Heather Utrata is grateful the Colfax Marathon follows an out-and-back course with a turnaround at the midway point in Lakewood. That U-turn helped her make a critical strategy decision en route to victory Sunday.

Attempting to defend the title she won a year ago, the 28-year-old Englewood resident could see she had enough of a lead over the next female runner to make a potty stop. If she was quick about it.

Utrata’s cushion was considerably less comfortable after she stopped, but she was able to run a lot more comfortably and ultimately claimed the women’s race with a time of 3 hours, 7 minutes, 13 seconds. Amy Schneider of Denver was second in 3:08:48.

“I didn’t have to (stop), but I knew if I didn’t stop, it could be even worse later,” Utrata said. “I knew I had a pretty good lead. I was talking to people on the (pace) bike. I was like, ‘Do you think I can do it?’ They’re like, ‘If you’re fast, yeah.’ So I had to do it as fast as I could.”

With sunny skies and cool temperatures making for excellent race conditions, almost 6,000 runners turned out for the fifth installment of the Colfax event — 600 in the marathon, 3,058 in the half marathon and 2,220 in the marathon relay.

Doug Wilson of Centennial won the men’s marathon in 2:46:52, well ahead of runner-up Eric Walker of Greeley (2:54:19). An engineer running his 20th marathon, Wilson had never won before.

“I’m thrilled,” Wilson said. “This is the first one I’ve gotten, so I’m pretty pumped up about it. I love this event. We do it every year. I do it with my work. Great crowds, organized really well, it’s a great course, it’s always nice weather, good time of year, so it’s great to come out here and do it.”

Two recent transplants to Colorado won the half marathon races. Bobby Reyes moved to Longmont from Atlanta last August to see what he could do if he trained with elite runners in Boulder.

Coached by Steve Jones, a former world-record holder in the marathon, Reyes finished in 1:12:23. Runner-up Andrew Smith of Denver finished 35 seconds behind him.

“It was fun,” said Reyes, 25. “I had not run a half marathon in Colorado yet, so I was a little concerned about the altitude, but it went a lot better than I expected.”

Becca Prichard, who won the women’s half marathon in 1:23:09, moved to Denver 14 months ago from South Carolina.

“I just kind of wanted a change of scenery,” said Prichard, 31. “I visited Denver in January of last year, thought it was a really neat place and said, ‘Hey, why not move to Denver?’ I love it here.”

Prichard loves the vibrant running and racing scene, which was on full display Sunday.

Kerry Kuck, a blind runner, feels the same way.

“You’ve got poor people who wear holey blue jeans, millionaires in three-piece suits, but we all look the same,” said Kuck, who ran the half and finished in 1:51:09. “We put on our shoes, pull on our shorts and we’re all the same out there.

“And you’re not running against the other runners, you’re all on the same team. It’s you against the course, and everybody who finishes is a winner.”

John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com