It is funny to think that two years ago I was sitting in the fish hatchery aid station thinking about the glory inherent in running the Leadville 100. Though many of the runners were stumbling into the aid station in a zombie-like state they still had family members and friends cheering them to the finish. The following morning I watched many of these zombies come running through the finish line almost completely rejuvenated. The glory was evident on their faces. Now here I am a Leadville finisher and I now know that feeling of glory is better than I could have imagined! Two years of dreaming of my own glory and now I have it! It almost leaves me with a feeling of not knowing where to go from here. Luckily, there are hundreds of other races around the world that interest me! Western States! Hardrock! Here I come!
The Start
Just as I did last year the hundred started for me at local coffee shop, Provin' Grounds. At 4am the gun went off, the feet started to move, and the waypoints started to pass by at a perceptibly faster rate than last year. I made the effort to slow myself down by running behind slow runners and taking pee breaks more often but I arrived at the May Queen a few minutes earlier than last year's split.
The First Long Slog
It’s funny how time passes quickly when one is fully immersed in such a long project. I have found that when running, hiking or driving long distances I get in a headspace that compresses time. The first half of the race passed somewhat quickly: It was great to see the turnout of my Outward Bound “family” at the Fish Hatchery aid station. As I had been running I had imagined all of these funny sayings that I was going to shout as I approached the timing mat. When the time came I just smiled and jogged into and out of the aid station stopping to some snacks only (Brenden was filling my water bottles already!). Upon leaving the Fish Hatchery the flats across to the pipeline were painful (I am a climber not a speedster) and the descent down to Twin Lakes actually felt good compared to last year. These were the highlights of the first 40 miles.
Hope Pass I
Out of Twin Lakes, I crossed Lake Creek for the first time of the out-and-back course. The water froze my legs giving me a short reprieve from the pain before the big 3,250’ climb to the top of Hope Pass. The climb was uneventful and fast (like I said, I am a climber). Hopeless aid station was wonderful with all of the llamas tethered in the field. The amount of supplies required to set up an aid station is pretty great and it was the 30 llamas that had carried the supplies to the aid station planted at 11800’ of elevation. It was one more thing that makes this race unique! The descent from Hope pass was slow going for me. I always descend slowly, taking it easy in the joints. Many of the runners that I had passed on the way up now passed me on the way down but I felt good running it almost entirely down to the Winfield aid station at the halfway point, having built up a 2 hour cushion ahead of the cutoffs! In 12 hours of running I had lost only 1.5 pounds indicating that I was doing a great job of hydrating and eating.
Hope Pass II
From fifty onward I was glad to have pacers. I would have survived without them but it would not have been so fun. Rohan was waiting for me when I arrived at Winfield ready to go. We departed the aid station started the steepest climb of the 100 back up to Hope pass. I walked the entire way at a good pace making it to the top of Hope pass in what I believe was about 2 hours. Rohan was good company, good humor as always. We descended to the "Hopeless" aid station, fueled up and took off at a good pace all the way down to the flats where Lake Creek dumps into the Twin Lakes. It was a painful descent, more than 3,000' long but I gritted my teeth and went for it. The second crossing of Lake Creek was welcome chilling my “undercarriage” once again. I cruised into Twin Lakes just before the sun set fully.
Running Through the Night
Anna (pacing me the next 11 or 12 mile section) and I walked the first section out of the Twin Lakes traveling steeply up a Jeep trail to the Colorado Trail that carried me up and over to the next aid station - Halfmoon II (or is it IV because it is the second time through?). The climb went well as I was feeling strong and I did my best to cruise down to the aid station after cresting the high point of the section. Running on the flats or slight downhills were difficult so I employed the strategy of making small running goals and running to them. It was a great strategy that I used a lot on the run. When we cruised into the aid station I realized that I had lost some time due to excessive talking. A good sign I was enjoying myself but also a sign I needed to speed it up a little. Anna and I didn't dally in the aid station. It was only 4.5 miles to the Treeline crewing area again so we ran as much as we could to make up time.
Katherine paced me for the last long section in the darkness of the night. We started the climb up the Powerlines with a good pace. The pace was good most of the way up but towards the top of Sugarloaf Pass the sleep deprivation was starting to get to me. At the summit I asked Katherine to give me about 12 minutes to take a nap and though it was hard to fall asleep I finally managed somewhat of a doze for 5 minutes. Whatever happened it made it easier to go when Katherine said "Alright Levi. Let's get going." So down we went I tried a run but the road was too loose and we settled for a fast downhill walk.
The final “descent” was the worst part of the section because it felt like we were rising the whole time. While we could see the aid station no more than a half-mile the trail kept traversing and climbing until the sun rose. The trail finally spit us out at the timberline trailhead, a half-mile from the aid station.
The Home Stretch
Leaving the May Queen, the final aid station, I had a full four hours to make it to the finish line. Not bad, but also not good. I would still need to hustle. Tyler (bringing me in as my final pacer) and I got to work running the singletrack sections as long as we could. We arrived quickly at the Tabor Boat ramp and then the Turquoise Lake road near the dam. The final section to the finish line proved difficult - it kept going and going! We kept getting the updates on how far it was from folks cheering on the side of the road but we didn't seem to be getting any nearer. We continued to run as long as I could manage, passing folks who did not look to be in so good shape. Several times I saw a runner start to wobble to the point where their pacer needed to catch them from falling over. We finally pulled up onto he pavement in town and turned up the final hill of Sixth Street. At the crest of the hill (now one of my favorite places to revisit) it dawned on me how long sixth street is. Katherine and Sam came out to run with Tyler and Myself until the red carpet. Running down the red carpet felt so good. I kept seeing people that I knew and I was stoked to have them there. The glory of that moment is unparalleled in my life. Upon crossing the finishing line (29 hours 28 minutes 49 seconds!) I got the biggest group hug I have ever received from my friends and crew and we moved off to find a spot the chill near the aid tent. I got weighed in at a pound heavier than the start and I decided to go watch the final runners come running in. It was neat to finish of my race day with cheering other runners in. I had gotten to know some folks so I felt good giving them some cheering as they came through the finish.
Photos by Brenden Goetz (Provin' Grounds) and Judith Robertson (Remainder).
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