I dropped my boys off with my wife last night (they went to a BBQ) and I drove up to Leadville to pace Tim Long from May Queen to the finish. Tim ran awesome and it was kind of cool to be back on the part of the course that turned me in to a walking piece of hamburger last year with the person who got me to the finish. This was Tim's 4th 100 mile run this year so it was pretty much just old hat to him. He ran 21:04:04 for maybe 16th or so place. JT was there also pacing Tim and he had just run the Pikes Ascent that morning (and ran well) then drove to Leadville to pace Tim... and is now starting Trans-Rockies. Damn. And Happy Trails were Tim's crew. Steve and Kathleen were awesome even after ~18 hours of crew duty!
The Leadman record was enroute to getting completely destroyed by Alfred Thresher. His times thus far were:
Marathon: 4:20. 5th over-all.
Silver Rush 50 bike (single speed): 4:04. 2nd over-all.
100 bike (single speed): 7:44. 56th over-all.
10k run: 46:07. 10th over-all.
100 run: DNS
I heard a rumor that he crashed on his bike and got a staph infection and couldn't start the run? Holy crap though... he was probably going to destroy the record... but he was going to do it on a single speed bike which in my opinion would have set the bar even higher. Had he gotten the record then anyone in the future who broke it would need an asterisk next to their ego. Mad respect to Mr Thresher.
And here is a video from the Leadville 100 bike put together by the race. You can get a clear idea as to what I was up against 43 seconds in to the video. I'm in the black and lime green... I'm riding strong, the guy behind me almost falls over, and I'm heading straight for a line of people hiking...
9 comments:
It was great to finally meet you Lucho! Awesome job keeping Tim focused and running strong in to the finish - great day!
I am digging you on twitter.
For what it is worth, some folks think that the Leadville Marathon time is pretty close to the PPM time. Different races, but supposedly a fair predictor.
Oh man that guy was a paper doll blowing in the wind.
And that shot later of you coming back down that section with 200 people lined up walking at 1mph.
You've easily got an hour without doing anything - free trail to bike, hooking up with people your speed, less stress, etc.
Get that single speed ready! Nice meeting you at Brandons on Thursday!
Pretty impressive they can put clips together of each athlete and make a video. Very cool.
Tim: Yes, it was announced at the pre-race meeting that Thresher had a staph infection.
I think you could really give the Leadman record a run in 2012.
I don't (yet) have the time to gun for Leadman, but it's in my future. My son's too young and my life is too busy to cover gazillions of miles every week on the run and in the saddle.
Also, you may disagree, but I'll tell you that anyone who breaks 20 on that course is a special person. Neither Marshall Ulrich or Karl Meltzer ever went sub-20 there--and those two guys are legends (and for those who think Dean K. is a legend, he never went sub-20 either). That is a tough course and not everyone can go sub-20. It remains my #1 goal (along with a new marathon PR) and, damnit, it's gonna happen one of these freaking days.
Wyatt
Thanks guys.
Wyatt- Leadman will almost for sure happen and I think I'll be more fit for the 100 run next time around.
Found your blog while looking for the actual Leadman record time. Any idea where to find it?
Matt- The all time results for all the races are on the race website.
http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/page/show/341303-results
The course record is the winning time from this year (2011)
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