MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. -- More than 1,800 runners from across the country came to Manitou Springs Saturday Morning to take on the ultimate running challenge: the 55th Annual Pikes Peak Ascent.

The competitors started Saturday at 7 a.m., and another wave of runners took off at 7:30 a.m. The race is 13.32 miles, with a vertical gain of 7,815 feet. The Pikes Peak Marathon happens Sunday starting at 7 a.m.

Race organizer, Ron Ilgen, said, the record for the Ascent is 2 hours and 1 minute. The average racer takes four to six hours to finish the race.

"It's a very steep climb to the top," said Ilgen. "It's a very rough course with roots and rocks and we get a good amount of minor injuries."

This is the 55th annual Pikes Peak Ascent, with more than 1800 competitive runners from around the United States. For this race, you need confidence, good spirt and really strong lungs.

"The hardest part I think is at the very top of the last mile and a half," said runner Randy Allen, who's participating in his sixth race. "You can look and see the top of the peak and it seems like a long way away."

"The top runners will do it in two hours and 20 minutes," said Ilgen. "Maybe today we'll have somebody close to two hours and five minutes. Average time is four and half to six hours."

The winner of Saturday's ascent was a man from Mesa, Colo. He reached the summit in two hours and nine minutes.