."

Reid Bartels, 18, finished in 38:34 to place second in the 10K.

Running to defeat cancer: With friends and family cheering him to the finish line, Drew Robinson completed his 50th 10K in 11 months in the Winter Series IV race. But the special moment wasn't all about him. The Colorado Springs runner had completed all of the races to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

He began his journey on his 50th birthday, March 20, 2013. Following Saturday's Winter Series race he had raised about $44,000 and is on track to meet his goal of $50,000 in one year.

Robinson was not a runner when he made the decision to help battle cancer by joining in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life program. He said his first race was miserable, but after 50 of them he now feels "lighter and stronger."

For more info about Robinson and the Relay for Life, check outhttp://bit.ly/MjDqzp.