WINTER SERIES IV

RESULTS: Where did you finish? ** Overall series results at the Pikes Peak Road Runners website
PHOTOS: Gallery 1, start of the long- and short-series races ** Gallery 2 ** Gallery 3

VIDEO:  Start of the long-series race ** Start of the short-series race **Interview with 17-year-old long-series champ Andy Boyle ** Runner completes 50th 10K, raising $50,000 to fight cancer

Andy Boyle powered around a muddy corner in the Black Forest on Saturday, pinned his eyes on the finish line and dashed through a cold wind to win the Winter Series IV Long-Course (20K) race.

With the win, the 17-year-old captured the overall series championship.

Boyle finished in 1 hour, 19 minutes and 41 seconds, one tick ahead of Tyler Dimson.

The Winter Series includes four race dates, and runners have a choice to enter the long-course (four races of longer distances) or short-course runs. A senior at the Air Force Academy, Boyle never imagined he'd win the long-course series, he was just trying to get in shape for his spring track and field season. But he won the first race at Cheyenne Mountain State Park and held off a tough challenge from Dimson in the remaining three races.

"That's where I built most of my lead," Boyle said. "Without that, I wouldn't have won, Tyler would have won." Read the story ...

WINTER SERIES III

RESULTS!
PHOTOS, Gallery 1 ** Gallery 2 ** Gallery 3
VIDEO, Interview with Joe Gray, men's short-course winner **Start of the Winter Series III 10-mile run ** Start of the 5-mile run

Mountain runner Joe Gray enjoys a technical course, but the snowy five miles in the Winter Series III race challenged him.

"I think there were some places where snowshoes would have worked pretty well," Gray said.

About 600 runners lined up on the Santa Fe Trail south of Monument for the third race in the Winter Series. The out-and-back course included a four-inch blanket of snow with the consistency of brown sugar.

If the conditions weren’t tough enough, James Burns, the leader in the Winter Series short-course standings, provided some tough competition for Gray, a six-time member of the U.S. Mountain Running team and the reigning Club Cross Country National Champion.

The two battled shoulder-to-shoulder for four miles before Gray found solid footing in the slush and pulled away to win in 27 minutes, 52 seconds. Burns, the 2013 Winter Series short-course champion, galloped home just a few strides behind in 27:58. Read more...

WINTER SERIES II

RESULTS!
PHOTOS: Gallery 1 ** Gallery 2
VIDEO: Start of the Winter Series II Long-Course (eight mile) race ** Interview with Sheila Geere, women's short-course winner

Though she has the talent to compete in bigger races, 50-year-old Sheila Geere said she runs to stay in shape for summer fun.

"I kind of live for backpacking, so I do this just to get in shape," she said. "A couple of years ago I did a solo hike on the Colorado Trail. I think doing alternative things like that really keeps you fit. I really run so that I can go out and play in the summer in the woods."

Geere, who won for the second time in the Winter Series Short-Course races on Saturday, doesn't look a day over 25. Light and quick afoot, she pushes the men's lead pack every time she races. She finished in 26 minutes, 44 seconds, about a minute ahead of 18-year-old Hannah McIntyre (27:42.) Crystal Goecker, the 2013 Fall Series champion, was third in (27:55.)

About 600 runners galloped in a bright January sun in the second race of the Winter Series. They tasted a tough new course in Bear Creek Park that included plenty of hills. Geere was familiar with the route and she expected it to be painful. Read more ...

WINTER SERIES I

RESULTS: Where did you finish?
PHOTOS: Gallery 1 ** Gallery 2 **Gallery 3
VIDEO: tart of Winter Series 1 short-course race ** Interview with long-course race winner Stephanie Wurtz