Simon Gutierrez led the way in the first steep mile of the Pikes Peak Road Ascent while Jason Delaney and Tommy Manning gave chase.

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VIDEO: Start of the Pikes Peak Road Ascent

VIDEO: Kim Dobson wins again!

VIDEO: Jason Delaney wins in the final strides

VIDEO: Tommy Manning breaks down his race

VIDEO: Close finish in the Pikes Peak Road Ascent

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With half a mile to run in the thin air on Pikes Peak, Jason Delaney needed a little encouragement.
He found it in an unlikely place. As Delaney gasped for air near the finish of the inaugural Pikes Peak Road Ascent, an 11.6 mile run on the Pikes Peak Highway, Tommy Manning, the 2011 USA Mountain Running Team member from Colorado Springs, pulled up beside him.
"He was gracious enough to let me know we had a quarter mile to go," Delaney said.
That was all he needed to tap the last of his energy reserves and charge to the finish at Glen Cove in a winning time of 1 hour, 21 minutes, 44 seconds.
Manning, who had burned himself up erasing Delaney's 150-yard lead, hit the finish a few steps behind in 1:21:48. It was one of the closest races in the Pikes Peak Region this year.
"I really assumed I could catch him," Manning said. "And I did catch him, I just didn't pass him. I was going as hard as I could. My leg's wren't burning in pain, they weren't dead tired. They just wouldn't move any faster."
Simon Gutierrez, 45, of Colorado Springs placed third in 1:26:40.
In the women's race, Kim Dobson, 27, of Aurora, won for the second time in eight days on Pikes Peak. She finished the new Road Ascent in 1:34:31. She captured the 13.3-mile Pikes Peak Ascent last week on famous Barr Trail in 4:33:44, only 30 seconds off a 30-year-old course record.
The race began at the Pikes Peak Highway toll gate at 7,750 feet and finished near treeline at 11,425 feet.
Delaney, one of Colorado's top road runners, said he waited for the course to flatten out in the middle miles to make his move. It was his only chance against runners who like the steep stuff.
"I did manage to put a little gap on them," he said. "I was really hoping it would hold up and it barely did because Tommy was coming after me really fast."
Dobson may be the best climber of all the women mountain runners in the country. She won the Mt. Washington Road Race earlier this summer and is the record holder in the Mt. Evans Ascent (2:01:39 in 2010). Grinding up the Pikes Peak Highway blacktop, she was uncontested in the women's race and finished fourth overall. She excelled on the tougher grades.
"Right at Mile 8 the pitch probably went to 10 percent and it stayed at a consistent grade for the rest of the race," she said.  "But I was happy when it got to that 10 percent because that's what feel natural right now after training for Pikes (the Pikes Peak Ascent). It was awesome. A lot of fun. Really peaceful and beautiful."

Rachel Cueller, 29, of Albuquerque, finished second in 1:40:03, followed by Lisa Goldsmith, 43, of Nederland in 1:46:34.

The race was held in conjunction with the second Assault on Pikes Peak, a 24.5-mile bike ride from Manitou Springs to the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak.