Build your Leadville 100 plan
The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so this one comes from the coach itself. Tell it your race date, your weekly mileage, and the terrain you can get to, and it writes the whole build and keeps adapting it as you log the training. Free account, no card. You are about 42 weeks out.
- Distances
- 100 miles
- Terrain
- Hilly
Course
The Leadville 100 course
An out-and-back at altitude that never drops below about 9,200 feet and crosses Hope Pass at roughly 12,600 twice. Close to 100 miles with about 15,500 feet of climbing on mixed trail and dirt road, and a 30-hour cutoff.
Read the full course notes
The double crossing of Hope Pass, the second one in the dark and deep into the race, is the defining feature and the point where most of the field's day is decided.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- 100 miles
- Weather on race day
- August in the Colorado Rockies means freezing starts, strong sun at altitude by midday, afternoon thunderstorms that arrive without much warning, and a genuinely cold second night. You will need layers you carry for hours without using.
What to train for
Altitude and power hiking.
Nobody runs Hope Pass, so sustained uphill hiking at effort is a trained skill here, not a fallback.
If you live at sea level, plan the acclimation window seriously, and build long back-to-back weekends that put real vertical under tired legs.
Sample week
A sample Leadville 100 training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Hill repeats: 10 × 2 min up a steady grade, jog back down
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 8 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 18–20 mi on trail, with as much climbing as you can find
- Sunday Key session
- Second long day, 10–12 mi easy on tired legs
Taper
Tapering for the Leadville 100
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar.
Leadville 100 training questions
How long should I train for the Leadville 100?
Most runners give a 100-mile race twenty to twenty-four weeks of focused training on top of a season of consistent aerobic mileage. The coach counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Leadville 100 course hilly?
Hilly. An out-and-back at altitude that never drops below about 9,200 feet and crosses Hope Pass at roughly 12,600 twice.
What is the weather usually like at the Leadville 100?
August in the Colorado Rockies means freezing starts, strong sun at altitude by midday, afternoon thunderstorms that arrive without much warning, and a genuinely cold second night. You will need layers you carry for hours without using.
When should I start tapering for the Leadville 100?
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar.
Do I need an account to get a Leadville 100 training plan?
For this one, yes. The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so an ultra plan comes from the coach itself, which needs a free account. Still no card, and the plan adapts as you log the training.