Lessons from Leadville

The Colorado mountain town that shaped me as a runner.

Jul 20, 2026

I’ve finished the high-elevation Leadville trail marathon seven times. So on June 2026, I was confident of getting my 8th finish. But things didn’t go as planned. Yet, there’s so much I’ve learned from the Colorado mountain town.

Training on Hope Pass, elevation 12,000 ft., summer 2023.

In 2010, I ran the Inca Trail Marathon in Peru’s Andes Mountains—a point to point race with more than 10,000 ft. of vertical gain and two summits over 13,000 ft. elevation. There, I met a runner who invited me to her summer home in Leadville, Colorado, to experience running there. I had no idea how much that invitation would shape my life as a runner.

Since my first trip to Leadville, I’ve finished the grueling trail marathon seven times: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025. In 2019, I introduced my now wife to Leadville and was delighted that she witnessed my 4th finish. Then, after Covid, I returned to Leadville with my wife and our two children, so that I could complete my 5th marathon on the same day of our son’s first birthday.

Year after year, I always put Leadville on my race calendar. And all the races before Leadville were just preparation for the race that I longed to return to. I was proud to say I raced there, made friends there, and was part of the running community there.

On each return trip, I’d catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in years, and our time and distance apart dissolved after a few sips of coffee at City on a Hill. I’d like to think that all those hundreds of miles on those mountain trails shaped my identity as a runner. But it wasn’t just the mountains, it was the people I ran with.

So this year, I thought I was ready for my 8th marathon. I added more hill workouts to my training. I underwent a gait analysis to improve my form, efficiency, and speed. I slept in an altitude tent to adapt to the high elevation. And I continued to work with my coach. We made the 2026 Leadville trail marathon one of my A-races for the year, and I had the ambitious goal of setting a PR (personal record).

Instead, I DNFd (did not finish). My fueling and hydration strategy was solid, so I know I was taking enough carbohydrates and electrolytes (thank you Precision Fuel & Hydration!) But I felt extremely lethargic from the very beginning of the race, making every climb and long, exposed section painfully slow and more challenging than in previous years. Even after realizing my PR was unattainable, my pace wasn’t fast enough to finish before the cutoff. So I made the difficult decision to stop running.

I am still trying to figure out what went wrong, but in the meantime, I’m practicing being grateful for all the lessons that Leadville has taught me:

Suffering is easier with friends. I often train alone, but a race feels like a group effort. We are all in it together. We choose to suffer together. It’s never easy, but it’s definitely easier to suffer when you are part of a community with a shared goal.

Encouraging others fuels your spirit. To make it through the suffering we encourage each other. “Nice work!” “You are almost at the aid station!” Every word fuels a runner who may be struggling. And that unselfish support fuels you too.

Showing up is already a victory. There are never any guarantees when you start a race. But being committed to your training and showing up, daring to try something hard is already a win. Racing is a choice, and a real privilege.

Consistency is a powerful thing. A consistent training routine can appear boring to many. But that consistency, running when tired, when it’s raining, when it’s cold, day after day is what makes you mentally strong and able to persevere in tough situations.

Connecting with nature is an honor. Anton Krupicka talks about running being one of the simplest and purest forms of movement in the mountains, and how running connects you to your surroundings. To my ancestors, the earth and mountains are sacred, so running to connect with Pachamama is an honor for me.

There’s a quote by Anthony Bourdain about traveling, and I think that paraphrased it applies to running, and my time in Leadville too:

"Running isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. Leadville leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."