The town of Leadville was the most productive silver-mining district in the state of Colorado. When mining stopped the town slid into decline. The race across the sky or Leadville 100 has single-handedly saved Leadville from ending up like so many other ghost towns across the Rockies.
The Leadville Trail 100 is a 100-mile ultramarathon held annually in the Colorado Rockies. The Leadville Trail 100 is a high-altitude event with elevations ranging between 9200 and 12620 feet. The route is an out and back starting and finishing in Leadville with a turn-around point in Winfield.
Let’s look at what has made the Leadville Trail 100 into one of the key bucket-list events for ultra-trail runners.
What Is The Leadville 100?
Popularly known as the LT100 or the Race Across The Sky, the Leadville Trail 100 is an annual ultra-marathon being held in Leadville, Colorado, particularly through the Colorado Rockies. The first-ever Leadville Trail 100 was conducted back in 1983 with a time limit of 30 hours.
The course of the LT100 is indeed a challenging one that is why many marathoners and athletes join the event every single year. It covers a distance of 100 miles with elevations varying from 2,800 to 3,850 meters or 9,100 to 12,600 feet and with a course ascending and descending around 4,800 meters or 15,700 feet.
How It All Started
Almost four decades ago, Jim Butera and Kenneth Chlouber founded the Leadville Trail 100. Butera is the former president of Colorado Ultra Club and Chlouber is a town politician and enthusiastic marathoner. They conceived the LT100 in order to bring visitors and tourists into the state during a time of economic decline.
The so-called Race Across The Sky is among the four western 100-miler trail ultramarathon events. The other three are the Angeles Crest 100 held in Southern California, the Wasatch Front 100 held in Utah, and the Western States 100 held in North California. These four race events are known together as the Western Slam.
The Course Of The Leadville Trail 100
The LT100’s out and back course will go through the dirt roads and rugged trails of Leadville, Colorado, particularly in the middle of the Colorado Rockies. Runners will also have to scale up Hope Pass which is 3,850 meters high. The total distance of the event is 100 miles.
Some Remarkable Finishers Of The LT100
In the first-ever Leadville Trail 100, the winner was from Aspen, Colorado and he finished the race within 20 hours, 11 minutes, and 18 seconds. His name is Skip Hamilton.
Today’s record holder in the race finished within 15 hours, 42 minutes. His name is Matt Carpenter. The female record holder is Ann Trason with 18 hours, 6 minutes, and 24 seconds.
The oldest finisher to ever join the race went to Charles Williams, who finished the event at the age of 70 years old back in 1999.
The Race Series Of The Leadville
Under the LT100 banner, there are other race events being held aside from the Leadville Trail 100. Here are the details:
- Leadville 10K Run – this event usually happens a week before the main LT100 ultra marathon. Its course runs through the first and last parts of the LT100 ultra marathon.
- Leadville Trail 100 MTB – in 1994, this event for mountain bike racers was added to the banner. Its course is somehow similar to the LT100 ultra marathon.
- Silver Rush 50 MTB – another mountain bike race under the banner. Its course runs through the mining districts located in Eastern Leadville.
- Silver Rush 50 Run – this 50-mile run goes through the same course as the Silver Rush 50 MTB. It was added to the banner back in 2008.