Ashlee Nelson powers up the first hills near the start of the Summer Roundup Trail Run. The 32-year-old Colorado Running Company runner won the Vail Hill Climb on Saturday, then set a new women's course record (51:27) in the Roundup on Sunday. Rochelle Persson, who finished third in the Roundup, gives chase.

RESULTS: Race results in Finish Line Index
VIDEO: Start of the Summer Roundup ** Interview with men's winner Andy Wacker ** Interview with women's winner Ashlee Nelson
PHOTOS: Start, Summer Roundup ** Gallery 1 (By Anya Inman)  ** Gallery 2 ** Gallery 3 ** Finish Line Gallery ** Finish Line Gallery 2 ** Awards Gallery

By Monica Smith
PikesPeakSports.us

The Summer Roundup 12K Trail Run - the second stop in the Triple Crown of Running Series - is notorious for the lung-crushing climb up High Drive and the leg-demolishing downhills back to the finish.

But Ashlee Nelson made it look easy, taking the women’s field in 51 minutes, 26 seconds, while chipping 1:17 off of the women’s course record. And she did it one day after winning the brutal Vail Hill Climb, a 7.5-mile race with nearly 2,500 feet of vertical gain.

Doing the Vail and Summer Roundup double is becoming a habit for the area's elite trail runners. How is this for Deja vu? Ryan Hafer, the 2012 Summer Roundup overall winner and course record holder, did the exact same last year. He won at Vail then set the Roundup record of 41:46. No big deal.

“Wow. That’s a pleasant surprise,” Nelson, of Colorado Springs, said after learning she had taken down the previous course record of 52:43 set in 2008 by Samantha McGlone. “I did have to go as hard as I could because I figured I’d get passed on the downhill, but no - it went well and I don’t think I’ve ever run this hard on this course so it was tough but a great race.”

Nicole Mericle, of Boulder, chased Nelson to the finish and clocked 51:35. She went home with a new age-group (25-29) record. Not bad considering it was her first trail race.

“I didn’t really know what to expect at all,” Mericle said. “I didn’t know who was in it and I didn’t really know the course.

“I went out in what I thought was a comfortable pace and felt pretty good for the first couple (of miles) and then I hit that huge hill - it was probably better that I didn’t know how long it was. When I got to the turnaround, that was when (Ashlee) passed me and put a lot of ground on me in the first few seconds just because I’m not used to flying downhill like that. It’s very new to me, but I liked it a lot.”

Rochelle Persson, of Colorado Springs, finished third in 55:04.

Nelson, Mericle and Persson also competed in the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run, the first leg of the Triple Crown of Running series. Nelson finishing seventh overall for the women in 1:06:52, Mericle finished 10th overall in 1:08:43 and Persson finished 114th overall in 1:09:46. Nelson and Persson plan to compete the Pikes Peak Ascent in August--Mericle is thinking about it.

For the men, Boulder's Andy Wacker was the first to the top by almost two minutes and the first to cross the finish line in 44:33.

“I came into the race knowing it was going to be big hills and that’s kind of why I did it,” Wacker said. “I’m getting ready for the U.S. Mountain Running Champs, which is in two weeks in New Hampshire, and so I figured I’d start doing a trail run or two before then.

“But, oh man, this has some monster hills - especially out on High Drive,” Wacker continued. “It really makes you work for it, that’s for sure.”

The U.S. Mountain Running Championships will be held at the Cranmore Hill Climb on July 21. The Top 6 U.S. men finishers will qualify to run at the world championships.

While Wacker had an impressive lead at the top of High Drive, second place Neil McDonagh, of Manitou Springs, Colo., gained a lot of ground on the way back from the turn around, running the last 6K a minute faster than Wacker. McDonagh finished in 45:20.

“Ole Andy is teaching an old dog some new tricks: being, I shouldn’t have gone out with him the first three-fourth’s of a mile,” McDonagh said. “I was feeling like the last hundred (meters) of a marathon before the one mile mark.”

Finishing third for the men was Tommy Manning, of Colorado Springs, Colo., in 46:16.

The Triple Crown concludes on Aug. 17-18 with the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon.

Top 5 Men Overall

1. Andy Wacker 44:33

2. Neil McDonagh 45:20

3. Tommy Manning 46:16

4. Wojciech Kopec 46:25

5. Carlos Ruibal 48:13

Top 5 Women Overall

1. Ashlee Nelson 51:26

2. Nicole Mericle 51:35

3. Rochelle Persson 55:04 - 1st Masters, Women

4. Connilee Walter 56:41

5. Sarah Guhl 57:30