This moment never gets old for Joseph Gray.

The Colorado Springs native clocked in at 2 hours, 11 minutes and 13 seconds to win the Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday. There were 1,996 runners competing. This marks Gray’s third Ascent victory since 2019.

“I wanted to come out, put together a good effort and represent my city,” Gray said. “I got the job done.”

Gray’s victory continued his streak of dominance as he also won the Barr Trail Mountain Race in July.

During that race, Gray had Jonathan Aziz nearby to help him keep the pace. About an hour into the Ascent, which is a 13.3-mile run up Pikes Peak, Gray noticed the distance between him and the pack.

Gray arrived at Barr Camp, which is nearly eight miles into the Ascent, at 8:04 a.m. Meanwhile, Seth DeMoor, who finished second and tailed Gray the majority of the race, arrived at 8:07.

“I got to Barr Camp and saw I was kind of alone, so I knew I just had to be consistent from there,” Gray said. “The hope was to win and I didn’t care what my time was.”

Although DeMoor closed the gap toward the race’s finale, Gray said running unopposed most of the way presented a unique challenge.

“When you’re by yourself, you kind of lose sight of the race,” Gray said. “You don’t have that pressure on you and I managed to build a large gap. And when that happens you start to lose a lot of time. I had to keep that in mind and held on for the win.”

When Gray, 40, previously won the event in 2021, he clocked in at 2:12:38. Despite racing against several younger competitors and moving up an age category, Gray said he loves that he can still win.

“This gets tougher as you get older, but it’s really nice to manage to stay consistent,” Gray said. “I felt like I was in control out there and I was ready to respond if someone caught me toward the end.”

For DeMoor, he clocked in at 2:14:58 for second place, his best finish in the race since 2019 when he also placed second.

As Gray pulled away from DeMoor, the former University of Colorado runner had to stave off Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau, the spry 24-year-old who led DeMoor most of the race.

“It was an exciting finish. I’ve never finished (the Ascent) so close,” DeMoor said. “We were neck and neck the last mile and I was moving fast. But it was quite painful trying to catch him.”

The women’s race featured a similar finish as Allie McLaughlin earned first place and 20th overall at 2:45:36.

On the A-Frame section, about 1.5 miles before the final two miles of the race, McLaughlin held a near three-minute advantage over Hali Hafeman, who placed second on the women’s side.

By the final mile, though, Hafeman cut that lead to 64 seconds, which McLaughlin noted is “very close in a race like this.”

“I don’t want to say those last two miles hit me, but I slowed down. And then I saw Hali,” McLaughlin said. “The last mile was not about time, it was a balance of conserving energy in case I needed to outsprint her. That last mile was about playing the game right and I managed to hold her off.”

As McLaughlin crossed the finish line, her dogs Harley and Paha greeted her with wagging tails and numerous kisses.

McLaughlin cherished the moment, but expected to greet her dogs sooner.

“I was really hoping for a faster time,” McLaughlin said. “My fastest was 2:33 and I felt like I could get that again. We ended up not getting it … but it was great to finish and great to win.”