Gerald Romero hit the finish line in Cheyenne Cañon to win the Canya Cañon 6K in 32:43.

PHOTOS: Gallery 1, start of Cany Cañon and Gallery 2, finish line pics
VIDEO: Interview with Gerald Romero

RESULTS HERE

If you enjoy this race coverage, please consider supporting PikesPeakSports.us. Click the "Donate" button, top left on the main page.

Longtime Colorado Springs-area runner Gerald Romero, 40, raced to the win in the Canya Cañon 6K on Sunday, covering the steep single track course in 32 minutes, 43 seconds. It was his third win there in four years.

"It's a tough race, but I've had some good luck here," Romero said.

The race is a fundraiser for Friends of Cheyenne Cañon. About 100 runners took on the tough course which began at Starsmore Discovery Center and ended above Helen Hunt Falls, climbing 1,000 vertical feet along the Columbine Trail in Cheyenne Cañon.

The Colorado Running Company's Amanda Ewing won the women's race in 37:11, and finished more than a minute ahead of 13-year-old Kayli Tabares, last year's winner.

Tabares and Ewing finished within a stride of one another in 2011. Their friendly competition continued this year.

"I know she is getting really fast," Ewing said. "I got ahead of her on some of the steeper parts of the trail, and then she caught me. I finally pulled away on a steady climb, but I had to keep telling myself, 'don't look back."

Kim Caldwell finished third in the women's race with a time of 42:30.

Romero began running as a high school cross country and track star at Sierra High School in the late 1980s. He ran at the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo, and has been among the lead pack in nearly every race he's entered since then.

Romero had company early in the race with Runners Roost teammate Dan Vega, and Jayson Middlemiss, giving chase.

"Yeah, I had some good competition with those guys," Romero said. "I finally was able to pull away on some of the hills."

Vega finished in 34:13, with Middlemiss clocking in at 35:02.