Leadville Trail 100 in 25 Hours 7 Minutes 29 Seconds!

Leadville Trail 100 in 25 Hours 7 Minutes 29 Seconds!

I had the race of my life and gave it everything I had.  I left nothing out on the trail.

 Video of me (Hawaiian Shirt Ray) coming across the finish of the 2010 Leadville Trail 100

 Video of me (Hawaiian Shirt Ray), my crew/pacers during 2010 Leadville Trail 100

Hawaiian Shirt Ray – Leadville 100 from David Besnette on Vimeo

Thanks to my Great Crew/Team!

2010 Leadville Trail 100 - The Fish Hatchery Aid Station mile 23.5. photo by Rick Mann

Wow, what a race the 2010 Leadville Trail 100 turned out to be.  25 hours 7 minutes 29 seconds would have been impossible without the great crew that helped me get to the starting line and to the finish line.  My great crew/team were: Laura Fahrenbrook: Crew Chief and Pacer (my sister too!), Rick Mann: Crewed with my sister for the entire race!, Lina Kelso: paced me from Winfield to Twin Lakes (miles 50 to 60.5), David Besnette: paced me from Twin lakes to Fish Hatchery (miles 60.5 to 76.5), and Neeraj Engineer: paced me from Fish Hatchery to the second boat ramp (miles 76.5 to about 93).  Thank you so much for taking time out of your weekend to support me during the race.

Digging Deep

Running the Leadville Trail 100 requires runners to dig deep; deeper than they ever have before in their lives.  This was my third Leadville Trail 100 and for each of them I had to dig deeper than I ever have in my life.  My first was just to finish in under the 30 hour cutoff and I did with a time of 29 hours 44 minutes 6 seconds.  My second attempt turned bad with the hot weather.  I had lost 10 pounds by the time I made it to Winfield at the 50 mile turn-around and I was ready to quit.  I managed to leave Winfield and start up Hope Pass were I left my mark (I threw up) and I was ready to quit again at the Hope Pass aid station.  When I made it back to Twin Lakes my crew was so happy to see me I decided to run to the next aid station since the aid station would pull me because I wouldn’t make the cut-off.  Well, I made the cut-off and had to keep going.  I did cross the finish line in 29 hours 12 minutes 26 seconds.

This year I raised the bar to not just finishing, but finishing in under 25 hours to claim the coveted big “under 25 hour” belt buckle.  I had all my split times between aid stations down to a science and now the pressure to make them was on.  I was secretly hoping that I would run a bit faster on a few of the splits to start banking time.  I was gaining just a few minutes but not the large amount that I was hoping for, so I had to keep digging deep and pushing the pace from aid station to aid station.  When I left Winfield I had about 20 minutes banked and was feeling good running the 3 miles to the Sheep Gulch trail-head.  I was shocked when I had nothing for the climb back over Hope Pass.

At least this year I knew I would make it over Hope Pass and I did not throw up.  However, I needed to spend a bit of time at the Hopeless Aid Station to regroup.

2010 Leadvile Trail 100 - regrouping at the Hopeless Aid Station at mile 55. photo by Lena Kelso

 It was painful leaving the Hopeless Aid Station, but once I did I was on fire again.  Hope Pass returning to Twin Lakes was the low point for me during the race.  I really had to keep going to the well, throwing the bucket in and hoping that there would be something there when I pulled it up.  As Ken Chlouber the race president says, “we had an unlimited deposit of guts, courage, and determination; we just have to dig deep and believe that we are better than we think we are, and can do more than we think we can.”

After returning to Twin Lakes I was only 2 minutes ahead of schedule so I could not take it “easy” for the rest of the race.  I had to push from aid station to aid station.  When I finally ran into the May Queen Aid Station I regrouped again and realized that this was it, I had to give it all I have if I was going to get that sub 25 hour buckle.  When I left I had 3 hours 4 minutes 4 seconds to make it across the finish line in under 25 hours.  To put this into perspective the last two years I ran the last 13.5 miles in 4 hours 1 minute and 3 hours 43 minutes respectively.  I do not know where my energy came from but I was “running” again, I mean really running!  I knew I had to put it all on the line and I never thought once that even though the odds were stacked against me that I couldn’t accomplish sub 25 hours.  I ran the last 13.5 miles in 3 hours 10 minutes.  Although it was not good enough for me to earn the sub 25 hour buckle I am so happy beyond words of my 25 hour 7 minute 29 second finish because I know that I gave it my all over the entire 100 miles.

Next year the sub 25 hour buckle is mine!

The Leadville Trail 100 sub 25 Hour Buckle