When Ilsa Paulson's coach asked her what races she wanted to run this year, she decided to go big.

"I had never run this race, but I knew this was the biggest 10K in the country," she said after running the 30th Bolder Boulder. "I wanted to run the biggest, and I'm trying to be a pro runner, so I decided to run this one."

The 19-year-old took a step toward her pro goal Monday morning by winning the Bolder Boulder women's citizens race, the largest timed race in the country. She won in 34:41 on an overcast morning that further helped the Flagstaff, Ariz., resident's confidence.

"I'm hoping to run in the Chicago or New York Marathon, and I wanted to run here to see where I'm at," she said.

Paulson has been running only since her sophomore year of high school in Sherwood, Ore. She was second in her state cross country meet that year and won it the last two.

She went to Northern Arizona in the fall for her freshman season and ran cross country, but dropped out after the first semester to pursue a pro career. She is still training in Flagstaff, where she runs at roughly 7,000 feet.

"It was too much stress to go to school and run and do both," she said. "I don't have a pro contract, so I'm just out here running trying to do that."

The Oregon product won by more than 30 seconds, beating second-place Hayakari Minori of Tokyo, who finished in 35:26. Boulder's Erin Marston, who runs for the University of Colorado, was sixth in 36:46.

Paulson is the youngest citizens winner since 1991, when Boulder's Melody Fairchild won the last of her three consecutive titles. She also was able to pass several women -- and male -- runners on the final three kilometers of the race.

"That's one of my talents. I can gauge how people feel. I could tell some people were dying as I passed," she said. "I also tried to pass as many guys as I could. It's always fun to put some of them to shame."