In the early 1980s Colorado Ultra Club president Jim Butera had the idea of creating a 100 mile run in Colorado. When Aspen and Vail showed no interest Butera found support by Lake County Commissioner Ken Chlouber to hold the event in Leadville as a way to bring in visitors after the closing of the Climax Molybdenum Mine. Butera designed the course and the first running was held on August 27–28, 1983, with Butera serving as race director with the assistance of Chlouber and Merilee Maupin. In 2001, the race organizers created the Leadville Trail 100 Legacy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting welfare of
Lake County residents. In 2010, Chlouber sold the Leadville Trail organization and its associated events to
Life Time Fitness. Leadville is one of the four 100-milers in the United States that make up the "Western Slam", completing four western events: the Leadville 100, the
Western States 100 in
northern California, the
Wasatch Front 100 in
Utah, and the
Angeles Crest 100 in
southern California. Leadville is also a part of the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning (the
Vermont 100,
Western States 100, Leadville and the
Wasatch Front 100, originally
Old Dominion 100 instead of Vermont) and an optional part of the Rocky Mountain Slam (
Hardrock 100 plus three of four other races in the Rocky Mountains: Leadville, the
Bear 100, the
Bighorn 100, or the
Wasatch Front 100). Leadville is also one of the valid qualifying events for the
Western States 100. Unlike many other 100-mile races, Leadville has no qualifying standards. Entrance can be gained through an open lottery, via select qualifying races, through charitable donations, by signing up for coaching and/or the Leadville Run camp, or as a member of Life Time Fitness. Leadville was the venue for the
American debut of the
Tarahumara runners of
Mexico. In 1992 the Tarahumara first showed up to run outside their native environs. Wilderness guide Rick Fisher and ultra-runner Kitty Williams brought some of them to Leadville. However the experiment went bust. The problem, it turned out, was psychosocial, i.e. an unfamiliarity with the trail and the strange ways of the North. The Indians stood shyly at aid stations, waiting to be offered food. They held their flashlights pointed skyward, unaware that these "torches" needed to be aimed forward to illuminate the trail ahead. All five Tarahumara dropped out before the halfway point. The Tarahumara teams came back in 1993 and 1994 and won the Leadville event outright both years. In 1993, 52-year-old Tarahumara runner Victoriano Churro came in first, followed by 41-year-old teammate Cerrildo in second. In 1994, a five-man Tarahumara team took on
Ann Trason in a much-publicized race in the ultrarunning community. Twenty-five-year-old Tarahumara runner Juan Herrera won in a record time of 17:30. His mark stood for 8 years until broken by Chad Ricklefs in 2002 (17:23), then again by Paul DeWitt in 2004, then again by
Matt Carpenter in 2005, and finally by
David Roche in 2024.
Notable finishers The winner of the first race in 1983 was Skip Hamilton of Aspen, CO., in a time of 20:11:18
David Roche is the current course record holder for the Leadville Trail 100 Race. His 2024 time of 15 hours, 26 minutes, and 34 seconds in 2024 shattered the 19 year record previously held by
Matt Carpenter. He bettered his time by just over 14 minutes in 2025, with a time of 15:12:30.
Ann Trason held the female LT100 record, 18:06:24, for 31 years, set in 1994. Trason is widely recognized as one of the greatest ultrarunners of all time, and nearly won the race outright in 1994. In 2025 it was broken by Anne Flower in a time of 17:58:19. Charles Williams holds the record of the oldest man to ever complete the race, which he did at the age of 70 in 1999. He was featured in the August 1999 issue of
GQ magazine, which compared his training for the race to that of a professional football player. Bill Finkbeiner became the first person to receive the "Leadville 2000-Mile Buckle" for twenty LT100 finishes in 2003. Finkbeiner has a total of 30 consecutive finishes, starting in 1984. In 2014, Kirk Apt finished his 20th Leadville 100. In 2019, Eric Pence finished his 25th Leadville 100, becoming the third person to earn 25 or more buckles, along with Finkbeiner and Garry Curry. ==Results==