Leadville Trail 100 Explained

Bgcolour:white
Date:August 18–19
Location:Leadville, Colorado
Type:Ultramarathon trail run
Distance:100miles
Est:1983
Record:David Roche 15:26:34 (2024);
Ann Trason 18:06:24 (1994)

The Leadville Trail 100 Run (aka The Race Across The Sky or the LT100) is an ultramarathon held annually on rugged trails and dirt roads near Leadville, Colorado, through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. First run in 1983, the race course climbs and descends 15600feet, with elevations ranging from 9,200 to 12,620 feet (2,800–3,850 m). In most years, fewer than half the starters complete the race within the 30-hour time limit.

Course

The course is a 50miles out-and-back dogleg run primarily on the Colorado Trail, starting at 10200feet. The centerpiece of the course is the climb up to Hope Pass at 12620feet, encountered on both the outbound trek and on the return.

History and records

In the early 1980s Colorado Ultra Club president Jim Butera had the idea of creating a 100 mile run in Colorado. When Aspen and Vail showed no interest Butera found support by Lake County Commissioner Ken Chlouber to hold the event in Leadville as a way to bring in visitors after the closing of the Climax Molybdenum Mine. Butera designed the course and the first running was held on August 27–28, 1983, with Butera serving as race director with the assistance of Chlouber and Merilee Maupin.[1]

Leadville is one of the four 100-milers in the United States that make up the "Western Slam", completing four western 100miles events: the Leadville 100, the Western States 100 in northern California, the Wasatch Front 100 in Utah, and the Angeles Crest 100 in southern California. Leadville is also a part of the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning (the Vermont 100, Western States 100, Leadville and the Wasatch Front 100, originally Old Dominion 100 instead of Vermont) and an optional part of the Rocky Mountain Slam (Hardrock 100 plus three of four other races in the Rocky Mountains: Leadville, the Bear 100, the Bighorn 100, or the Wasatch Front 100). Leadville is also one of the valid qualifying events for the Western States 100.

Leadville was the venue for the American debut of the Tarahumara runners of Mexico. In 1992 the Tarahumara first showed up to run outside their native environs. Wilderness guide Rick Fisher and ultra-runner Kitty Williams brought some of them to Leadville. However the experiment went bust. The problem, it turned out, was psychosocial, i.e. an unfamiliarity with the trail and the strange ways of the North. The Indians stood shyly at aid stations, waiting to be offered food. They held their flashlights pointed skyward, unaware that these "torches" needed to be aimed forward to illuminate the trail ahead. All five Tarahumara dropped out before the halfway point.[2] The Tarahumara teams came back in 1993 and 1994 and won the Leadville event outright both years. In 1993, 52-year-old Tarahumara runner Victoriano Churro came in first, followed by 41-year-old teammate Cerrildo in second. In 1994, a five-man Tarahumara team took on Ann Trason in a much-publicized race in the ultrarunning community. Twenty-five-year-old Tarahumara runner Juan Herrera won in a record time of 17:30. His mark stood for 8 years until broken by Chad Ricklefs in 2002 (17:23), then again by Paul DeWitt in 2004, then again by Matt Carpenter in 2005, and finally by David Roche in 2024. Trason finished in second place with a time of 18:06, which remains the course record for female runners.

In 2024, David Roche set the new course record of 15:26:34.

Notable finishers

The winner of the first race in 1983 was Skip Hamilton of Aspen, CO., in a time of 20:11:18

David Roche is the current course record holder for the Leadville Trail 100 Race. His time of 15 hours, 26 minutes, and 34 seconds in 2024 shattered the 19 year record previously held by Matt Carpenter.

Ann Trason holds the female LT100 record, 18:06:24, which she set in 1994. Trason is widely recognized as one of the greatest ultrarunners of all time, and nearly won the race outright in 1994.Charles Williams holds the record of the oldest man to ever complete the race, which he did at the age of 70 in 1999. He was featured in the August 1999 issue of GQ magazine, which compared his training for the race to that of a professional football player.

Bill Finkbeiner became the first person ever to receive the "Leadville 2000-Mile Buckle" for twenty LT100 finishes in 2003. Finkbeiner has a total of 30 consecutive finishes, starting in 1984.[3] In 2014, Kirk Apt finished his 20th Leadville 100. In 2019, Eric Pence finished his 25th Leadville 100, becoming the third person to earn 25 or more buckles, along with Finkbeiner and Garry Curry.[4]

Results

Men's Winners[5]

Year Winner Time Age State/Country
2024 David Roche 15:26:34 36
2023 JP Giblin 17:07:25 29
2022 Adrian Macdonald 16:05:44 33
2021 Adrian Macdonald 16:18:19 32
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Ryan Smith 16:33:24 40
2018 Rob Krar 15:51:57 41
2017 17:34:51 36
2016 16:22:39 35
2015 16:33:53 34
2014 Rob Krar 16:09:32 37
2013 16:30:02 32
2012 Thomas Lorblanchet 16:29:28 30 France
2011 16:46:54 20 South Africa
2010 Duncan Callahan 17:43:25 27
2009 Timmy Parr 17:27:23 27
2008 Duncan Callahan 18:02:39 25
2007 16:14:35 24
2006 17:01:56 23
2005 15:42:59 41
2004 Paul DeWitt 17:16:19 36
2003 Paul Dewitt 17:58:45 35
2002 Chad Ricklefs 17:23:18 35
2001 Steve Peterson 17:40:53
2000 Chad Ricklefs 18:07:57 33
1999 Steve Peterson 18:47:31 37
1998 Steve Peterson 18:29:21 36
1997 Steve Peterson 18:10:45 35
1996 Steve Peterson 19:29:56 34
1995 Kirk Apt 20:33:05 33
1994 Juan Herrera 17:30:42 25 Mexico
1993 Victoriano Churro 20:03:33 52 Mexico
1992 Rick Spady 19:51:10 40
1991 Steve Mahieu 19:38:04 44
1990 Jim O'Brien 17:55:57 37
1989 Sean Crom 18:56:40 33
1988 Rick Spady 18:04:03 36
1987 Skip Hamilton 18:44:55 42
1986 Skip Hamilton 19:26:09 41
1985 Jim Howard 19:15:57 30
1984 Skip Hamilton 18:43:50 39
1983 Skip Hamilton 20:11:18 38

Women's Winners

Year Winner Time Age State/Country
2024 Mary Denholm 18:23:51 37
2023 Jacquie Mannhard 21:24:55 38
2022 19:37:57 30
2021 Annie Hughes21:06:58 23
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 20:18:06 46
2018 Katie Arnold 19:53:40 46
2017 Devon Yanko 20:46:29 35
2016 19:00:27 24
2015 Elizabeth Howard 19:34:09 43
2014 19:38:04 41 Spain
2013 Ashley Arnold 20:25:42 26
2012 Tina Lewis 19:33:44 30
2011 Lynette Clemons 19:59:06 30
2010 Elizabeth Howard 21:19:48 38
2009 Lynette Clemons 20:58:01 35
2008 Helen Cospolich 23:21:53 31
2007 Tammy Stone 22:44:54 45
2006 Diana Finkel 20:43:19 34
2005 Nikki Kimball 20:28:21 34
2004 Anthea Schmid 20:50:05 32
2003 Valerie Caldwell 22:54:16
2002 Anthea Schmid 19:44:24 30
2001 Janet Runyan 21:47:44
2000 Amanda McIntosh 22:16:17 35
1999 Amanda McIntosh 22:05:22 34
1998 20:58:32 37
1997 Julie Arter 24:08:07 36
1996 Martha Swatt-Robison 23:30:11 34
1995 Linda Lee 22:59:01 39
1994 18:06:24 33
1993 Christine Gibbons 20:55:59 31
1992 Theresa Daus-Weber 23:37:23 37
1991 Alice Thurau 22:10:35 35
1990 20:38:51 29
1989 Kathy D'Onofrio 20:50:41 25
1988 21:40:26 27
1987 Randi Young 24:12:57 35
1986 Maureen Garty 22:45:01 36
1985 Marge Hickman 26:57:50 35
1984 Teri Gerber 28:17:41 35

Leadville Race Series

The LT100 is one of six races presented under the Leadville Trail 100 banner. The other five events are as follows:

A competitor who officially finishes the Trail 100 Run, Trail 100 MTB, the Marathon, the Silver Rush bike or run, and the 10K is called a "Leadman" or "Leadwoman", a title which nods to the Ironman Triathlon. Charles Bybee currently holds the most Leadman titles, with 10 years of finishing all events (2007-2010, 2012–2017). In 2015, Junko Kazukawa completed the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning and the Leadwoman series, becoming the first person to complete both events in a single year.[6] [7] In 2019 Dion Leonard became the first male to complete the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning and the Leadman series in one year.[8]

All events of the 2020 edition of the race series were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given a deferral and a refund option for each race.[9]

See also

References

  1. Web site: Colorado Encyclopedia. 10 April 2020.
  2. Don Kardong in Runner's World, March 1995 v30 n3 p84(8)
  3. Web site: Auburn, CA - the Endurance Capital of the World . 2006-06-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060615110519/http://www.auburnendurancecapital.com/athletebios.shtml . 2006-06-15 .
  4. https://www.facebook.com/leadvilleraceseries/posts/766126816786350
  5. https://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/results/leadvilletrail100runresults/ Leadville Trail 100 Results
  6. News: Fields. Jenn. Denver woman completes Grand Slam of Ultrarunning and Leadwoman. 4 June 2017. The Denver Post. December 25, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20170604154435/http://www.denverpost.com/2015/12/25/denver-woman-completes-grand-slam-of-ultrarunning-and-leadwoman/. 4 June 2017. Denver, Colorado.
  7. Smith. Tonia. Junko Kazukawa: Grand Slammer, Leadwoman, 2x Cancer Survivor. UltraRunning Magazine. January 28, 2016. 4 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170518015746/https://ultrarunning.com/featured/junko-kazukawa-grand-slammer-leadwoman-2x-cancer-survivor/. 18 May 2017. Bend, Oregon.
  8. Web site: Dion Leonard: 2 series, 8 races, 3 months, 936 km. 2021-03-13. www.waa-ultra.com.
  9. Web site: 2020/2021 LRS Cancellations, Deferral Info, and FAQs.

External links