COLORADO SPRINGS - Megan Roche had things under control in the USATF 30K Trail Championships on Saturday in the foothills southwest of Colorado Springs.

But with about two miles to run, she stopped and asked herself, "Where am I?"

"I unfortunately hit a wrong turn with about two miles to go and it took about four minutes off my race," Roche said. "I was just standing there, like, what's going on?"

She eventually found her way back on course, but had to sprint to stay in front of hard-charging Clare Gallagher of Englewood.

Video: interview with Megan

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"When I got back on course I was maybe five seconds in front of the second-place girl, so then I had to just really open up, and she did a great job," Roche said. "I just had to open up and dig through a lot of pain."

Roche, 26, finished in 2 hours, 17 minutes, 55 seconds, with Gallagher a few strides behind in 2:18:21.

In the men's race, Joe Gray, 32, of Colorado Springs, pulled away from the field on the1,200-foot climb up High Drive, and then galloped to his 11th national championship. He finished with a smile on his face, clocking 1:47:53. Matt Daniels, 28, of Boulder, placed second in 1:53:26. Daniels, who along with Gray will race in this year's World Mountain Running Championships in Bulgaria, said matching Gray's pace is painful.

“Anytime you’re racing Joe, you know you’re about to hurt,” Daniels said.

The event was hosted by Mad Moose Events as part of the Pikes Peak Ultra 30K. This was the first time a USATF trail championships had been staged at this distance.

"The new distance added a unique variety to the USATF Mountain Ultra Trail championship schedule," said Roche, who is living and training in Boulder this summer with her husband, Davod Roche.

The course began on single-track trails in Bear Creek Regional Park and continued onto the beautiful and scenic dirt roads and trails of Pikes Peak National Forest.  The beauty of the area was a comment heard often by the nearly 250 race participants in the 30K and companion 50 miler, the Pikes Peak Ultra.

Peter Maksimow, 37, of Manitou Springs, said his fitness has finally caught up to the growth of his beard.  Maksimow would claim third in 1:57:45.

“I ran the course in training before race day,” said Maksimow. “I figured the winning time would be around two hours so I was really happy to go under that mark.”

Darren Thomas and Scott Spillman came fourth and fifth respectively to round out the top five.

Amanda Basham, 26, of Manitou Springs, finished third in the women's race with a 2:21:56. The big climbs favored her abilities.

“Climbing is one of my strengths and I was able to pick girls off as the race went along,” she said.

New Mexico’s Erica Baron, 44, finished fourth, and captured the women's master's title in 2:23:54. Amanda Lee, 27, finished 17 seconds later to round out the top five on the women’s side.

Chris Grauch, 43, of Boulder, clocked 2:05:08 to place seventh in the men's race and win his fourth master's championship in the last two years. 

Mad Moose Events rewarded the USATF competitors with cash prizes of $300 for first, $225 for second, $150 for third, $125 for fourth, and $100 for fifth in both the men’s and women’s races.

There were 124 finishers in the race, including 42 USATF members. Other national champions were Jeanne McCumin, 60, Colorado Springs; Michele Genereux, 51, San Antonio, Texas; Dan Vega, 48, Colorado Springs; Scott Lebo, 50, Colorado Springs; Mark Tatum, 56, Colorado Springs; Dan Kuhlman, 62, Austin, Texas; Joe Shirley, 68, Centennial; and Ed Christy, 70, St. George, Utah.

Complete results will be available at www.madmooseevents.com and www.ultrasignup.com.

(USA Track and Field contributed to this report)