Leadville Trail 100 MTB

Leadville Trail 100 MTB
Race details
Date	Second Saturday in August
Region	Leadville, Colorado
Nickname(s)	LT100
Discipline	Mountain Bike
Type	100 Mile Ultra Endurance
History
First edition	1994
Editions	24

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is the second oldest of the growing number of 100-mile (160 km) marathon mountain bike races held in the United States, the first being the Wilderness 101 in Central PA. 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. The lottery entries are due by the end of December for the race that is run the second Saturday in August. The qualifying events are similar to the Leadville 100 race but shorter, typically around 100 km in length. These course typically cover similar paths (roads, dirt roads, gravel roads and mild trails) with similar vertical elevation gains (~100 feet per 1 mile).

History

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 mountain bike race began after a sponsor of the footrace offered to sponsor it and to arrange for television coverage. The first running of the race drew just 150 entrants, while the 2009 edition allowed 1400 entrants.^[1]

Course

The race is run on a 50-mile (80 km) out and back course, starting and finishing in downtown Leadville, Colorado, United States, at 10,200 ft (3,100 m) elevation. Major climbs include an over 3,000 feet (910 m) ascent from miles 40-50 to the Columbine mine, Powerline at mile 80, and St Kevins at mile 86. Total elevation gain is somewhere around 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.

Winners

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 has 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 concurrent 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]

Men's winner

Year	Name, State or Country	Time
1994	John Stamstad, , Ohio	7:52:53
1995	Russell Worley, , California	7:27:55
1996	Mike Volk, , Colorado	7:22:02
1997	Mike Volk (2), , Colorado	7:05:45
1998	Richard Feldman, , Idaho	7:40:02
1999	Richard Feldman (2), , Idaho	7:10:33
2000	Kevin Willson, , Colorado	7:31:09
2001	Bryson Perry, , Utah	7:30:01
2002	Bryson Perry (2), , Utah	7:32:27
2003	David Wiens, , Colorado	7:07:44
2004	David Wiens (2), , Colorado	7:05:51
2005	David Wiens (3), , Colorado	7:17:47
2006	David Wiens (4), , Colorado	7:13:14
2007	David Wiens (5), , Colorado	6:58:46
2008	David Wiens (6), , Colorado	6:45:45
2009	Lance Armstrong, , Texas	6:28:51
2010	Levi Leipheimer, , California	6:16:37
2011	Todd Wells, , Colorado	6:23:38
2012	Alban Lakata, , Austria	6:32:23
2013	Alban Lakata (2), , Austria	6:04:01
2014	Todd Wells (2), , Colorado	6:16:27
2015	Alban Lakata (3), , Austria	5:58:35*
2016	Todd Wells (3), , Colorado	6:19:43
2017	Howard Grotts, , Colorado	6:15:00

Women's winner

Year	Name, State	Time
1994	Laurie Brandt, , Colorado	9:03:50
1995	Laurie Brandt (2), , Colorado	8:52:58
1996	Tonia Ralston, , Wyoming	9:56:15
1997	Laurie Brandt (3), , Colorado	7:58:52
1998	Laurie Brandt (4), , Colorado	8:31:24
1999	Cristina Begy, , Colorado	8:55:12
2000	Cristina Begy (2), , Colorado	9:13:51
2001	Joan Miller, , Colorado	9:11:30
2002	Kim Raymond, , Colorado	9:00:57
2003	Carol Quinn, , Colorado	9:19:49
2004	Jilene Mecham, , Utah	9:37:18
2005	Joan Miller (2), , Colorado	8:51:26
2006	Lisel Robert, , Utah	8:47:39
2007	Gretchen Reeves, , Colorado	8:05:29
2008	Susan Williams, , Colorado	8:40:55
2009	Rebecca Rusch, , Idaho	8:14:53
2010	Rebecca Rusch (2), , Idaho	7:47:35
2011	Rebecca Rusch (3), , Idaho	7:31:46
2012	Rebecca Rusch (4), , Idaho	7:28:06
2013	Sally Bigham, , Great Britain	7:17:01
2014	Sally Bigham (2), , Great Britain	7:23:58
2015	Annika Langvad, , Denmark	6:59:24*
2016	Sally Bigham (3), , Great Britain	7:05:47
2017	Larissa Connors, , California	7:31:53

References

^ Scully, Lizzy (July 2009). "Ken Chlouber's Leadville". Mountain Flyer Magazine (13): 22.

External links

LeadvilleRaceSeries.com - Official website of the Leadville Trail 100 Mile MTB
Leadville Trail Maps and Results - Website of Leadville Trail Race Maps and Archived Race Results
2008 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race Finisher Data - 2008 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race Finisher Data
Leadville 100 MTB Course Flyover Map - The Run Scout
Strava segment

[1] Scully, Lizzy (July 2009). "Ken Chlouber's Leadville". Mountain Flyer Magazine (13): 22.

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