Course records set at Garden of the Gods 10-Mile

While sleeping in his Ford Probe on Saturday night, Cele Rodriguez had visions of repeating as the Garden of the Gods 10-Mile champion dancing in his head.

It wasn't glory Rodriguez was after.

"I really needed to make cash," said Rodriguez, a 27-year-old Alamosa resident and Adams State alumnus whose bid to make the U.S. Olympic trials sapped his funds.

Rodriguez improved on last year's time by 54 seconds, but Ezkyas Sisay ran away with the $750 top prize and a new course record of 52 minutes, 26 seconds.

"I made enough to make it back to Alamosa," Rodriguez said of his $250 third-place prize.

Sisay, 19, bested Rodriguez's course record by more than 2 minutes and outpaced Santa Fe resident Josphat Ndeti, a 32-year-old Kenyan, by 47 seconds.

The top three men stayed close until the hill at Mile 7, when Sisay found another gear.

Of Sisay, Rodriguez said: "He just sat back and he ran smart ... that's how he did it."

Ndeti, who was slowed by an injured tendon in his right heel, shattered the 30 to 34 age-group record by more than 12 minutes, one of 18 age-group records felled in Sunday's race.

In the women's division, Belainesh Gebre, 20, led from the start and posted a course record of 1:01:20.

Gebre beat her closest competitor, Camille Herron, 26, by more than 4 minutes.

"She took off pretty early," said Herron, who relocated to Alamosa from Lafayette, Ind., two weeks ago to spend the summer training for a spot on the U.S. Mountain Running team. "I didn't know what to expect. I took my watch off and ran by effort."

Colorado Springs' Stephanie Jones, 38, finished third, trailing Herron by 40 seconds.

The fast finishes didn't surprise race director Matt Carpenter.

On Sunday, with temperatures hovering in the low 50s and a blanket of clouds shielding the sun until the race was complete, "you could tell it in the air" that records would be broken, Carpenter said.

"If I could pre-order a day for the race, this would be it," he said.

At least one person had his dream day.

Notes
The race was delayed 15 minutes because of long bathroom lines. Carpenter said the race standard is one portable toilet for every 100 runners, but he will consider going to a 1:20 ratio next year. ... Participation increased by 134 people to 1,470. ... It was the 32nd running of the race. ... Gebre, like Sisay, is a native of Ethiopia who trains in Flagstaff, Ariz.