Ryan Hafer crushed the Hellacious Trail Challenge record by two minutes. Hafer beat the heat and a tough course to cover the 9-mile(ish) run in 58 minutes, 1 second.

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VIDEO: Start of the Hellacious Trail Challenge

By Joe Paisley

If not for a wrong turn at the last minute, Ryan Hafer might have set a course record that may never fall at the Third Annual Hellacious Trail Challenge in Palmer Park.

The Colorado Springs resident, 26, completed the hilly nine-mile course in an impressive time of 58 minutes, one second, smashing the former record by more than two minutes. The 2004 Coronado graduate missed the final turn toward the finish line at the Maizeland parking lot.

“That probably cost me 30 seconds,” he said. “It was good. I was able to go fast and not worry about holding back.”

The record was especially impressive when you consider that it was 82 degrees when the race began Sunday morning and 93 by the time most of the 129 entrants finished about 90 minutes later.

“I knew (Hafer) could do it but I was not so sure with the heat today,” said race director Cody Hill. “It is much hotter than last year.”

The race was sponsored by the Boulder Running Company, owned by Hill and his wife Lori, and North Face equipment and apparel. Six racers did not show, including a few evacuated from Manitou Springs overnight because of the Waldo Canyon Fire and others with respiratory conditions affected by the smoke, Hill said.

Hafer, the top local finisher (third place) at the recent Garden of the Gods 10-Mile Run, set a fast pace from the start, said runner-up Alex Nichols, 27, of Colorado Springs, who finished in 1:00.22, which would have won the race last summer.

“Ryan always starts off fast,” said Nichols, who won the 2010 Triple Crown of Running title. “I worked my way up through the pack.”

Golden’s Jason Delaney, 32, won his 30-39 age group and placed third overall in 1:02.06. Afterward, He felt the heat and the challenge of the steep terrain covered with rocks and sand a bit more than Hafer, a past Barr Trail and Pikes Peak Ascent champion, and Nichols.

“I started out too fast, so my thermostat boiled over a bit today,”

Delaney said. “It is a challenging course with a lot of sand. I had a couple slips but never hit the dirt. I am happy about that.”

The women’s champion was Angie Martell, 28, of Colorado Springs (1:18.50) who fought off a good challenge from runner-up Ashley Luna, 28, of Denver (1:19.54).

“I knew they were on my tail the whole time,” Martell said, referring to the top five runners.

Luna did well on the incline portions, which were broken up by switchbacks, but felt the punishing nature of the course as she went downhill.

“The first half was fun but the second half was a mother,” she said.

For some, the race was fun the entire time.  Seventeen-year-old Reid Bartels of Rampart High School, who finished 12th overall, loved the downhill portions.

“I really like the technical stuff and nearly killing myself on the downhills,” he said with a grin. “It’s exciting to run like that.”