David Moll, Calgary Herald / Maria Zambrano and Adam Batliner were the women's and men's winners of the Calgary Herald 10K race.

David Moll, Calgary Herald / A soggy women's marathon champ Zita Mulligan (right) gets a congratulatory hug from runner-up Fariyal Samson at the Calgary Herald Stampede Run-Off on Sunday. Mulligan edged Samson by 15 seconds.

Adam Batliner had to get wet to earn it. But now that the Colorado distance runner has his first-place cheque safely tucked away, he can finally get refuge from the cold, rainy skies.

Batliner was on an extended road trip with college buddies this week, just "trying to outrun the rain." So with visions of a warm, dry bed on his mind, and his friends urging him on, Batliner picked up the pace a notch, just fast enough to win the Calgary Herald 10K race Sunday at the Stampede Run-Off.

"Now we can stay in a hotel tonight," laughed Batliner, who picked up $250 for the win.

His time of 31 minutes, 26 seconds beat national team marathoner Bruce Deacon of Victoria, who crossed in 31.48, and Calgary's Paul McCloy, who finished third in 32.01.

Maria Zambrano of Calgary won the women's 10-K, clocking 35.51.

The 23-year-old Batliner headed out on the road after his track season ended last weekend at the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Ore. His friends picked him up in Eugene, and they headed north, through endless miserable weather, to Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler, then Banff, tenting along the way. Calgary became a necessary side trip.

"When we were in Banff, we saw a story in the Herald about the race. We looked up the times from last year on the internet, and figured I had a pretty good shot at winning," said Batliner, who finished third in the 3,000-metre steeplechase a couple of weeks ago at the NCAA championships, running for the University of Colorado.

Sunday's victory wasn't so far-fetched on a day filled with unlikely finishes.

While the rain fell relentlessly and the mud swelled at Fort Calgary, the new site for the Stampede Run-Off, two new winners broke the tape in the marathon, Ricardo Guerrero and Zita Mulligan.

Guerrero covered the 42.2 kilometres in two hours, 33 minutes, 57 seconds, while Mulligan finished in 3:06.50 on the women's side.

Guerrero, 32, was blessed by the absence of perennial winner Kelvin Broad, who opted out of this year's race.

Guerrero noted that Broad's presence would have pushed the winner to a faster time.

"I raced with Kelvin about a month ago, and he told me he wasn't going to run this," said the Chilean-born Guerrero, who moved to Calgary from Victoria two years ago. "But I heard that Kelvin sometimes changes his mind at the last minute. If he'd been here, I would have had someone to pace me, it would have been easier."

Edmonton's Jack Cook was second in 2:35.50 and Fort McMurray's Phil Meagher finished third in 2:37.00.

Mulligan, a perennial race organizer, found out how the other half lives when she overtook Fariyal Samson of Calgary in the late stages and broke the tape first.

"It's neat coming through in first because the spectators get really excited when they see the first woman coming in," said Mulligan, 38.

Mulligan and Guerrero each won $500.

Approximately 3,500 people took part in this year's Calgary Herald Stampede Run-Off, which included the marathon, 10K, marathon relay, and 5K fun run and walk.