Warm and sunny conditions greeted hundreds of participants of the Leadville Trail Marathon and Heavy Half this past Saturday. Hosted on historic mining roads and trails, and hitting a high of 13,185 feet at Mosquito Pass, both races provide challenging courses and rewarding views, with a start and finish in the runner-friendly town of Leadville, CO.
All finishers received a medal and coffee mug, in addition to free post-race meals and beer. Awards were presented to the top three gender and age group finishers. Perhaps most coveted were the 100 Leadville Trail 100 Run entries up for grabs, with 50 going to the top age group performances, and 50 drawn randomly among all of the marathon finishers.
As usual, some of Colorado’s finest were on tap for the event, posting fast times and setting new course records along the way.
The men’s marathon saw 32-year old Chris Mocko take top honors in 3:38:14, followed by 36-year old Timmy Parr in 3:45:50. Caleb Schiff rounded out the top three in 3:54:19.
In the women’s marathon, 40-year old Elizabeth Helland won in dominant fashion, besting second place by 20 minutes in 4:34:33. Brittany Chelius cross the line in second in 3:54:43, followed by 46-year old Lisa Isom in third in 4:59:55.
The men’s heavy half marathon was won by 30-year old Alex Willis in 1:59:01. 28-year old Andrew Auer came in second in 2:06:17, followed by 38-year old Justin Ricks in third in 2:14:00.
In the women’s heavy half marathon, 26-year old Tess Amer finished first for the ladies and third overall in 2:12:50, setting a new women’s course record by almost 5 minutes. Second place belonged to 25-year old Becky Lynn in 2:25:32, with 27-year old Outi Supponen rounding out the podium in 2:32:57.