The Leadville 100 Trail Race
It’s been less than 48 hours since the most intense experience of my life. The Leadville Trail 100 was more mentally and physically taxing than I imagined. Going into this race, I a lot of people told me I was crazy or insane. Yes, running 100 miles might be insane. However, anything outside of your comfort zone can appear that way before you try it. What you learn from the experience is that you can do a lot more than you could ever imagine.
The race started at 4:00 am on Saturday. To earn a “buckle” (the race medal), you must finish by 10:00 am on Sunday. In sum, you have 30 hours to run 100 miles at a sustained elevation of over 10,000 ft and over 15,500 ft of elevation gain. The course is 50 miles out and back and is absolutely punishing.
During the first 40 miles of the race, I felt great; my legs felt good, I had a good pace, and was running with my buddies. When we hit Twin Lakes (about 38 miles into the race), I thought we’d finish well within the 30-hour cap. However, we had a lot of miles left and a climb up and down Hope’s Pass. As the saying goes, “everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.” When we left Twin Lakes, we began an intense 6-mile climb over Hope’s Pass, 6 miles down to Winfield, the 50-mile mark and turnaround. It took us over 4.5 hours to get from Twin Lakes to Winfield (an hour more than planned). The 50-mile mark was a turning point. A lot of people who start the race quit at Winfield. We weren’t quitting. We had to get back to Twin Lakes before 10:00 pm or we would be taken off the course.
While at Winfield, I read a couple of letters my wife packed in my drop bag from friends, teared up, and knew I could not let my friends, family, race crew, and pacers down. . I also knew that this race was nothing compared to what my sister, Lesly, is going through battling cancer. Additionally, while I was running, Lesly was honored at The Hope Gala in Birmingham, AL.
It was then time to chase the time cutoffs and push as hard as I could to get back to Twin Lakes. On the way back from Winfield to Twin Lakes, everything blew up. It was difficult to keep up with nutrition at altitude when you couldn’t stop. I reached Hope Pass a little before 8 PM, put my headlamp on, and ran down as fast as possible, shredding my shins and ankles on the way down.
When I got to Twin Lakes, I discovered my whole crew thought I was lost on the mountain or hurt because my chip never recorded me at Hope’s Pass. It was chaos, but they pulled it together and got me ready to keep going. My wife, Caroline, had all my nutrition ready and a change of clothes. . I picked up my first pacer, Kemp, and got a strategy update from my brother-in-law, Cole, who buckled Leadville in 2021, on what I needed to do to make the next time cutoff.
After leaving Twin Lakes, I could no longer run. When I tried to run, I had severe coughing attacks from the dust and altitude and had to stop. However, I was able to power walk without a problem. Kemp kept me up to date on the pace we needed to do and kept my spirits high with stories and letters from my family. We made the next checkpoint, Half Pipe, with 8 minutes to spare. I knew it was going to be difficult to complete the 6 miles from Half Pipe to Outward Bound before the next cutoff at 3:00 AM. However, I reminded myself that I couldn’t let my other pacer, Tom, down.
Luckily, we made it with ten minutes to spare. The next time cutoff was 6:30 am. However, between Outward Bound and the final checkpoint, May Queen, is the most difficult climb of the race, Powerline, a 3-mile hike uphill with over 1,700 ft of gain. When we got to Powerline, I could barely move. . Tom pushed me to move, then rest, move, then rest.
We were some of the last people out on the course and search and rescue followed us Powerline. I was determined not to get in with them. I knew it would be impossible to make the 6:30 am cut-off at May Queen; however, I told Tom I wanted to keep going and finish no matter what. We reached the peak of Powerline and started to head down to the final checkpoint. We passed another group who was picked up by search and rescue and I told Tom, ”At least I didn’t do that.” Little did I know, forty-five minutes later, they would be back. However, this time, they were taking me off the course. I had completed 85 miles. I tried negotiating with them to let us walk it in but they would have none of it. He made us get in and drove us down to our crew.
When we arrived at May Queen, I saw my running buddy, Matt, who also missed the cut-off after his injuries caught up to him. I still can’t believe he even toed the starting line with a torn meniscus and stress reactions in his shin. Talk about mental fortitude to make it 88 miles beat up from the start. I was ready to pack it in at this point. It was after 7:00 am and I had been going for 27 hours. My crew knew better. Caroline, Cole, and the rest of the crew surrounded me and helped me rally. They knew the goal was 100 miles, no matter what. So, we waited for the workers from the race to close the aid station, and we started again.
It was so painful and I was moving at a snail’s pace. It was looking like it might take me 12 hours to go 15 miles, but we kept going. We had friends bring us food, clothes, water, laughter, and anything else we needed. As we made our way to the finish, more of our friends joined the walk and kept me company along the way. Caroline and Cole were Facetiming friends and family from home to help keep my spirits up. I was a complete mess at this point. Finally, at 3:00 PM, 35 hours after I started, I crossed the finish line. However, I was not alone, I was with my tribe and random people cheering me on from the sidewalk. While I didn’t get a buckle, I still ran 100 miles, which was the ultimate goal.
This race taught me a lot about life. Most importantly, this race taught me that life is a team sport. We might think we can go far by ourselves, but it takes a tribe. There is no way I could’ve done 100 miles without these people supporting me. They kept me going when everything looked like it was over.
This race also taught me that you can do just about anything you put your mind to. Just because someone tells you you’re done or you can’t, don’t quit. This doesn’t mean you really are. Even though I was pulled from the course, we still finished. There is always another way! At the end of the day, commit to relentless forward progress. As in endurance sports, life gets hard. You have to keep going. When you want to quit, go one more mile, make it to another aid station, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
To close out, I want to thank everyone for all of their love and support. We had over 25 people in Leadville supporting three runners. It was amazing to see and feel. To everyone at home, I was overwhelmed with the messages you sent me before, during, and after the race. You never realize the support you have until you really need it. If you know someone struggling, send them a text or call them. It could change their life. To my wife, Caroline, thank you for your patience and love during the long nine months of training. I was worn out, beaten down, and not always present. I would’ve never gone back out there without you by my side the last 15 miles. I love you.
And to anyone reading this, I hope you can find a way to expand your horizons. You don’t need to do a 100-mile race, but as Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”
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