For 31 years, Ann Trason's 18:06:24 course record at the Leadville 100 has stood as the time to beat – this weekend, it finally toppled as Anne Flower made her debut at the Colorado race and set a blazing new women's time.
The 35-year-old Colorado Springs resident surged ahead of Justin Grunewald with just two miles to go, arriving at the finish line on Saturday night in 17:58:19. That shaved eight minutes off Ann Trason's longstanding 1995 course record, and like Trason, placed Flower second overall behind David Roche. The closest any other female runner has come to Trason's time was in 2024, when Mary Denholm won in her debut 100 miler in 18:23:51.
Flower, an ER doctor, was not only making her debut in the high altitude race – it was her first 100 miler ever. However, she's been a regular at Colorado 50k and 100k events over the past five years, and came in first overall in the 2024 Javelina 100k.
Joining Flower on the podium were Imogen Ainsworth, 37, from Poncha Springs, CO, who took seventh overall in 19:36:42 and Lea Mulligan, 26, from Chattanooga, who placed ninth overall in 20:39:04.
Men's results
As if the women's race wasn't exciting enough, the men's race also delivered a stunning new course record, from none other than current record holder David Roche.
Roche blazed a whole new trail last year in the Leadville 100 when he finally broke the 19-year record set by Matt Carpenter only four months after a serious bike accident where he was hit by a car. He followed that with a win at the Javelina Jundred last November and then set his sights on this year's Western States, a race he said he intended to win.
His WSER dreams were dashed, however, with Roche dropping out around mile 62 mark, but it seems that by Saturday morning, he'd had enough time to lick his wounds and decided last minute to join the race. Back on familiar soil, Roche returned to familiar form and finished in 15:12:30, 14 minutes faster than his previous course record.
"11 days ago, there was zero chance I was going to race Leadville. I was still processing my very public failure at Western States. I just wasn’t ready," writes Roche on Instagram, who says it was his wife, coach Megan Roche, who convinced him to run.
"I genuinely didn’t think a record was remotely possible."
We'll look forward to Roche's race recap, where he'll no doubt share just how many running gels he consumed to hold that 9:07/mile pace.
Boulder resident Justin Grunewald took second place (and third overall) in 18:06:34, which will feel good after a couple of DNFs this year at Canyons Endurance Runs and Arc of Attrition by UTMB. Leadville local and Lake County High School cross country coach Pat Cade took third place in 18:25:23.
