Photo provided by the Boulder Running Company

It’s easy to like Gerald Romero. The 38-year-old runner from Colorado Springs possesses an endearing self-deprecating sense of humor. He speaks with a sincere and passionate inflection. And he runs like the wind.

The two-time defending champion of the Colorado Springs Triple Crown of Running, Romero will travel a familiar path on Sunday when he competes with 750 other runners in the Summer Roundup Trail Run at Bear Creek Park. He has plenty of history there.

“You know, I think I realized at the Summer Roundup that I could be a pretty good runner if I just trained for it,” Romero said. “I’m just good at the rolling hills.”

He’s also a tough climber - he has three top-10 finishes in the Pikes Peak Ascent - and he can fly downhill. With a 1,000 feet elevation gain at the turn-around point (3.7 miles), the 7.4-mile out-and-back Summer Roundup profile is a perfect fit for him.

“I’m really good at the ones that go uphill and turn around and come back,” Romero said. “I can do a great uphill on the way out. Then I can shift gears and hammer on the way back.”

The pressure is on. Romero, who runs for Runners Roost, has won the Roundup twice, and he is determined to defend his Triple Crown streak.

“I’m going to give it my all,” he said. “I have to defend my titles. It’s such an honor to be a Triple Crown champion.”

He is a special runner finding his best stride late in his career. Romero graduated from Sierra High School as the first four-year letter winner (cross country) in the school’s history. He then competed on two national-qualifying cross country teams at the University of Southern Colorado. But these days his legs are better than ever.

“I’m a late bloomer,” he said. “I think these years are going to be my best. I’m faster than I’ve ever been, faster than I was in high school and college, because I know what I’m doing.”

It's also easy to appraciate Romero's pure love of running. He enters races on almost every weekend of the year. He'll show up at a fun run with a 100 participants on one weekend, then lead a pack of elite runners in a tough trail race the next.

"That's one thing about me," he said. "I do it all, 5K to marathons."

His person best times are: 5K 16:30, 10K 33:20, Garden of the Gods 10 Mile 58:50, Pikes Peak Ascent 2:31,

He struggles to pick a favorite race or moment in race. But said running in the Cross Country Nationals in Boulder in 2007 was a highlight.

"I got my butt kicked, but it was a honor to be there," he said.

He's proud of a third-place finish in the Denver Race For the Cure.

"I was in third the whole way, I dropped back to fifth and with a quarter-mile to go I passed those two guys," he said. "I won a big crystal plaque and they only gave awards to the top three."

But his favorite is the 2006 Pikes Peak Ascent.He also has fond memories of his first top-10 finish at Pikes Peak. With two miles to go somebody yelled to him that he was in eighth place.

"That was the high," he said. "That was a great feeling. It was a goal to finish Top 10 at Pikes Peak."

And, like all the truly great runners, Romero craves competition.

"I love beating guys younger than me," he said. "I have three tubs full of race trophies at home. I've been racing people for more than 20 years and I just love it."

Here comes the competition: Romero will need all of his speed and race savvy on Sunday to outrun Tommy Manning, one of the best climbers and trail runners in the country. A Fountain Valley High School teacher, Manning has earned a berth on the U.S. Mountain Running National Team that will compete in the World Mountain Running Championships Sept. 5 in Kamnik, Slovenia. Manning placed second in the Pikes Peak Ascent last year, recording a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes, 59 seconds.

In the women’s race, watch for Ashlee Nelson of Colorado Springs. Nelson finished second in the Triple Crown standings last year. She was third in the 2009 Summer Roundup Trail Run and recently finished sixth in the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run.

Race notes: Race director Ron Ilgen said the Summer Roundup Run field is full. There is a race cap of 750 participants and it filled on Wednesday. There will be no registration on race morning.

Venue change coming? If you happen to have 1,000 acres with good trails and lots of parking, give Ilgen a call. The Triple Crown organizers are searching for a new venue for the Summer Roundup. With the number of Triple Crown runners increasing, Ilgen said he would like to have a venue that will allow more runners. The current course, which begins in Bear Creek Park and climbs High Drive, works for only about 750.

“We want a venue that really meets the standards of the Triple Crown,” Ilgen said. “Right now, it feels a little like a Sunday morning fun run. We want to make this second leg more of a prestigious race.”

Ilgen said he is considering Cheyenne Mountain State Park and, perhaps, the Cheyenne Canyon area with a loop that includes the Columbine Trail, Gold Camp Road and The Chutes Trail.