LEADVILLE 100 - Brief race report

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the support regarding Leadville (and the other SLAM events). As you might guess, time has been in very short supply for me this summer, but I have been asked for race reports, so hear is a brief report for Leadville.

Raul Flores (from Mission, Kansas - - Kansas City area) came up behind me about 7 miles or so into the race and we ran together on and off for over 1/2 of the first 50miles of the race. I was on pace for about a 24 hour finish, but I struggled up the back side of Hope Pass. I just felt fatigued and have concluded that the fatigue was related to the two previous 100s in the 8 weeks prior to Leadville. After reaching the top of Hope Pass, I felt that I ran much better to Halfmoon (mile 70) - - but my splits don't reflect that. Shortly after Halfmoon, I realized I could still break 25 hours, but I would have to push very hard to do it. I thought about it and realized that if I put out the effort and broke 25 hours (or put out the effort and missed it) I would not be in very good shape for Wasatch Front 100 in 3 weeks. (FYI - my quads were still sore 3 1/2 weeks after Vermont 100, which is the easiest of the 4 SLAM events.) I decided to back off and take it easy the last 30 miles. At treeline (about mile 72) I ran into Raul Flores again and he was concerned about an injury. He said he was going to walk it in for the finish (for his 1000 mile buckle) and I decided to just walk the final 28 miles with him to get the finish and be in better shape for Wasatch. I ran a little coming down off Sugarloafin in order to get to a lower altitude quickly, but pretty much walked the balance of the last 28 miles with Raul. He walks much faster than I usually do, so it was still quite a workout for me to keep up with him. I really enjoyed his company, and the company of his pacer, Mike English.

We finished the race together in 26:48. That was 7 minutes faster than my time last year. I was happy with the finish and it was actually fun WALKING across a finish line for the first time in my life.

Today I have very little soreness left, so I feel confident I will be ready for WF100 in 2 1/2 weeks.

Thanks again for all your support! I enjoyed seeing Dale in Leadville this year. He invited me on a 4 hour run the Sunday before LT100, but I declined. Maybe some other time Dale! :-)

Paul Schoenlaub