STN PROJECTED ACTUAL PLACE MQ 2:00 2:01 +0:01 22 FH 3:40 3:46 +0:05 15 HM 4:45 4:54 +0:03 13 TL 6:20 -- HP 7:50 8:14 +0:15 11 WF 9:10 9:25 -0:09 10 HP 10:50 11:09 +0:04 10 TL 11:45 12:05 +0:01 8 HM 13:35 14:09 +0:14 10 FH 14:45 15:19 0:00 9 MQ 17:10 17:50 +0:06 8 LV 20:00 20:20:30 -0:20 5 The gun goes off at 4a.m. for the start of the 19th Leadville Trail 100. The 4a.m. start is the first of many challenges for the day -- everyone is going into this a little sleep deprived. The first 5 miles or so are downhill or flat on dirt roads, easy running. Pretty quick I'm running with veterans Kirk Apt, Scott Gordon, Chris Clarke, and a few others. This is good -- these are guys I respect very much for their ability to run a good, even pace & not start too fast. Amanda McIntosh runs with us on the Turquoise Lake single track. She won this race in 1999 and 2000 with times a little over 22 hours. Amanda says she figures if she's ever going to improve her time she's going to have to go a little faster in the first half. I respect that -- she's got nothing to prove by another 22 hour run, so she's going to take some risks here. We pull into Mayqueen (13.5 miles) in exactly 2 hours, right on my predicted split. The crew, my parents-in-law, is there & has everything ready, I'm in and out, but lost my little group so run alone for a while. The sun is coming up & we don't need lights anymore, but I still feel really sleepy. One thing that's tough about Leadville is that the first 33 miles or so are nearly all runnable. The climb up the north side of Sugarloaf is gradual, and it make sense to run most of it. But, you can get pretty tired of running without a break! I pass John Sandoval on the climb and introduce myself. I recognize him from years past -- he's going for his 10th Leadville. Amazing, all these guys coming back year after year. (unfortunately, John was DNF) The south side of Sugarloaf is very steep. I remember something Karl Meltzer said about his course record run at Hardrock -- that he went hard on the climbs and easy on the descents -- and I run the downhill pretty easy. A couple of guys blast by me, but when we hit the pavement section into the Fish Hatchery (24 miles) pretty soon these guys seem to be worse for wear. I think maybe Karl's on to something. The flat road section from Fish to Treeline is tedious, but fortunately only about 30 minutes. Treeline is not an aid station but a stop where you can meet your crew. I receive the usual efficient crew support at Treeline & am on my way. Good crew are worth their weight in gold. I think of us as a team. Its getting to be a real warm day, and the air is super dry. We're up here at 10,000 feet where the air just sucks the moisture out of your body. I'm drinking plenty of Amino, but having some trouble. I decide to boost my E-cap intake from 1 to 2 per hour, and that seems to help a lot. Still, the stomach is not very cooperative & more often than not I have to disappoint the crew by not taking an egg salad sandwich. The Halfmoon road is kind of a drag. Just a boring gravel road with an annoying gradual uphill grade. Just after the Halfmoon aid station (31 miles) I catch Jamie and Josh, who finished 1st and 2nd at Lake City 50 last month and are trying their first 100 miler. Its nice chatting with them, but I have to make a pit stop and they go on ahead. Turning onto the Colorado Trail is a joy because its great single track and because the big hill means a nice walking break, and because I just love the Colorado Trail. After a while I top out and run down the hill into the Twin Lakes aid station at mile 40. I grab a bunch of potatoes and bananas for the hike up Hope and then run through the cheering crowd. Its great to see a lot of our friends out there supporting various runners or just in for the spectacle. Watching ultra marathons is a bit like watching grass grow, but their support and cheers give me a big boost every time. Running across the "marsh" is good, its flat and very dry. The creek crossing is low and the cool water feels good. I start the long climb up Hope Pass and start work on my "lunch". One guy passes me on the climb and is out of sight pretty soon. Am I really that slow? I love the Hopeless aid station with all the llamas grazing in the field. I get my Camelbak refilled and enjoy the view. There are some young kids helping out and they seem to be having a great time. One kid tells me I'm in 10th place. OK, but its a long day. Topping out at 12,600 feet on Hope Pass is a relief. I'm well acclimated but this is still a high place. I let out a pretty feeble "woo hoo", but the spectators up there seem to be satisfied that I have expressed a sufficient level of enthusiasm. I run down the steep south side of Hope with some care. Near the bottom I encounter Chad Ricklefs coming up alone and in first place. He seems a bit pressed. Pretty soon I see why as Hal Koerner and the Steve Peterson are in hot pursuit. Everybody is pretty intense & I'm glad I'm not at their level. Running 100s is hard enough. After a bit I see Paul South too, looking a little spent. Paul tends to take it real hard out of the blocks & has not yet been able to put it together for a good finish. But, he does stir things up in the front I'm sure. I hit the Winfield road and trade my Camelbak for a hand bottle. The 2 miles up to Winfield are dull running, but its fun to see who's ahead: Joe Kulak running well as usual, Dennis Poolheco, Paul Dewitt going for his first 100, Jim Kerby, one or two others. I'm at Winfield in 9:25, about 15 minutes slower than my projected for a 20 hour dream time. Things are working. My pacer, Buzz Burrell is waiting there & I think now the fun will start. Buzz starts snapping pictures with his digital camera right away & I know I had better be on my best behavior as these things are going to be on the web by Monday (http://homepage.mac.com/buzzburrell/Leadville/index.html no that's not my butt) Out and back courses are fun because you get to see everybody. Leadville being a local race for me I know a lot of folks on the trail and its fun to see how everybody's doing. Amanda McIntosh is still leading the ladies, but Jill Case, Janet Runyan and some others are in pursuit. Steph is well off the back of this fast women's race, but is not expecting any great result this year having been injured for the last 8 months. I give her a kiss and Buzz yells some words of encouragement to her "You're a great runner and a super person, everybody loves you!" as she trots down the trail. If the run was lonely for a while its not anymore as there are like 400 people to greet with a "Lookin' good" or "Way to go" or "Great tights!" or whatever. Getting close to the top I see Mark Heinemann is gaining on me. I'm beginning to think about racing, so we run down the north side of Hope pretty quick. After a steep section at the top the descent is fairly gradual and fun. Everything's still working OK. I pass a couple of guys on the way down, but when I sit down to change my shoes at Twin Lakes (60 miles) they get me back. Buzz and I walk up the hill out of Twin and right away another guy comes out of nowhere and passes us. "Who are all those guys?" he says, "We're running sub-21 hour pace and in 12th place?" He sounds mad. I figure there's still a long way to go. We seem to be making OK time up the hill and then on the rolling section of the Colorado Trail along the base of Mt. Elbert. But some guy and his pacer pass us looking like they just got started. Yeah, who are all these guys??!! Oh well, we do what we can. Back down the Halfmoon road we are suprised to overtake Paul South. I figure he must be done (but no, he finished in just over 25 hours). At Treeline I grab a bottle and go. Run the road section real strong, don't want to be on this road very long! At the Fish Hatchery (76 miles) Buzz hands the pacer baton to Robert Rayburn. Buzz will hang out at Fish and pace Steph in to the finish. Robert, age 17, got the ultra bug from his dad, Bob, and has already run Rocky Racoon twice with a PR of about 23:30. This earned him the nickname "Rocky" at school. He wanted to enter Leadville but Ken told him he should be chasing girls instead. I think the kid's got enough energy for both pursuits. Going up the dreaded powerline climb on Sugarloaf things are beginning to come unglued. Stomach is real bad. Robert keeps me distracted and entertained, a real help to have him along. I keep popping those electrolytes but everything seems to be getting worse, so after a while I just stop taking them. Got to try something. This seems to help, as does getting to the top of the climb. We switch on our lights near the top. Running down the gradual Sugarloaf road things improve more and more and pretty soon I pass the guy who was complaining about the fast guys. Its raining a bit and a little windy, so Robert stops to put on more clothes while I continue down the Hagerman road and onto the short, rocky trail section into Mayqueen. When Robert catches up he tells me he took a nasty spill and banged up his ankle. Not much to do about it though, so we keep moving trying not to slip on the wet rocks. At Mayqueen I grab a new bottle of Amino and start out of the aid station, but Robert isn't able to continue because of his ankle. Real sorry to lose him but I'm feeling quite good now and ready to finish this sucker. I seem to just feel better and better as I run the lovely single track around Turquoise Lake. I remember doing 7 minute miles here with Joe Kulak in the Turquoise Lake 20km a couple of months back, but now 11's seem like flying. Good enough anyway. I pass the guys who passed me and Buzz before Halfmoon, then catch Dennis Poolheco. I figure I must be in about 7th by now, but I don't know about drops. At the Turquoise Lake dam I see my excellent crew one last time. I take off looking for more blood in the water -- I feel good & I want to pass somebody! But, there's nobody out there anymore. Up the Boulevard, then I'm on the streets of Leadville. Then a guy is asking for my number so he can relay it to the finish line a half mile ahead. Then I can hear the cheers of the folks at the finish. Wow, that's something, people out there at midnight cheering some crazy runners. It feels real good. Robert meets me a block out and runs in with me. Great! Turns out I get 5th place, 20:20:30. What a day. In 5 minutes after you stop everything freezes up so that you can hardly walk. I want to be out there supporting Steph but it seems out of the question. Well, she's got her sister, Eliza, and her parents, and Buzz, she's in good hands -- the best actually. I go back to the house & shower and lie down -- heaven. At 6:30a.m. Eliza wakes me up and I hobble out to await Steph's finish. After an OK run to 75 miles her legs locked up and another sub-25 hour became impossible, so she and Buzz just walked it on in. She comes across the line in 27:56, a personal worst on this course by nearly 4 hours. But, she's happy to get her 4th finish. Leadville is a wonderful and difficult event in a beautiful setting. The whole town comes out to support this race in various way, and it has a big impact on the overall economy of this small, Victorian town. Now its over I feel a bit sad, it seems like the end of summer when you were a kid in school. Days are getting shorter, time to buckle down and get some work done! Peter Boulder, CO