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BOULDER 鈥� Brandon Johnson and Melissa Dock aren’t a part of any formal training group.

It’s a common experience for many runners 鈥� the loneliness of miles done in silence and solitude. Most will tell you that pushing yourself alone is challenging.

But on Memorial Day here, those barriers didn’t seem to matter. Johnson, 28, and Dock, 34, both handily won the Bolder Boulder citizens races.

Johnson, who graduated from Metro State in 2011 and runs semi-professionally for Saucony, bided his time before making a聽move over the final 2聽miles to overtake second-place finisher Ian Butler of Lakewood, finishing in 30 minutes, 34 seconds over the 10K course.聽His fastest mile was his fifth 鈥� 4:43, the quickest聽in the citizens field 鈥� and his final time was six seconds faster than that of last year’s winner.

2014 citizens race winner Scott Dahlberg, a 31-year assistant cross country and track coach at Colorado State University, was third. Lyons’ Paul Roberts, , finished fourth in 31:01.

“There’s not a whole lot of elite athletes in Denver,”聽Johnson said of where he lives and trains. “Everyone trains in Boulder, Gunnison, Alamosa, Fort Collins. I’m in the concrete jungle, you know?”

Johnson works as a manager at聽the Boulder Running Company store in Cherry Creek. He’ll be at the Portland Track Festival in mid-June, attempting to get a standard for the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., set for July.

“It’s pretty rough training by yourself, and you need a good support group,” he said.

Dock, a project manager for UnitedHealthcare, won in 35:44. Alexis Wilbert, 31, of Colorado Springs, was second, and Maggie Callahan of Boulder was third.

Dock has lived聽in Boulder for about six years with her husband, Robert Pickels, and聽3-year-old twins.聽Late last year, Pickels began undergoing treatment for cancer, finishing chemotherapy in March. The burden on the family forced Dock to stop training for some six weeks, but it was “exactly what my body needed,” she said.

“Before I started racing this race, he said, ‘Just remember, we do this because it’s fun,’ ” Dock recalled. Her husband聽鈥� who also is her coach 鈥� followed her聽along the Bolder Boulder course, kids in tow聽behind his bike, encouraging her and giving her updates on her position.

Dock grew up on the East Coast聽before running聽for Appalachian State in Boone, N.C., where she聽specialized in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and middle distance events. In April, she won the women’s 10K at the Drake Relays in 34:41.83, and she has competed聽into聽a handful of other local collegiate track races here. She ran Monday for her brother, uncles and father, who served in the military, as well as for the memory of her grandfather.

“It’s exciting,” Dock said of winning the race. “It’s emotional in the best possible way.”

Bolder Boulder citizens race results

Men

Women