The Pikes Peak Marathon has been selected to host 2013 USA Track and Field Trail Marathon National Championship.

The announcement was made Saturday at USATF's annual meeting in Daytona Beach, Fla., where the national championship events in several distances were determined. Howard Nippert, newly-elected vice chairperson of the USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council, said the decision was unanimous.

"It's a different style of course for us with unique challenges," he said. "It combines elevation and altitude with terrain variations from the fast start on the pavement to single-track terrain with rocks, scree, and dirt trails. Add to the mix the World-class field and you have the perfect event to host our 2013 USA Marathon Trail Championships. We're excited to see Pikes Peak join our lineup of events."

Coverage of the 2012 Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon.

The race will also be a part of the USATF Trail Series (sub-ultra), which will include the 10K Trail Championship in North Carolina (Beech Mountain), the U.S. Mountain Championship in New Hampshire (Mt. Cranmore), and the Half Marathon Championship in Moab, Utah. Series runners will be scored in each race, with no more than three counting toward their series total.

The Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent have always been nationally famous, but the races garnered more attention recently with additional prize money, including the $5,000 "Bounty" bonus. And the marathon drew the endorsement of 2012 winner Kilian Jornet, arguably the biggest name in mountain running, who said it is one of the top three mountain races in the world.

Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc. President Ron Ilgen said the USATF championship and the Pikes Peak Marathon are a natural fit.

"We are proud to include a USATF championship to our history of providing international mountain running competition such as our World Mountain Running Association and World Skyrunning Federation events," Ilgen said. "This championship race adds to our tradition of having the Pikes Peak Marathon and Pikes Peak Ascent in the forefront of mountain running competition."