Looking thrilled just minutes before the start

You know you’re going to be in a death march when bad weather prevents you from driving the posted speed limit on the way to a race start.

Running 100 miles at high elevation in the Rockies is tough as it is. Driving through freezing rain with the occasional lightning hitting the nearby mountaintops makes it surreal.

Fortunately there was only an occasional drizzle in Downtown Leadville prior to the 4 AM start. And unlike the Leadville bike race, there was no jockeying for a good starting position among the 466 runners. Everyone basically stands around nervously making small talk and waiting for Race Promoter Ken Chlouber to fire the shotgun. (more…)

The week prior to running the Leadville Trail 100 is a great time to do some great day hiking around Frisco, Colorado. This year we hiked the Peaks Trail to Gold Hill then caught the free Summit County bus shuttle back to Frisco. We also hiked the Mt. Royal Trail to Masontown.

Some photos are posted below. Note that the Mountain Pine Beetle has been devastating pine trees throughout the County. I’m not sure how this area will look in a couple years as these trees start to fall, if not burn.

The 2008 Leadville Trail 100 race begins as the bikers head towards the mountains

This is the first year I’ve crewed at the Leadville bike race rather than bike it. Besides getting another perspective on the race, I also got a lot of race photos. Unfortunately I only got two photos of the now infamous David Wiens and Lance Armstrong battle.

Congratulations to all who raced, including Stani Bohac (first timer and finishing well under 9 hours!), Jim Janowicz, Jeff Tenniswood, Doug Cannell, Randy Guymer, Jenn Dice (IMBA), Garth Prosser, and Patrick Olson.

The race photos are on-line at https://allyeargear.com/gallery/2008-leadville100-bike

It’s official. Snow is now in the forecast for tomorrow’s Leadville Trail 100 running race.

Snow showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning…then rain showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Snow accumulation around 1 inch. Highs 45 to 53. Southwest winds up to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Because there will be a mix of snow and rain, it’s going to be very tough keeping my clothing dry, especially critical items like gloves.

Also, racing in cold weather makes me want food with higher fat content. Typically I would do this race with just Hammer Gel and a protein-supplement. Now I plan on having raw cookie dough on hand.

The Race Medical check in is underway now. The race starts with an early morning shotgun blast at 4 AM.

Leadville's weekend weather forecast

It’s just a couple days away from the start of the Leadville Trail 100 running race.  Running 100 miles at altitude in the mountains is epic in its own right.  The race doesn’t need to be made tougher with lousy weather.

It appears Mother Nature wasn’t made aware of that.

This weekend’s weather looks wet and cold.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw snow.  I’m glad I packed some winter running gear.  It’s going to be interesting!