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Leadville Trail 100 MTB

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Leadville Trail 100 MTB
Race details
DateSecond Saturday in August
RegionLeadville, Colorado
Nickname(s)LT100
DisciplineMountain Bike
Type100 Mile Ultra Endurance
History
First edition1994 (1994)
Editions27

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is the second oldest of the well-known 100-mile (160 km) marathon mountain bike races held in the United States, the oldest being the Wilderness 101 in central Pennsylvania. The Leadville Trail 100 MTB was first run in 1994 and has become one of the best marketed, attended and known marathon events in mountain bike racing.

Entry to the event is controlled and restricted. Some entries are awarded by a random lottery, while other entries are awarded by finishing well in a series of qualifying events. Lottery entries are due by the end of December for the race that is run the second Saturday in August. Qualifying events are similar to the Leadville 100 race but shorter, typically around 100 km in length. Courses for qualifying events typically cover similar terrain (roads, dirt roads, gravel roads and mild trails) with similar vertical elevation gains (~100 feet per 1 mile).

History

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The Leadville Trail 100 MTB race is an outgrowth of the Leadville Trail 100 footrace. Both races were begun by Ken Chlouber as part of an effort to spur the economy of the town of Leadville after a local mine that employed many residents closed (the Climax mine). The mountain bike race was the idea of Tony Post, then a marketing vice president at the Rockport Company, sponsor of the event who arranged for television coverage for both races. The first mountain bike race drew just 150 entrants, while the 2009 edition allowed 1400 entrants.[1] The race has continued to grow and to allow more entrants. In 2010, the event was purchased by Life Time Fitness.[2] In 2019, there were 1,644 racers.[3]

Course

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The race is run on an out and back course of about 50 miles (80 km), starting and finishing in downtown Leadville, Colorado, United States, at 10,200 ft (3,100 m) elevation. The course includes five major climbs: St Kevins, Sugarloaf, Columbine, Powerline, and Turquoise Lake Road. The largest of these is the climb to Columbine Mine, which gains over 3,000 feet (910 m) of elevation. Total elevation gain is approximately 11,000 feet (3,400 m) when verified by GPS tracks of past competitors. [1] The actual length of the course is approximately 104 miles (167 km), and the greatest elevation is over 12,500 feet (3,800 m) at the half-way point at the Columbine mine.[4] There are six aid stations on the course, at Pipeline, Twin Lakes Dam, Columbine Mine, Twin Lakes Dam, Pipeline, and Carter Summit.

Cutoff Times

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Racers must checkout of aid stations prior to cutoff times. These times place limits on the amount of time racers have to finish a course leg. They are found in the Leadville Trail 100 MTB Athlete Guide and also in the event schedule on the website.[5]

Riders must check out of each aid station prior to the cut-off times. Failure to do so will end the racer's competitive time and result in a did not finish (DNF) race result status. In the final leg toward the race finish, racers must finish prior to a 9-hour cutoff time to qualify for the "big buckle" and a 12-hour cutoff time for completion and to qualify for the "small buckle".

Cutoff Times

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Course Leg Elapsed Race Time Actual Cutoff Time
Twin Lakes Outbound (40.8 miles) Elapsed (gun) time, 4 hours, 20 minutes Actual Time 10:50am MST
Twin Lakes Return (60 miles) Elapsed (gun) time, 8 hours, 5 minutes Actual Time 2:35pm MST
Pipeline Return (74.7 miles) Elapsed (gun) time, 9 hours, 5 minutes Actual Time 3:35pm MST
Carter Summit (92.5 miles) Elapsed (gun) time, 9 hours, 50 minutes Actual Time 6:20pm MST
Race Finish (104 miles) Elapsed (chip) time, 12 hours, 00 minutes Actual Time 6:30pm - 6:50pm MST

Notable Racers

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Between 2003 and 2008, David Wiens, a 2000 inductee to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, won the race each year. In 2007, Wiens broke the 7 hour mark for the first time at 6:58:46 [2] while holding off Floyd Landis by just under 2 minutes. In 2008, Wiens won again beating Lance Armstrong by just under 2 minutes and setting a new course record of 6:45:45 [3]. In 2009, Armstrong returned winning and establishing a new course record of 6:28:50.9. Armstrong's involvement with the race brought increased attention to the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, evidenced by the fact that race organizers offered a live webcast for purchase beginning in 2009. In 2010, Armstrong was unable to return due to injury, but his Team RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer, riding in his first mountain bike race, won and set a new course record of 6:16:37. In the 2010 women's race, two-time winner Rebecca Rusch also broke the course record, which had stood since 1997. In 2011, a conflict with the Tour of Utah kept Leipheimer away, but U.S. national cross-country bike champion Todd Wells turned in the second-fastest time ever to win, 6:23:38, while Rusch won the women's race again and shaved over 15 minutes off her previous record, with 7:31:46. [4]

Winners

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Men's winner

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Year Name, State or Country Time
1994 John Stamstad, Ohio, Ohio 7:52:53
1995 Russell Worley, California, California 7:27:55
1996 Mike Volk, Colorado, Colorado 7:22:02
1997 Mike Volk (2), Colorado, Colorado 7:05:45
1998 Richard Feldman, Idaho, Idaho 7:40:02
1999 Richard Feldman (2), Idaho, Idaho 7:10:33
2000 Kevin Willson, Colorado, Colorado 7:31:09
2001 Bryson Perry, Utah, Utah 7:30:01
2002 Bryson Perry (2), Utah, Utah 7:32:27
2003 David Wiens, Colorado, Colorado 7:07:44
2004 David Wiens (2), Colorado, Colorado 7:05:51
2005 David Wiens (3), Colorado, Colorado 7:17:47
2006 David Wiens (4), Colorado, Colorado 7:13:14
2007 David Wiens (5), Colorado, Colorado 6:58:46
2008 David Wiens (6), Colorado, Colorado 6:45:45
2009 Lance Armstrong, Texas, Texas 6:28:51
2010 Levi Leipheimer, California, California 6:16:37
2011 Todd Wells, Colorado, Colorado 6:23:38
2012 Alban Lakata, Austria, Austria 6:32:23
2013 Alban Lakata (2), Austria, Austria 6:04:01
2014 Todd Wells (2), Colorado, Colorado 6:16:27
2015 Alban Lakata (3), Austria, Austria 5:58:35
2016 Todd Wells (3), Colorado, Colorado 6:19:43
2017 Howard Grotts, Colorado, Colorado 6:15:00
2018 Howard Grotts (2), Colorado, Colorado 6:18:08
2019 Howard Grotts (3), Colorado, Colorado 6:19:18
2020 Not held
2021 Keegan Swenson, Colorado, Utah 6:11:26
2022 Keegan Swenson (2), Colorado, Utah 6:00:01
2023 Keegan Swenson (3), Colorado, Utah 5:43:31*
2024 Keegan Swenson (4), Colorado, Utah 5:49:08

Women's winner

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Year Name, State Time
1994 Laurie Brandt, Colorado, Colorado 9:03:50
1995 Laurie Brandt (2), Colorado, Colorado 8:52:58
1996 Tonia Ralston, Wyoming, Wyoming 9:56:15
1997 Laurie Brandt (3), Colorado, Colorado 7:58:52
1998 Laurie Brandt (4), Colorado, Colorado 8:31:24
1999 Cristina Begy, Colorado, Colorado 8:55:12
2000 Cristina Begy (2), Colorado, Colorado 9:13:51
2001 Joan Miller, Colorado, Colorado 9:11:30
2002 Kim Raymond, Colorado, Colorado 9:00:57
2003 Carol Quinn, Colorado, Colorado 9:19:49
2004 Jilene Mecham, Utah, Utah 9:37:18
2005 Joan Miller (2), Colorado, Colorado 8:51:26
2006 Lisel Robert, Utah, Utah 8:47:39
2007 Gretchen Reeves, Colorado, Colorado 8:05:29
2008 Susan Williams, Colorado, Colorado 8:40:55
2009 Rebecca Rusch, Idaho, Idaho 8:14:53
2010 Rebecca Rusch (2), Idaho, Idaho 7:47:35
2011 Rebecca Rusch (3), Idaho, Idaho 7:31:46
2012 Rebecca Rusch (4), Idaho, Idaho 7:28:06
2013 Sally Bigham, Great Britain, Great Britain 7:17:01
2014 Sally Bigham (2), Great Britain, Great Britain 7:23:58
2015 Annika Langvad, Denmark, Denmark 6:59:24*
2016 Sally Bigham (3), Great Britain, Great Britain 7:05:47
2017 Larissa Connors, California, California 7:31:53
2018 Larissa Connors (2), California, California 7:40:13
2019 Rose Grant, Montana, Montana 7:36:06
2020 Not held
2021 Rose Grant, Montana, Montana 7:23:57
2022 Hannah Otto, Utah, Utah 7:24:12
2023 Sofía Gómez Villafañe, Argentina, Argentina 7:09:48
2024 Melisa Rollins, Utah, Utah 7:10:10

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Scully, Lizzy (July 2009). "Ken Chlouber's Leadville". Mountain Flyer Magazine (13): 22.
  2. ^ "Owners Sell Leadville 100". www.bicycling.com. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  3. ^ "2019 Leadville Trail 100 MTB Results". www.athlinks.com. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
  4. ^ "2021 Stages Cycling Leadville Trail 100 MTB Updates". www.leadvilleraceseries.com. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  5. ^ "Stages Cycling Leadville Trail 100 MTB". Leadville Race Series. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
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