The weather on Monday morning was brisk. So was Clint Wells.

Wells captured the men's citizens race title at the 30th annual Bolder Boulder on Monday with a blazing time of 30 minutes, 52 seconds -- 41 seconds faster than second-place finisher Chris Gomez of Flagstaff, Ariz.

Finishing third was Joseph Manilafasha, a 17-year-old Denver North High School student, in 31:43.

Wells' 41-second win was the largest margin of victory since 1995 when John Mirth won by 53 seconds.

"I went harder than I hoped," said Wells, who finished the first mile in 4:34.50. "But it worked out."

The former University of Colorado standout essentially went wire-to-wire after gaining the lead before the first mile mark and holding onto the top spot throughout the race.

There were 54,040 participants registered for the 2008 Bolder Boulder, according to race officials. Of those, 48,955 racers actually crossed the finish line of the 10K race.

Both figures are the highest in the race's history and mean big things to come in the next three years. The Bolder Boulder staff expects that the race will surpass the one million registered participants mark next year and the millionth finisher in 2011.

Wells used to race for Team Colorado in the men's professional race, but he transitioned to the citizens race last year. This year was the first he competed in the citizens A wave.

"It was exciting," said Wells, who now resides in Superior. "I could hear the crowd a little bit when I was coming in, so yeah it's a pretty neat experience and a nice sign that you're almost done."

The 33-year-old said his past experience in the professional race was unlike Monday's in the citizens.

"It's really hard to compare the two races," Wells said. "The mentality going into it is much different, but they both are very difficult and challenging."

The temperature at 7 a.m. in Folsom Field was a chilly 52 degrees, which may have contributed to Wells' fast time. His mark of 30:55 was the fastest since 2005 when Michael Aish of Gunnison won in 30:41.

"It was nice and cool today," said Wells, who works at the Boulder Running Company. "I never got hot. There are a few slippage points in the road but not bad."