Coloradoans win brutal race up New Hampshire hill

Joe Gray of Colorado Springs Co., runs up the Mount Washington Auto Road in his way to his first victory of the Northeast Delta Dental Mt. Washington Road Race, Saturday, June 21, 2014 in Mount Washington, N.H. More than 1,000 runners raced 7.6 miles to the highest peak in the Northeast of 6288 feet. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) Joe Gray of Colorado Springs Co., runs up the Mount Washington Auto Road in his way to his first victory of the Northeast Delta Dental Mt. Washington Road Race, Saturday, June 21, 2014 in Mount Washington, N.H. More than 1,000 runners raced 7.6 miles to the highest peak in the Northeast of 6288 feet. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

By Associated Press June 21, 2014 1 min read

MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. (AP) – The winners of this year’s Run to the Clouds race on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington hail from Colorado.

Thirty-year-old Joe Gray captured the men’s race Saturday after finishing second last year. Twenty-eight-year-old Shannon Payne took the women’s field in her inaugural run up the Northeast’s highest peak.

Both are from Colorado Springs.

More than 1,000 runners challenged the 7.6-mile ascent to the summit at 6,288 feet.

The mountain is home to some of the most extreme weather on Earth and once held the record for the highest wind speed recorded: 231 mph.