Photo above: Robert Cheseret put distance on John Mickowski at the five-mile point of Sunday Top 10 Mile Race in Colorado Springs.

Men's and Women's Results
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Video Robert Cheseret
Video Megan Burrell

One thing that runners Robert Cheseret and Megan Burrell understand: Running is not an activity that produces instant gratification.
The the big goals are reached - literally - one step at a time.
And that's what each one took on Saturday with their victories in the first running of the Top 10 Mile Race in Colorado Springs.
The Kenyan-born Cheseret, brother to U.S. Olympian and reigning 3,000-meter indoor champ Bernard Lagat, cruised to victory on the mostly downhill course in 50 minutes, 36 seconds. Burrell, a Coronado High School grad who is preparing for her senior cross country season at the University of Colorado, won in 1:07:32.
The race began at the Grace Athletic Center and finished at Colorado College's Washburn Field.
For Cheseret, a soldier who is training in the Army's World Class Athlete Program, the race is another stride in his chase of the Olympic dream. He's aiming for the 2012 10K in London. His next step will be the Army Ten-Miler, Oct. 24 in Washington, D.C.
"This 10-mile race is a tune-up," Cheseret said. "Toward the end, I was pushing a little bit, but other than that, the race went great."
Cheseret's training partner in the World Class Athlete Program, John Mickowski finished second in 51:15. Manitou High School graduate and 2004 Olympic Marathon trials qualifier Trent Briney was third in 52:10, followed by Alex Nichols, the 2010 Summer Roundup champ (52:21) and Emilio Trujille (55:57).
Burrell had hoped to put in a nice long run as part of her training schedule for college cross country, but the the Top 10 turned out to be her first win in an open race.
"I got the time I wanted," she said. "Ten miles is not an easy race. "I was thinking of doing a long run, but it turned into something a little faster."
Her first seasons of cross country were frustrating. She hopes that Saturday's result is a sign of better things to come.
Stephanie Meredith, 28, of Colorado Springs finished second in 1:09:06, followed by Kelly Miller (43, Colorado Springs, 11:11:51); Sue Barnes (44, Colorado Springs, 1:13:56) and Kellie Kreikmeir (39, Colorado Springs, 1:15:01).
The new race: Runner's Rost owner Gary Staines said the new race was added to give area runners an alternative to the standard race distances.
"There are so many 5K and 10K races," Staines said. "We thought people might like to have the longer distance."
There were 190 finishers in the first Top 10 Mile Race.
Staines said the race date may be pushed to September or later in the year to avoid the congested summer schedule. There were three running events in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
Runner's Roost is one of four producers of the six-race Grand Prix of Running series.