Alex Nichols of Colorado Springs reached the summit of 14,115-foot Pikes Peak and made the turn for home in the 2015 Pikes Peak Marathon. Nichols took the win in 3:46:40.

Pikes Peak Marathon: Alex Nichols for the win

Alex Nichols was running third, often unable to see the leaders, and starting to feel just a little desperate about his chance to win Sunday’s 60th running of the Pikes Peak Marathon. It’s a victory he’d dreamed about for at least three years – since finishing second in 2012 and again in ’13 – and it seemed to be slipping away.

“It’s obviously a long race, so no single mile will win or lose the race,” said Nichols, 30, who ran for Colorado College a decade ago and is now the long distance running coach for the CC women. “I could see the two guys ahead of me occasionally, but it’s still nerve-wracking to be two or three minutes behind in a race like this. “I had a big mental battle on the second half of the uphill. I didn’t feel great and just had to let them go ahead of me. I just had to have faith in my training.”

Nichols’ advantage – besides being the only one of the three leaders to regularly train at altitude – was his improved skill at running downhill. That made the difference. He caught the leaders just a few miles after making the turnaround at the summit of Pikes Peak. He passed Rickey Gates, who took third, at an aid station and swept past Abu Diriba at a narrow spot on the trail and scraped his leg on a rock.

At that point, though, nothing could stop Nichols from achieving his goal. He finished first in 3:46:40 – that was seven minutes, 24 seconds ahead of Diriba (3:54:04), a New York City resident of Ethiopian descent, and nearly nine minutes ahead of Gates (3:55:31), who is from Aspen but lives in Madison, Wis. – and crossed the finish line with a big smile after slapping high fives with race spectators over the final hundred yards. Read more ...

Results ** Photos: Marathon, Gallery 1 ** STORY: Incline King doubles ** VIDEO: Hayley Benson's stitches ** Top three men tag the summit and point it downhill ** Interview with Alex Nichols ** STORY: Pikes Peak Marathon changed runner's self-destructive behavior

Pikes Peak Ascent

PIKES PEAK ASCENT: Results ** Race story: Touro Miyahara wins men's race ** 49-year-old Gutierrez places fourth, says he'll give it one more year ** Video: Interview with women's winner Kim Dobson **Kim's finish at the summit! **Brandy Erholtz interview ** PHOTOS: Ascent awards

TIMMY PARR TALKS PIKES PEAK: He's going for the double

NO MOUNTAIN TOO HIGH: Brandon Birdsong-Johnson's comback begins on Pikes Peak

INCLINE TO CLOSE DURING ASCENT AND MARATHON: Will be open at 11 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m Sunday

THE QUEEN RETURNS: Pikes Peak Ascent women's record holder will run the double ** Video of Dobson's 2012 record finish

BRANDY'S BIG WEEKEND: Erholtz will also do the double

PIKES PEAK RUN FEST: Celebrating 60 Years of Running in the Pikes Peak Region

LOOKING BACK: Coverage from 2014** 2013 ** 2012 ** 2011 ** 2010

Summer Roundup Trail Run

PHOTOS: Gallery 1** Gallery 2 ** Gallery 3 ** Gallery 4

Video: Race start ** Interview with men's race winner Geofrey Terer ** Interview with women's race winner Amanda Lee