The Silver Rush 50 Mile Run kicked off under cool temperatures and clear conditions, warming up throughout the day as an almost cloudless sky played background to the towering mountains of Leadville, Colorado.
The event – part of the Leadville Race Series – welcomed hundreds of runners to take on the new, longer course (now 50.1 miles and almost 8,000′ of elevation gain). The challenging terrain starts at 10,200 feet and reaches 12,000 feet on four separate occasions.
Afterwards, participants were treated to a hopping post-race party that featured beer, food, drinks, vendors and more. Unique and special gold pan age group awards awaited the top finishers, as did pride and bragging rights for anyone that crossed the finish line.
In the men’s race, 29-year old Devon Olson out of Steamboat Springs took top honors in 6:53:26. Coming in second was Leadville’s own Timmy Parr in 7:13:47, with 36-year old Josh Eberly of Gunnison rounding out the top three in 7:29:31.
The women’s race saw 34-year old Gina Lucrezi of Boulder grab the win in 8:51:53. Second place belonged to 44-year old Becky Kirschenmann of Grand Junction who crossed the line in 9:01:37, with 42-year old Sarah Bunting Lamos of Lamos rounding out the podium in 9:03:51.