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PINCKNEY (9/10) - She had mud on her shoes and shins, blood on her left knee, a big gash on her hand and some weird, blue stuff she couldn't explain on her forehead. But she won.

Eva Pastalkova ran almost the entire Dances with Dirt 50K with defending women's champ Melissa Hughes, took the lead with two miles to go and kept it.

"She won the race," said Hughes. "She also had the most crashes. I crashed once and I think she fell down at least three times."

Pastalkova, 29, a Czech Republic native now living in Jersey City, N.J., completed the 50K (just over 31 miles) in four hours, 43 minutes and 35 seconds. Hughes, 24, of Marshall finished not far behind in 4:45:12.

Dances was the second race Pastalkova has ever run.

"I thought it would be much harder with lots of hills and mountains," said Pastalkova. "But it was not very difficult."

Not very difficult? Don't tell that Greg Feucht, who, as winner of the Great Wall of China Marathon in May, knows about tough courses.

"I thought it (Dances) was a lot tougher than last year," said Feucht, 27, of Ann Arbor, who won the men's 50K in 4:26:00. Marcel O'Gorman, 35, of Windsor, finished second in 4:30:00.

Feucht finished second at Dances last year. "I felt strong all the way to the end this year," he said.

Eric Green, eighth overall, also found this year's 50K more challenging.

"There was more running in the river this year. At times we were waist- deep," he explained.

Matt King, 27, of Ann Arbor, won the Dances 50-mile ultra in 7:51:59. Wendy Zamzow-Masters, 31, of Adrian, captured the women''s title in 9:14:03.

The Onsted Ringers won the 100K Relay for the second year in a row. Their time of 6:48:15 was nearly 10 minutes faster than last year.

Other teams winning awards included Where's Ken (All-Female Team), 0.P.P. Runnersaurus (Public Safety) and Cross-Eyed (Clydesdale).

Dances with Dirt is made possible by Running Fit and Nike ACG. For complete results, go to www.danceswithdirt.com. MR