The idea of running the Leadville Trail 100 had been
bouncing around my head for a few years. I ran my first 100 last year, flat
loops at sea level, and then Pikes Peak giving me experience at altitude. Since
those races didn't kill me, I felt running Leadville was achievable,
albeit an extreme challenge. It probably would have been smarter to start with
a lesser mountain 100. But nothing about running 100 miles denotes smart so I
took the plunge and signed up on January 1st as soon as registration
opened.
I decided Leadville would be my only goal race for the year.
I would structure all my running and racing around preparing for LT100. By January I already had a solid base of 50
mpw. In February I ran a 50K and finished almost an hour faster than the
previous year. This became a case of finding my form too early though and by
March I was struggling with a bulky shin and had to cancel a 100K. I took about
two weeks off and then ran the very difficult Bear Mountain 50M course in May.
I struggled with this race but used it as the jumping off point to really ramp
up my Leadville training. Between June and July I racked up more than 610 miles
in 61 days and ran another 3 ultras. I also attended the Leadville running camp
which gave me the opportunity to run the entire course, including a double
crossing of Hope Pass. By the time I started my taper I had forgotten what it
felt like to be anything other than exhausted and limping 24/7. My goal was to
finish in 28:00 +/- 2 hours. That would keep me well ahead of the 30 hour cutoff
and I could tell from previous results that I was unlikely to go sub 26:00. It
felt reasonable on paper but ultra-marathons aren't run on paper. It was time
to put up or shut up.
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| Maybe so but it is NOT great running at 10,200 feet |
I didn't have time for extended acclimation so I flew out of
Newark airport Thursday and arrived in Leadville less than 36 hours before the
start of the race. We spent Friday doing last minute errands, prepping drop
bags and impressing the employees at Family Dollar. Yes, I’m buying a dozen
bags of candy and yes I might consume all of it in the next two days. We also
drove around to familiarize my wife, Tracy, with some of the aid stations. Leadville
is a 50 mile course out. Then you turn around and run the same route back. The
plan was for her to see me either at the Boat Ramp (mile 8 / 92) or May Queen
(mile 13 / 87) and then again at Twin Lakes (mile 40 / 60). She would assist
where possible but I wasn't counting on her to actively crew for me. I had
arranged for my pacer, Katie, to meet me at Twin Lakes inbound and she would
run either 16 or 26 miles. For the rest, I would be on my own. There were close
to 1000 starters so I was never really alone.
The forecast looked excellent, 70F / 40F with a slight
chance of rain and almost no wind. I set my alarm for 3AM but awoke a few
minutes early. I downed a bagel and some Powerade (should have eaten more) and
headed down to the start in time to get a few pictures before the 4AM gun. Once
we got underway I settled into a very comfortable pace of 10:00 miles. The
first section was mostly downhill on paved / gravel roads so we made quick
progress. I passed the boat ramp at about 5:30AM and stopped for a minute to
see Tracy and swallow a Gu before regaining my spot in the single-file line of
runners. Later Tracy texted me to say there was no parking at May Queen so she
wouldn't see me again until Twin Lakes. After following the shore of Turquoise
Lake for the last few miles, I arrived at MQ aid station at 6:30AM and found it
to be well stocked but extremely crowded. I stopped for a bathroom break and grabbed
some coke / cookies but still spent what felt like way too much time navigating
my way through the mass of runners.
After MQ, the route joined the Colorado Trail and became
somewhat technical for a few miles before opening back onto gravel roads for
the first serious climb up Powerline. Finally the crowd of runners started to
break and I felt very relaxed power hiking this section which offered beautiful
views back down to Turquoise Lake. Cresting Powerline at 11,500 ft we
immediately started the long, winding descent to the bottom where we rejoined
the road for the last few miles into Fish Hatchery / Outward Bound aid station
at mile 24. At this point I ditched my headlight and long sleeve into my drop
bag. I grabbed some calories and a change of socks, refilled my water bladder, then
headed for the medical tent. I could feel a hotspot developing and wanted to
get ahead of it as I still had more than 20 hours to go. The medic fixed me up
with some moleskin and I was moving again in less than 10 minutes total.
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| Easy trail near mile 27 |
The next section was mostly flat on paved roads, then dirt
roads before reaching Half Pipe aid station at mile 30. Along the way I saw my
first familiar faces, Emmanuel and his support crew from NYC who offered me a
variety of drinks and snacks although I waved them off still feeling fresh. At
Half Pipe I met Jeff whose house we were renting in Leadville. He was very busy
coordinating the volunteers and I didn't need much so I was quickly on my way,
eager to get to Twin Lakes and see Tracy again. To this point I hadn't really
been paying attention to the cutoffs. My goal was to finish the first 40 miles
in 8 hours (2 hours ahead of cutoff) and I arrived in TL pretty close, about 8
minutes behind schedule. Tracy had my drop bag and I planned to change shoes to
keep my Hokas dry and use my Salomons to cross the river as they are much
better at shedding water. I refilled my bladder but couldn't find a good spot to
sit near the aid station so I ended up removing my shoes about 100 feet beyond.
I knew I had a few hot spots so I asked Tracy to get some moleskin from the
medical tent. Instead she came back in 5 minutes with a medic in tow who
insisted on providing in person service. He quickly fixed me up and I was on my
way with about 12 minutes of down time, probably my longest stop of the race.
Twin Lakes was pretty crowded so it took a few minutes to
run through all the spectators before we headed out of town, across a grassy
meadow and to the banks of Lake Creek. I didn't cross the creek in June and
wasn't sure what to expect. It turned out to be about 50 feet wide, knee deep
in places and very cold. I hurried across and then to the foot of the climb up
Hope pass. Having done a double crossing in June, I knew what was coming next
and that it was going to suck; a 3,400 ft climb up to the top of Hope Pass at
12,600 ft. Then immediately dropping 2,400 ft down into Winfield before reversing
it all back to TL. I figured the next 20 miles were the crux of the race. If I
could get back to TL in reasonable shape I had a high probability of finishing.
Therefore the goal was to finish the double crossing in 8 hours and simply
maintain my near 2 hour cushion.
The climb up Hope was mostly uneventful. My feet dried
quickly and I only had to stop once to catch my breath. About an hour below the
Hopeless aid station I saw the leaders coming back inbound. I didn't recognize
the first two but Nick Clark was 3rd and Scott Jurek 4th.
Hopeless aid station is within sight of the top of the pass so I felt re-energized
when I arrived. The llamas also helped to perk up my spirits and I reached the
top of the pass 2h15min out of TL. On the back side of Hope I crossed paths
with the Women’s leader and continued the very steep descent then rolled into
Winfield and the turnaround at exactly 12 hours, right on schedule! Winfield
was a circus and not in a good way. I stood for the mandatory weigh in and was
shocked that I’d dropped only 1 pound. I took that as a sign to continue status
quo on nutrition / hydration. I grabbed some fast calories and got out of
Winfield in a hurry, dodging traffic as I went (literally weaving between
vehicles stuck in place).
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| Far side of Hope Pass from 12,600 ft |
The climb up the back side of Hope was torturous, as
expected. I actually ran by Michael Oliva shortly out of Winfield. I’d never
met him in person but recognized him from the net and introduced myself. I knew he was running Leadville this year but didn't really expect to
see him. We kept company for a little while then he left me and proceeded to
obliterate the Hope climb and the rest of the race in general finishing in a
blistering 24:31. I continued at a much more measured pace and required numerous
stops before I regained the pass again. Each time I would rest for 20 or 30
seconds to allow my heart rate to slow from ‘totally jacked’ to only ‘moderately
uncomfortable’ before continuing on. Somehow I reached the pass 2h16min out of
Winfield, only 1 minute slower than climbing from the other side. Hopeless had
run out of cups at this point so I drank soup and coke from a communal ladle.
Good thing I’m not a germaphobe. The rest of the descent to TL was followed quickly.
I was actually looking forward to Lake Creek this time as I was feeling a
little warm.
I hit Twin Lakes a few minutes before 8PM, exactly as
planned, but spent a little time switching back into my Hokas and getting blisters treated.
Katie was ready to go so we did introductions on the move. The climb up out of
TL on the side of Elbert is steep and we did more hiking than running. Katie
was good company and these miles passed quickly. Probably should have run more
and talked less but I was actually enjoying myself. However, one thing I really
struggled with was regulating body temperature. With the sun gone and the
temperature falling I would rapidly swing from chills to sweating. I ditched
the heavy shirt I added in TL and switched to clothing with zippers that I
could vent frequently. Somewhere on the way to Outward Bound around mile 70 I
realized my energy was lagging. Also the 20-odd Gu I had consumed were not settling well and I was
plagued by stomach problems for most of the rest of the race, which really
sapped my "speed".
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| Leaving Twin Lakes inbound at mile 60 |
By the time we reached OB there was less than a marathon to
go and 10 hours to finish. I could feel my feet were blistering pretty good at
this point but I was too tired to pay much attention. Katie noticed my
headlight was fading and swapped out the batteries with some extras she had
while I sat on a chair and commiserated with a fellow runner. Then we were up
and moving again towards the base of Powerline. At the top of the first steep
climb I tried to swallow one Gu too many and had an immediate gag reflex. For a
few minutes I had a metallic taste in my mouth and thought I was about to empty
the rest of my stomach but it slowly subsided and I was able to get moving
again. That was the end of the Gu though. Powerline went on forever but we made
slow, steady progress and reached May Queen at 3:30AM where we met up with Tracy and Katie's friend Marie. I was
expecting Katie to drop but she said she had gone that far and might as well
see me through to the finish. We left MQ with 6.5 hours to complete little more
than a half marathon; at that point finishing was a mere formality.
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| The finish is all uphill |
Funny thing about formalities though, you still have to do
the work. My quads were trashed and my stomach was still in
knots. Also, I was struggling with depth perception making it difficult to see
the footing along the trail. However, we still managed respectable 15:00 miles
through this section and passed a few runners. By the time we turned onto 6th
Street the sun was up and the road was almost empty. It was an odd feeling
having traveled the same section with hundreds of other runners only one day
prior. In the distance the loud speaker announced the time, 2.5 minutes to
break 27 hours. It was too far, the uphill finish too steep. I was resigned to
coast the rest of the way. At my side, Katie kept urging me to run. Finally I
broke into a jog, then a run, then I was "sprinting" up the red carpet and across
the finish line; 27:00:19, I should have listened to Katie. Really though, I
couldn't have cared less. I finished and nearly an hour under goal time, 198th
of 944 starters and 497 finishers. We walked to Jeff’s house to clean up then headed back to the finish
to watch my friend Jessie finish her first 100 in 29:26, success all around!
