Here’s how a pair of Eagle County ultra athletes finished the Lead Challenge
Carrie Stafford and Keith Kennedy finished five of the Leadville Race Series competitions over the course of 49 days
Courtesy photo
On Aug. 17, Eagle County locals Carrie Stafford and Keith Kennedy crossed the Leadville Trail 100 Run finish line, officially completing the Lead Challenge.
The prestigious achievement requires completion of five of the Leadville Race Series’ most demanding events in a single summer. Over a 49-day span, 110 registered participants attempted the Silver Rush 50 run or Silver Rush 50 mountain bike (July 6-7), the Leadville Trail 100 MTB (Aug. 10), the Leadville 10k Run (Aug. 11) and the Leadville Trail 100 Run (Aug. 17).
Only 41 athletes finished the challenge, with Corey Kallembach taking the win in a cumulative time of 34 hours, 29 minutes and 5 seconds. Stafford (49:52:39) finished 20th overall and fourth for women while Kennedy (52:18:24) was 32nd overall and 27th for men. Almost half of the 100-mile run entrants did not finish.
“Which tells you how hard this race was,” Kennedy said. “Hope Pass is the real deal.”
Stafford — who attempted the challenge in 2022 but had to drop out of the 100-mile mountain bike at mile 92 after a crash on the infamous Powerline descent — said she had “the biggest, cheesiest smile plastered all over” her face after securing her first Lead Challenge trophy with her 10th Leadville Trail 100 Run finish.
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“(Aug. 17) was awesome,” she said. The 45-year-old admitted her quads felt shattered by the eighth mile of the run on account of the previous week’s bike race.
“I had to let go of all my time goals and went straight to plan ‘F,'” she stated. “Finish.”
Stafford, who has worked in the pediatric ICU at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver for the past 20 years, was joined by her daughter in the final 100 yards of the run, which she finished in 26:28:10.
“Literally my dream to finish this race with my mini,” she said.
Her daughter was her source of inspiration during her toughest stage of the challenge: the 100-mile bike. Once again, the Powerline descent served up some drama when another rider came down on top of her, causing a two-person spill.
“I had on a backpack and I think it saved my spine,” Stafford said. “So, that wreck killed my mojo.”
Stafford barely managed to make each time cut-off over the course of the ensuing 70 miles as she fought off shoulder and hip pain.
“I almost quit at every aid station. I kept thinking I should drop and save my legs for the run,” she said. “But then I’d have to go home and tell my daughter that I quit because I was scared and tired. I couldn’t do that!”
Kennedy — the CFO of PharmaLogic Holdings Corporation — said his familial support system was vital to him finishing, too.
“The best part of this was the support from my close friends and family, who are all better athletes than me,” the 54-year-old said. “I had constant encouragement and good advice.”
Kennedy spoke daily with his coach Mike Dorr, who pre-rode most of the course with him two weeks before the race and kept his spirits up throughout the journey. Another local friend, Erik Dorf, peppered him with additional race advice.
“None of which I could follow because I can’t do what he can do on a bike,” Kennedy joked. “But I finished ahead of schedule and I felt like I had a lot in the tank.”
A father of four college-age kids, Kennedy received support from his daughter, Georgia, during the ride. His fiancé, Gina, joined him for the last 22 miles of the run.
“It’s a tradition we have where she runs the last big leg of an ultra with me,” Kennedy said. “She’s actually a better athlete than me so I typically just marvel at how she floats down hills.”
Throughout the toughest sections of the course, Kennedy’s self-talk sentence was simple: “have fun.” Stafford employed the same uphill mantra she’s used since high school — “One, two, one two” — with every step. Both athletes were spurred to success by the race series’ ultra-community.
“The best part of this whole race is getting to know other runners and hear their stories,” Stafford said. “I met a guy who had a baby in the NICU at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children and he was raising money for our unit. It was so cool to stop at his tent at Twin Lakes and meet his baby and family.”
“I just love being around people that love to push themselves,” added Kennedy, who marveled at one cyclist who finished with an arm-powered bike and a pair of amputees who ran the 100-mile on prosthetic blades. Even though most shudder to think of the physiological demands of the Lead Challenge, Kennedy’s message for mere mortals is that “anyone can do this that puts their mind to it.”
Towards the end of his training block, he increased his mileage to 70 miles a week with upwards of 25,000 feet of climbing — all at altitude. He figures he also rode around 40-60 miles per week on his bike at the same elevation for multiple weeks leading into the longest races.
“By the time the last two 100-milers came, I was fine because I had been putting in those kind of miles per week,” he said.
Stafford’s advice for the ultra-curious is to attend the Leadville Race Series’ bike and run camps and consider hiring a coach, though she maintains a more unstructured approach herself.
“I literally wake up and decide what to do that day,” she stated. “(As a) single mom, my training plan is I do whatever I can!”
Her biggest epiphany from this year’s challenge came while fighting off those mental demons urging her to quit at every pit stop of the 100-mile bike. Looking back, Stafford said she regrets her three past Leadville 100 DNFs.
“Each one I could have finished. I just had a terrible attitude,” she reflected. But this year, she powered through.
“You really can do big things if you break it up into smaller chunks and keep moving forward,” she said. “Even a slow finish is better than no finish, 100% of the time.”
