Nichols, Kremer Claim Trail Marathon Crowns

Stevie Kremer clocked the second fastest descent in Pike’s Peak Marathon history.

The 58th running of the Pikes Peak Marathon took place last weekend.

The race also served as the USA Trail Marathon Championships. Alex Nichols and Stevie Kremer were the men’s and women’s champions.

The 28-year-old Nichols took second overall in the race (first U.S. citizen) in one of the closest finishes in its history. His time was 3 hours, 43 minutes, and 46 seconds. Toru Miyahara of Japan won the race in 3:43:23.

“To have a four-hour race come down to such a close finish is pretty incredible,” said Nichols as quoted on the Running USA Web site. “I didn’t feel very good on the uphill – I was third to the top in 2:22 – and I was hoping for 2:18 [last year’s Pikes Peak Ascent winner Jason Delaney was first to the summit in 2:16:21].

In the women’s race, Stevie Kremer prevailed in 4:17:10.

“I definitely surprised myself,” said Kremer afterwards. “I’m stronger up than down, but I pushed it…don’t get me wrong. The downhill went surprisingly well.”