PHOTO: Alex Nichols heads to the finish line in Monday's American Discovery Trail Marathon


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VIDEO: Start of the ADT Marathon and the battle among the top three runners
VIDEO: Colorado Running Company runner Alex Nichols talks about his marathon win
VIDEO: Neal Oseland captures top spot in ADT Half Marathon
VIDEO:Colorado Springs' Rochelle Persson wins ADT Half Marathon

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Alex Nichols of Colorado Springs and Michele Suszek of Longmont won the men's and women's races in the American Discovery Trail Marathon on Monday in Colorado Springs. Both set course records.
Nichols, 25, who runs for the Colorado Running Company, clocked a 2:30:32 in his first competitive marathon, eclipsing the old record (2:32:30) set in 2009 by Justin Ricks. Suszek posted a time of 2:57:28, about three minutes better than the mark (3:00:35) set in 2009 by Haley Benson.
Neal Osleland of Colorado Springs wins ADT Half Marathon in 1 hour, 19 minutes and change. Rick Cahoon of Blanchard Michigan is second. Rochelle Persson of Colorado Springs won the women's half marathon in 1:32:30.
Nichols' win becomes more impressive when you consider that he was racing in his first competitive marathon.
"I did one when I was 13, but this is the first race that I've really done for marathon," Nichols said.
At the halfway point, it looked as if Timmy Parr of Gunnison (2009 Pikes Peak Ascent Champ) would sail to an easy victory. But his pace begain to fade around Mile 16 and Nichols (2010 Summer Roundup champ) reeled him in.
"We ran for a while with each other," Nichols said. "Right around 17 he fell off and I was by myself. I just tried to keep the pace fast."
They didn't bother to exchange pleasantries as they hustled down the Santa Fe Trail toward the finish in America the Beautiful Park.
"I think we were both at that point where we had to stay focused and it was hurting a little bit," Nichols said. "So there was no conversation going on."
Kelly Mortenson, 39, of St. Paul, Minn., eventually caught and passed Parr. Mortenson clocked
2:36:59 with Parr rolling in a minute behind.
Suszek blasted the women's field and looked as if she could run another marathon. She finished
more than 10 minutes ahead of Sharon Howard of Westminster (3:07:50). Tracy Thelan, 31, of
Colorado Springs was third in 3:16:39.
Oseland, 41, of Colorado Springs, used the race as a training run for the Ironman Triathlon World Championships, Oct. 9 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
"I was using this as kind of a guage for that and figured if I could do anything under 1:20, I'd be right where I want to be and I barely got under it," Oseland said. "The win was secondary, I just wanted the time. It worked out. I had a great time and suffered, so it was worth it."
Rick Cahoon, 33, of Blanchard, Mich., finished second in 1:21:46. Ross Dotzlaf, 29, Peyton, was third (1:26:16).
Persson, 42, wasn't concerned about winning.
"I wasn't thinking about that," she said. "What I really wanted was a 1:31:37, but I missed it by a few seconds." She was aiming for an average mile time of 6:59.