Leadville Trail 100 - History and Records

History and Records

Race co-founder Kenneth Chlouber, an avid marathon runner, conceived of the race as a way to make Leadville famous and bring visitors during a period of economic downturn. When he told the local hospital administrator about his idea he was told, "You're crazy! You'll kill someone!" Chlouber responded, "Well, then we will be famous, won't we?"

Leadville is one of the four 100-milers in the United States that make up the "Western Slam", completing four western 100-mile (160 km) events: the Leadville 100, the Western States 100 in northern California, the Wasatch Front 100 in Utah, and the Angeles Crest 100 in southern California. Leadville is also a part of the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning (the Vermont 100, Western States 100, Leadville and the Wasatch Front 100, originally Old Dominion 100 instead of Vermont) and an optional part of the Rocky Mountain Slam (Hardrock 100 plus three of four other races in the Rocky Mountains: Leadville, the Bear 100, the Bighorn 100, or the Wasatch Front 100). Leadville is also one of the valid qualifying events for the Hardrock 100.

Leadville was the venue for the American debut of the Tarahumara runners of Mexico. Tarahumara teams competed in the Leadville 100 in 1993 and 1994 and won the event outright both years. In 1993, 52 year-old Tarahumara runner Victoriano Churro came in first, followed by 41 year-old teammate Cerrildo in second. In 1994 a five-man Tarahumara team took on Ann Trason in a much-publicized race in the ultrarunning community. 25 year-old Tarahumara runner Juan Herrera won in a record time of 17:40. His mark stood for 11 years until Matt Carpenter's performance in 2005. Trason's time of 18:06 was good for second place overall, and is still the current course record for female runners.

The LT100 is distinctive among 100-mile races in having no entrance lottery. Returning finishers are likely to be accepted, but otherwise the race is strictly first-come, first-served. In the past, race entry packets were mailed out soon after the first of the year, and some racers would turn in their entrance forms overnight to become one of the 500 or so people accepted every year. Registration can now be done online.