Four L’s and the elements of success

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The Leadville 100 is described as the Race Across the Sky. Last year it felt like the sky was wrapped around your neck; low cloud, rain, hail, snow and lightening. This year the sky was kinder; big, bright and warm temperatures. Even better, this year I finished after only making it to mile 77  the year before. But then I had the four L’s and the elements of success on my side; life, love, laugh, luck and Lead Will. For the first time I also had the company of a pacer, which turned out to be a pain in the neck but before you gasp and wonder how I could be so ungrateful, read on and I’ll explain why.

I headed out to Leadville with a little trepidation. I had spent the previous week in Las Vegas at a trade show and for several weeks before that I had been trying to resolve a calf strain that had been irritated during the VT100. Within 12 hours of arriving in Denver and driving up to Leadville it seemed almost like deja vue once again. My sinuses felt dry and waves of nausea unsettled my stomach. Thankfully though, didn’t seem as bad as the year before but I wasn’t sure if it was a result of a busy week or was I really not able to deal with the altitude. Throughout the day on Friday I dreaded the prospect of a repeatition of 2008, we stocked up with provisions for Guthrie during the race and while she went out to explore I stayed in and napped.

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Later we met up with Iggy and FRH(shared), the BS’s official spokesperson in Colorado, who were in town to watch / crew the race. We presented them with sweat shirts in recognition of their support that identified them as ‘elements of my success’ at Lead Will 2009, I still felt I was going to need a will of lead to cross that finish line. Leadville struggles a bit under the weight of people in town for events like this and dinner took much longer than expected, then it was off to bed in preparation for the 4 am start the next day. Over dinner Iggy reflected on the four L’s as keys to a successful run. Live – is sort of what running is about, Love – the support of friends and family, Laugh – no matter how tough it gets and Luck – bring it on!

Hours later (which actually felt like minutes) we were back in town at the start line, it was 3:30 am. FRH(Shared) was staring in the gloom like a deer in headlights and muttering that she couldn’t believe so many people were up so early! The starter announced that from a 10 second countdown we’d hear a shot to signal the start. He then shouted “10 seconds to go”; BANG! and with that the pack of confused and slightly startled runners took off.

The initial few miles are almost entirely downhill, yet when you’re fresh legged the consequences of an out and back course don’t seem to register. The police escort soon peeled away and we head off, still downward, on a dirt road. Does the altitude have any effect? The answer is that it is a very individual thing and most runners can easily get breathless shortly after the start because of an adrenaline rush. The focus is to relax and stay steady – it’s going to be a long day in the saddle.

Dirt gives way to pavement, pavement gives way to single track and the sound of lapping waters of Turquoise Lake can be heard off to our left. We follow the edge of the water and before too long cheering can be heard. I made the mistake of thinking this was aid station 1 last year, when in fact we are only half way down the lake. I take a digger and my left thigh strikes a rock giving me a dead leg, the stiffness that results stays with me the rest of the day, but thankfully the injured calf which has bothered me since VT feels fine.

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Aid station 1, May Queen appears. The aid stations are much more organized than many other 100s, you have to cross a line to enter and your number is checked off. Once inside a covered area, friends / crew are not permitted, you have to grab what you need and check out before you are able to receive attention from your crew. This happens at every station. The Elements of Success are there resplendent in custom printed sweat shirts but there is no time to chat. Two fresh drink bottles and I’m out.

Another nice feature of the aid stations is the availability of plastic bags to fill with food, it saves a lot of time (and temptation to rest) as you can just grab food and get back out on the trail. After my experience last year, I do just that and also make a point of eating at every aid station. It is a strategy that is proving successful for me, except you do get tired of PB&J after 20 hours!

Everything starts to work well, the conditions are bright, dry and warm, provided you stay hydrated everything should be OK. It doesn’t seem to take too long before I arrive at Twin Lakes, the aid station before the climb over Hope Pass. The EOS are in a state of full excitement that is catching, I’m well ahead of last year’s pace and Spuds, still en route to Leadville, will have to be redirected to meet the gang at Winfield. Last year my pace on the lower slopes of Hope Pass was too aggressive, this year I start steady and the climb is ‘almost’ a breeze. Just before the summit is an aid station. All the supplies are brought up on a Lama train and as you run through the meadow where they are tethered they stamp their feet and stare hard at you. Getting spat on by an angry Lama at 12,000 feet isn’t a nice thought!

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The path down to Winfield is quick and covered with loose dirt, but the extra gravity push makes it strangely exciting, while at the same time I fail to reflect on the fact that I have to climb back up in a few hours. Once off the mountain there is a cynical 6 mile dirt road to negotiate before arriving at the aid station. It is dry and dusty with crew cars whizzing by constantly, I remember getting very demoralized on this section 12 months ago, but not this year!

At Winfield the turnaround, my crew advise me that I’m ‘early’; well excuse me! Guthrie is bouncing around excitedly at the prospect of pacing back over the pass. We head back out into the dust and I find myself having to steady the pace. On training runs, Guthrie and I usually play games to grind each other into the ground – it is a habit that is hard to control! We begin the climb, which is much steeper than the other side. Guthrie seems able to chat constantly as we gain height while it is as much as I can do to breath and maintain momentum. We reach the summit, snatch a quick and appreciative sight of the panorama and pick up pace downward.

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At the base of the mountain there is a river crossing. “Didn’t I mention the river?” “Sorry Guth, it must have slipped my mind!” 😉 There is a rope across to hold onto against the current before a lengthy traverse of a floodplain back to Twin Lakes. From here Spuds kicks into action and I feel like I’m a relay baton being handed off, except up to this point I’ve done most of the running!

My damp feet are now starting to soften nicely and hard running isn’t as comfortable as it was, but whether we power walk or run, we continue to make a good pace. Leadville is unique in that mulling by pacers (carrying of the runners food and equipment etc) is allowed. I didn’t intend to make use to this, but he did share some home made PB&J sandwiches that Momma Spuds had put together with crunchy PB – delicious! At Tree Line an unofficial aid station where crews can assist runners, she turns up the culinary anti with warm broth, can this race get any better? At Fish Hatchery, more broth is on offer, but I had already pigged out on potato soup in the aid station.

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This is where I dropped last year, so the course from here on was going to be less well known. We soon start climbing and I use Spuds pacing to the full extent. The trail is steep, very dry, dusty and in places hard to retain a grip. I let Spuds lead and just focus on following the heels of this sneakers. The hill goes on climbing………… and climbing………….and climbing………. it levels out…………. then climbs and climbs! I try to remind my self that ‘everything is temporary’ but my resolve begins to become challenged. Finally we begin to descend but the direction is away from the aid station, instead it heads down to the waters edge at the opposite end of the lake so we then have to double back to follow the water line to the aid stop.

This is the final aid station and although it is still 13 miles to the finish, the EOS are in a collective state of excitement as we head back into the darkness. You’d think 13 miles would pass reasonably quickly, but I had completely overlooked the hill we descended out of Leadville earlier the next day. It wasn’t particularly steep but when your mind was staring to imagine what is was like to sit once more it certainly was long!

And then, there is was, approximately 1 mile ahead down a straight road, the finish line. I was pipped just before the line but that didn’t matter, I had conquered the Leadville 100.

The positive vibe of finishing completely transformed my perspective of the event. I was tired and sore in places we’ll not discuss here, but it still felt great. The EOS provided an awesome sight as they cheered me over the line. Spuds wasn’t really a pain in the neck in the literal sense. The following day my neck was very sore and I could only put it down to the fact that it had been bent while I followed his heels for hours on end! Having a pacer was a new experience, the company was great and he powered up the hills like a machine, thank goodness his intention was to pull me along and not grind me into submission!

For the rest of the day we slept, ate, slept some more and ate several additional pounds before heading back to the airport. That night under clean sheets in a comfortable hotel bed, we slept like logs. My goal this year has been the Grand Slam, after Leadville its completion is still a possibility and in three weeks time I have the pleasure of doing it all again at race number 4.

To see more pictures, click here.