Getting In · Coveted ultra
Leadville Trail 100 Run
Out and back from Leadville, Colorado, over Hope Pass twice, entirely above 9,200 feet. It's the most famous 100 in America after Western States, and it is the only one of the big three you can enter without finishing anything first.
- Distance
- 100 miOut and back
- Low point
- 9,200 ft
- Hope Pass
- 12,600 ftTwice
- Climbing
- ~15,600 ft
- Cutoff
- 30 hours
- Lottery
- Roughly Dec 1 to Dec 15
Leadville's course is an out and back: west from town along Turquoise Lake, over Sugarloaf, down the Powerline descent, along the flats to Twin Lakes, then up and over Hope Pass at 12,600 feet to Winfield at the fifty mile mark. Then you turn around and do all of it again in reverse, with the Powerline climb waiting for you at mile 80 in the dark. Nothing about the course is technical. Everything about it is altitude.
The culture is loud and unapologetically commercial in a way that annoys purists, and it also produces one of the great finish lines in the sport, on Sixth Street with the whole town out. The 30-hour cutoff at that altitude is genuinely hard: finish rates routinely sit below 50 percent.
How to get in
- LotteryThe open lottery
The lottery typically runs from around December 1 to December 15 with notifications in early January. Uniquely among the marquee American hundreds, no qualifying race is required. Odds aren't published but are far friendlier than Western States or Hardrock.
- Time qualifierEarn it in the Race Series
The Leadville Race Series reserves entries for strong finishers at its other events: the Trail Marathon, the Silver Rush 50, the Leadville 10K, and the qualifying series races. This is a fully controllable path. Run well at a series race, get your slot.
- Legacy / loyaltyLeadman and Leadwoman
Complete the entire Leadville series in one summer (the marathon, the 50, the 100 mountain bike, the 10K, and the 100 run) and you're a Leadman. Entry to the 100 comes with the package. It is an enormous undertaking and the answer to "how do I guarantee entry" for people with a very particular disposition.
- CharityCharity and partner entries
Available through race partners, a reliable if less romantic route.
Hope Pass, twice
The race turns on one climb, done twice, from opposite sides.
- Outbound (mile 40 to 45): 3,400 feet of climbing in roughly five miles from Twin Lakes, in the heat of the day, after a river crossing. The llamas at the Hopeless aid station near the top are real and they carry the supplies up.
- Inbound (mile 55 to 60): the same climb from Winfield, steeper on this side, and you're now 55 miles in.
- Then Powerline at mile 80, in the dark, which is where the majority of Leadville DNFs actually happen.
Sea-level runners should plan on at least two weeks in Leadville beforehand, or arrive within 24 hours of the start. The middle ground is the worst option.
Questions runners actually ask
Do I need a qualifier for Leadville?
No. It is the rare marquee 100 miler you can enter the lottery for without having finished a qualifying race, which is both its great virtue and the reason a lot of underprepared runners start it.
When is the Leadville lottery?
Recent years have run roughly December 1 to 15, with notifications in early January for the following August.
What is the finish rate?
Frequently below 50 percent. The combination of altitude, Hope Pass twice, and a 30-hour cutoff is harder than the non-technical terrain suggests.
Go to the source
Entry rules, dates, standards, fees, and odds change every single year, and the interesting races change them the most. Use this guide to build the plan; use the official site to confirm the details before you book anything.
If this is your kind of thing
Need the races in between? The hard part of a bucket list year is everything else on the calendar: the qualifier, the tune-up, the long run with a bib on.