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In 1983, 45 courageous athletes took the first Leadville 100 when Ken Chlouber organized the race to draw attention to the city after the mine closed. The high altitude trail race has since become one of the most emblematic – and difficult – ultras in the world. Only 405 of the 765 runners last year finished the exhausting event, which includes more than 15,000 climbing feet and reached a high point of 12,500 feet at the top of Hope Pass.
This year, nine runners from the County Eagle will line up alongside more than 850 others in Leadville.
John Novak of Eagle was inspired to be part of the Leadville race series after reading the book of Christopher McDougall, “Born to Run”“A bestseller from the New York Times has caused Tarahumara runners Participation in 1994 Edition of the race.
“I love the story behind Leadville, the incredible local volunteers and the sense of the community that makes the race so special,” said Novak, who finished more than 20 races in the series, including Four Leadville Trail 100s. The 60 -year -old man brings a solid endurance foundation of his records of Nordic skiing but only ran his first marathon 10 years ago. In the Leadville Trail 2015 marathon, he ranked second in his age group with a time of 5 hours, 16 minutes and 48 seconds, winning a coveted gold piece for the 100.
“This experience turned on a fire in me,” he said. “I am also an international business pilot, which gives me the opportunity to run in fairly incredible places around the world.”
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Novak made his debut in Leadville 100 in 2016. He shaved almost three hours off the following year and did the best of his course in 2021, finishing 20th in total in 21:49:47.
“It will be my first 100-thousand race at 60,” he said. “My goal is to win my age group – or simply finish strong and dip at all times.”
The goal of Logan Ross is to finish his first 100 miles in less than 30 hours, but the break of the 25 -hour Big Belt loop is also in mind.
“I only had a short time after having moved to Colorado. In 2018, my craze to run through the mountains, find alpine lakes and climb peaks,” he said. “These breeds really show how altruistic this community is and the energy is out of the Richter.”
Ross arises for the first descentsan organization based in Denver which provides “The outdoor adventures that have changed life for young adults affected by cancer and other serious health problems”, and reconnected, a non -profit organization from the County of Eagle helping people to recover additions and mental health challenges. Creighton Soukup and Rob Shearon are two other members of the reconnected community who put a file. Their race is the last stage of the main challenge, the completion of all the events of the lead series of Leadville in a single summer.
Ruth Razo de Vail is also tangentially connected to the reconnected crew. Razo’s husband Matt, a massage therapist, worked on Soukup and Shearon, said Shearon.
“It was really cool that her husband helps us and encourages us to encourage us,” said Shearon before Leadville Trail 100 MTB last week. Razo is currently ninth in the main classification of women. She was originally planning to participate in the 2024 challenge, but had to postpone due to very wearing health complications.
“With hindsight, it was a blessing,” she said. “I have learned a lot about some of the nuances of training and nutrition for female athletes. I learned a lot about how my body works and to rely on my strengths and improve my weaknesses. ”
Inspired by the main local comrades Challenge Nick Kierstead, Jake Wells and Jolene Sandoval, Razo “wanted to see what was possible”.
“Is it possible for an average and relatively” new “athlete, with a zero experience in ultra racing to succeed?” She asked. “Can I, between owning and managing a business and (being) in a full-time master’s program, always able to find sufficient time and energy to train in this business? What are the limits that we essentially set ourselves, and to what extent are we to overcome it to overcome them to achieve our objectives? ”
Razo finished the marathon of the trail in 6:56, the Silver Rush 50 MTB in 7:42:51 and the 100 V-MTB last weekend in 11:25:25. The next day, she finished the 10 km race in 1:12:14. She said that she had found joy in “bringing and working through discomfort by trusting that body and mind are quite strong”.
“And find additional strengths and inspiration for incredible support and belief in me from my husband, family, friends and community,” she added. “And the people I had no idea approached me for me.”
While Carrie Stafford – who finished fourth in the general classification for women in last year’s leader – does not make the whole series this summer, the Vail Runner, 46, will do her 14th start to the Leadville trail 100 Saturday at 4 am, she hopes for her arrival at the 11th career.
“There are two ladies with 13 finishes – Marge (Hickman) and Laurie (Nakauchi) – so I have to get at least four others,” said Stafford. “But I will be so close to the 20 -year -old loop …”
Hickman finished second in the first Leadville 100 and won the following year. Stafford described the 75 -year -old woman as her “spiritual animal”.
“She is 75 years old and still attacks,” said Stafford. “These women are hard.”
Between work and being a mom, Stafford has an average of about 35 miles per week plus a few bicycle walks in preparation for the event.
“I really rely on kilometers for life,” she said. “So with that, I thought it would be a fun challenge to run without Pacers.”
Danae Diehm started running with her father during her New Jersey college days. After joining the Cross-Country team as a senior, she ran with casualness at the University of Colorado State University and later when she moved to Vail.
“I became obsessed with hiking and mountain exploration here, and I realized one day that if I ran paths instead of hiking them, I could explore much more land on the mornings when I had to work that afternoon,” she said. “That’s when I started running.”
She made the Leadville Trail marathon in 2023 and the Silver Rush 50 last summer. While she was convinced to register in the 100 after this last race, a month after her arrival, her training partner and best friend – her dog Kai – died suddenly.
“It broke me and I fell into depression,” she said. “I realized that Kai would never want me to stop running or that I give up training for a dream breed, so I specifically lead Leadville to his memory.”
Diehm’s little brother will rhythm it for the last 40 miles.
“I am extremely grateful for the possibility of running this race and I am ready to embrace all the emotions it brings,” she said. “If there is someone who experiences a loss or who crosses him as I was and that I am still several days, I hope that I can inspire them not to abandon, to do difficult things and to chase your dreams by pain.”
Josh Nichols played the butt and fought at university, not running at the end of the twenties. One of his first most memorable races was the day his daughter returned from the factory.
“To celebrate, (i) went to flow 34 miles without training,” he said. “She has been there for all years of Leadville and watching my two children grow up around the event was incredible – seeing their perspective and even development with performance has even shaped a lot of performance book that I write.”
The 36 -year -old will make his fourth departure from Leadville 100; In 2023, a serious case of pulmonary edema at high altitude forced him to withdraw halfway. His goal this year is to finish.
“But don’t stop there,” he added. “I want to go to Badwater and (I) a few other races that I want to do through the Middle East.”
While Ultra Running is a niche niche drug addiction by most and kissed by only a few, Novak said that he loved the quiet time distances that allow him.
“Loneliness, reflection and clarity”, he explained “to set a goal and work there with intention is deeply fulfilling.”
“Leadville is more than a race,” he continued. “It is a celebration of the grain, the community and the connection. This brings together family and friends for a healthy and inspiring reason. I know that I will fail to manage it one day, but I hope to stay involved by walking the others and sharing the experience from a different perspective. ”
Nichols said that the process – with suffering, failure and daily life – is what makes the races ultra so beautiful.
“The desire to put you in one of the most uncomfortable situations and to ask more is where someone is starting to start living life fully,” he said before pointing to one of his favorite quotes from the ultra-star world-renowned star Karnazes:
“If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to change your life, run a marathon. If you want to speak to God, head an ultra.”
