David Roche defends Leadville Trail 100 Run title and Colorado Springs runner breaks Ann Trason’s 31-year-old course record

A week after the women’s record was destroyed in the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, both men’s and women’s marks were broken in the 100 run.

For the second straight year, David Roche cruised to a record-setting win at the Leadville Trail 100 Run. The 37-year-old Boulder runner and coach covered the high-altitude course in 15 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds on Saturday, shaving more than 14 minutes off his time from last year.

“I thought I was going to be an hour behind the record today. It just shows that sometimes love goes a long way,” Roche told Runner’s World contributor Brian Metzler at the finish.

In the 2024 Leadville Trail 100, Roche broke the 19-year-old course record set by legendary runner and former Vail resident Matt Carpenter. Two months later, Roche went on to win the Javalina 100, capturing a ‘golden ticket’ — entry into the Western States 100 — in the process.

After a highly-publicized build-up to the Western States 100, Roche dropped out at mile 62 of the race at the end of June. On August 2, he returned to racing, winning the Aspen Backcountry Half Marathon. But he didn’t decide to defend his Leadville title until his wife convinced him a week before the race.

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“Megan asked me, ‘Well, how often are you fit? You’re 37 now and you don’t know when your last chance is,'” Roche continued. “And I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to do it. I’m not ready, am I?’ And Megan said, ‘David, you’re ready.’ And even today, I didn’t think there was any shot at the record. I just think it’s part of the Leadville magic.”

The magic was felt on the women’s side of the race as well, as Anne Flower finished second overall in 17:58:19. The 35-year-old Colorado Springs emergency room doctor broke Ann Trason’s mark from 1994 (18:06:24).

“I feel like I shouldn’t be in the same category as Ann Trason. She’s a goddess of running,” Flower told Runner’s World after finishing. “I was running my own race, especially at the start because there were a few ladies who went out faster than me and I knew I had to keep it controlled.”

Trason, one of the most successful ultra runners in history, captured a record 14 wins at Western States and won Leadville four times as well. Flower thought Trason’s record was in the low 17s for most of the race, but when she came up the Boulevard during the final three miles, men’s runner-up Justin Grunewald and his partner told her it was indeed 18:06.

“So I thought I should probably get it done,” said Flower, who also won the Leadville Trail Marathon and the Silver Rush 50 this summer. Saturday’s race was her first 100-miler.

Nine Eagle County runners competed in the event. Eagle’s Genevieve Harrison wound up fourth overall for women in 20:57:23. Kim Crane (23:26:24) of Avon was 10th, Carrie Stafford (27:51:53) placed 31st and Danae Diehm came through just five minutes under the 30-hour small buckle cut off (29:55:56).

On the men’s side, Robert Shearon (27:56:59) and Creighton Soukup finished the final stage of the Lead Challenge together — the RECONNECTED members completed each of the Leadville Race Series events this summer with identical finishing times. Logan Ross was just 15 minutes in front of the pair, coming home in 27:42:05 for 107th place. Meanwhile, Eagle 60-year-old John Novak finished first in his age group and 27th overall for men with a time of 23:31:16.

Fellow Eagle County runners Ruth Razo and Joshua Nichols dropped out before the Winfield halfway point.

Leadville locals Patrick Cade (18:25:23) and Luke Phillips (18:44:09) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.