Runner finishes near bottom of American Discovery Trail event, and

All runners have their own motivation, especially those who travel long distances.

"My big goal was to PR, to be in the top three and to break 3 hours," said Howard, who earned a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona. "I ran this race last year and finished second, so I was happy to improve my time by 6 minutes and to win it."Mudry, 24, and Nichols recently returned from three months of shooting footage in Kenya for a documentary titled "Where Dreams Don't Fade," a film that captures the flavor of what fuels Kenyan runners to become world-class athletes."I'm not fast, and I might be one of the last people in, but I'm lucky," Smith said. "This is my way of flipping cancer off. Every day I get to train and run, it's a good day. Everybody races their own race."Three years ago, those two words blindsided the former psychotherapist, who lived in Denver at the time, as ovarian cancer had invaded her body. Monday, some two years after being declared cancer free - thanks to 30 rounds of radiation, 12 cycles of chemotherapy and three surgeries - Smith didn't put much stock into the time it took to complete more than 13 miles.Alexis Smith, of Colorado Springs, has plenty of motivation, summed up by two words expressed as she crossed the finish line in 350th place Monday in the half marathon version of the American Discovery Trail event that concluded at America the Beautiful Park.Note quite 3 hours, but she'll take it.For Martin Mudry, his race motivation was eclipsing the marathon course mark set last year by roommate Alex Nichols, a Colorado College graduate.Time has a funny way of adjusting one's perspective."The idea was to follow where people pursue their dreams for a long period of time," Mudry said. "Kenyans do that. They have a huge level of self confidence. They have a dream of being a champion, and they go after it for five or 10 years, even without having a job, and keep pursuing it even if it's not going well. That's a big part of what we show.""I decided to go after his ghost today," said Mudry, who completed the 26.2-mile trek from Palmer Lake in 2 hours, 32 minutes and 53 seconds.He didn't, but winning the overall title took away any hint of disappointment.Monday's race went well, too, for Sharon Howard of Aurora, who was the first female to finish the marathon(3:01:01).Mudry, who spent one year at Colorado College before finishing his undergraduate work at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., said he hopes to launch the film early next year.

"My big goal was to PR, to be in the top three and to break 3 hours," said Howard, who earned a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona. "I ran this race last year and finished second, so I was happy to improve my time by 6 minutes and to win it."