← All eventsLeadville Trail 100 Run
The 'Race Across the Sky': a comparatively runnable 100-miler whose difficulty is pure altitude, never dropping below ~9,200ft and crossing Hope Pass (~12,600ft) twice. 30h cutoff, sub-25h 'big buckle'. Date approximate (3rd Sat of August).
The "Race Across the Sky" earns its name. This 100-miler never drops below ~9,200ft, and the whole story is the thin air, not the vert. A famous, hundreds-strong, lottery-entry ultra run entirely up in the Colorado Rockies.
It's an out-and-back from Leadville on runnable dirt road and trail, with one crux: the double crossing of Hope Pass at ~12,600ft, out to the mile-50 turn at Winfield and straight back over on tired legs.
So it's a fast-looking course that only runs fast for the altitude-adapted. Thirty hours to finish, sub-25 for the coveted big buckle. Run the runnables honestly, power-hike the pass.
Is Leadville Trail 100 Run for you?
- Runners who can arrive acclimated. Altitude is the great differentiator here, so those who live high or get to Leadville early hold a real edge.
- Patient pacers. The runnable early miles tempt you to bank time in the thin air, and this race rewards the runners who refuse.
- Strong easy-running engines. This is a runnable 100, not a hiker's race, so the ability to keep running economically at altitude matters most.
- Athletes who use their crew and pacer. Big crewed stations and a pacer from mile 50 turn the long grind home into something manageable.
Training plan for Leadville Trail 100 Run
A training plan for Leadville Trail 100 Run isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Altitude that never lets up: above 9,200ft the whole way, over Hope Pass at ~12,600ft twice.
- A runnable course that tempts you to bank time you repay with heavy interest coming home.
- The Hope Pass double, worst on the second crossing with tired legs, where the cutoffs bite hardest.
- A long, cold night: most of the field runs into darkness and the second morning.
- Runnable long runs from 3-6h, building to a 7-9h ultra-long day on the highest ground you can reach.
- Hope Pass sims: a double-climb of one hill in a single run, plus power-hike repeats with poles.
- Back-to-back weekends, a big Saturday of 6-7h and a tired-leg Sunday of 4-5h, plus night runs on your race headtorch.
- An altitude plan that peaks late, camp high or sleep-high tents, with fuelling rehearsed at 60-90g carbs per hour.
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
