Brittni Hutton won the American Discovery Trail Marathon in her first attempt at the 26.2-mile distance,

VIDEO: Start of the ADT Marathon ** Interview with Mario Macias **Interview with Brittni Hutton ** Interview with half marathon winner Kari Samuelson

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With a few miles to run in her first marathon,  and with various body parts protesting every stride, Brittni Hutton of Colorado Springs needed some affirmation. And there was nobody to turn to except herself.

"I told myself, 'I can do this, I can do this.' That was the only thing, I think, that helped me survive," said Hutton, 24, of Colorado Springs.

Twelve hours before the start of the race she had no plans to run the American Discovery Trail Marathon, a 26.2-mile point-to-point race from Palmer Lake to downtown Colorado Springs. The half marathon was a more sensible idea, until her boyfriend, Brandon Birdsong-Johnson, convinced her to run long.

She consulted her coach who gave her a thumbs up and at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, just as the sun painted the foothills above Palmer Lake, Hutton began her journey into new territory.

With 11 miles to run, she was in fourth place. With four to go, she was in second. And as she loped into the lead in central Colorado Springs, the realization of possibly winning began to take hold. She could feel it. And that made her unbeatable, at least in this race.

"This was something I had to do," Hutton said. "I needed to feel something and this is what gave me that feeling again. I love running and I love racing, but I just needed to feel something different."

Hutton entered America the Beautiful Park and hit the finish line in 2 hours, 57 minutes, 25 seconds.

The mystique of the marathon has consumed another runner.

"I love it," she said. "It's a totally different ball game. But if you have the confidence in yourself, if you believe in yourself, that's all it takes. You'll finish."

Kristin Louderback, 32, of Denver finished in 3:01:02, followed by Heather Utrata (32, Greeley) in 3:02:18.

It was a big day for the marathon winners. Mario Macias started slowly, but picked up the pace with every mile and set a new course record of 2:24:10.

"My coach, Brad Hudson, had me doing a progression run," Macias said. "It was kind of hard letting somebody put 40 seconds on you the first mile. I started at 5:59 (per mile pace) and got faster and faster."

He reeled in Charles Hillig (28, Denver), the second-place runner, at Mile 15, then backed off the pace at Mile 24.

Macias, 32, of Boulder who has won the Pikes Peak Ascent and the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run, will return to Colorado Springs on Sept. 28 to run in the Colorado Springs Half Marathon. He'll then aim for bigger game at the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 12.

In the half marathon, Jess Palmer, 33, Indian Hills, dashed to the win in 1:18:27. Brian Foltz (27, Denver) was second in 1:18:45, followed by Lenny Laraio (40, Englewood) in 1:23.

In the women's race, Kari-Anne Samuelson, 32, of Denver, started in the back of the pack and slowly worked her way to the front to win in 1:27:43.

"I usually run stupid and go out to fast," Samuelson said. "So today was my first day of racing like you're supposed to."

Monica Foltz, 28, Denver, was second in 1:28:54, followed by Stephanie Wurtz, the two-time defending half marathon champions from Manitou Springs, in 1:31:55.