UR LEADVILLE 100 RAPPE T ATT ATT The dazzle of the finish line, awaiting winner Thomas Lorblanchet M BOOM AND BUST by Donald Buraglio Boom and Bust. It’s the classic tale of mining co-founders and sole owners of Leadville for being healthy in every facet of their lives, from towns throughout the United States – and for 28 years, sold the race to Life Time Fitness, a nutrition to fitness to strength and their mental those that are located in the Rocky Mountains, the Minnesota-based company better known for its toughness. The Leadville Trail 100 exemplifies 6 highs seem loftier, and the lows even more de- empire of health clubs than involvement in en- the core values of our company.” 7 pressing than the rest. Among those, few have seen durance sports. Or, to simplify the deal as many In a recent Outside magazine profile, Life Time N ULTRAR OVEMBER 2012 as many ups and downs as Leadville, Colorado. ultrarunners did afterward, often with alarm in CEO Bahram Akradi was straightforward about Like many other mining towns, Leadville re- their voices: Leadville has gone corporate. his intent to merge the indoor and outdoor sports U invented itself in the last half of the 20th Cen- Many in the ultrarunning community per- arenas in hopes of growing the athletic events NNING.COM tury. However, it wasn’t skiing or golf resorts ceived an atrocity: a beloved Mom-and-Pop in- and tapping into a new stream of potential health or casinos that drove the turnaround – it was stitution handed over to a faceless profit-driven club members. Life Time’s goal is to expand its an ultramarathon. More specifically, it was the corporate Goliath who couldn’t possibly appre- overall race revenue tenfold over the next several Leadville 100, otherwise known as the Race ciate or love the race as much as the partici- years, and is targeting other high-profile, highly Across the Sky, which has attained mythic stat- pants do. But is Leadville really all that different coveted (but as of this writing, undisclosed) endur- NO JUNK ure in its 30-year history. now from how it was back in the old days? Has ance events to help achieve it. Leadville is one of the oldest 100-milers in Life Time changed the inherent nature of the Now that a couple of years have passed, the the world, and with an average elevation above event, or do they plan to do so in the future? initial questions surrounding the Leadville 100 10,000 feet, is certainly one of the most chal- And is corporate ownership inevitably a bad deal are certainly worth examining further. But lenging. And thanks to one modern-day cowboy, thing for the sport of ultrarunning? in order to better appreciate where Leadville is a handful of ancient natives, and a runaway The fate of the Leadville 100 could be an now and where it’s heading in the future, it’s IN THE TRUNK. national bestseller, the race has captivated ul- important predictor of what may be store for critical to understand its past. trarunners like no other, and now draws more other ultramarathons across the country. It’s a Sometimes the greatest innovation is simplicity. than a thousand hopefuls looking to test them- virtual certainty that Leadville won’t be the last RACE HISTORY The award-winning Rogue Fly is a simple as it gets. selves in the Colorado mountains each summer. ultra that Life Time acquires; the company has The story has been told enough times to have Clearly, Leadville’s fortunes have boomed steadily acquired major endurance events from the aura of folklore: a hardscrabble Leadville No midsole gizmos. No gels, airbags or plastic parts. thanks to ultrarunning (as well as mountain triathlons to mountain bike festivals, and is “al- miner who spent the majority of his life turn- Just pure, responsive foam from toe to tail. biking – more on that shortly), but a couple of ways looking for opportunities to expand our ing big rocks into little ones suddenly found years ago the race encountered a critical junc- event portfolio,” according to Kimo Seymour, himself out of a job after the town’s economic montrail.com/roguefly ture that some lamented as the path to ruin. In Life Time’s Vice President of Athletic Events. lifeline, the Climax molybdenum mine, closed 2010, Ken Chlouber and Merilee Maupin, the “100 mile events require athletes to commit to its doors for good. The miner comes up with an RAGLIO RAGLIO RAGLIO KY BU BU D BU D RIS D U K K DONAL DONAL JAC DONAL Along the high altitude allée A crowd gathers at the Twin Lakes aid station On toward Hope The stream crossing this year was mild idea for a race that’s so preposterous nobody notably including the local medical community), to me,” he says, largely due to the remarkable gan in earnest for turning the Leadville series tion of one percent of the company’s revenue, THE NEW BOSS: SAME AS THE OLD BOSS takes him seriously, and eventually sees it grow nearly half of the runners actually finished. The bond that exists between race and community. over to Life Time Fitness. Chlouber makes a valid point. More important Asked what his role with the Leadville 100 is into one of the most iconic events in the world. event was televised in 1985, widening its exposure The two men had become close friends by to him, though, is the character of the man in now, Chlouber replies, “I’m involved in any way That miner, Ken Chlouber, still recalls how and drawing this strange new breed of extreme MAKING THE DEAL then, and Chlouber is “totally convinced it’s not charge. “I couldn’t have picked anybody better I want to be.” It’s exactly the kind of succession bleak the outlook was back in the beginning. endurance athletes to the town in increasing It was the MTB race that first attracted someone a money thing” for Life Time. “Bahram truly to turn the race over to,” he states. “He has the plan he dreamed of: the race remains in the “There were 5,000 people living in Leadville numbers – all of whom were compelled to stay who would become a prominent player in the wants to be involved in the Leadville commu- same mindset as the miners in this area had 150 hands of Leadville residents, with funding and in 1982,” he says, “and the mine employed 3,200 for a few nights, or even a few weeks, and pour Leadville story. Bahram Akradi, CEO of Life Time nity,” he says. Considering that Life Time is a years ago.” Coming from a Leadville resident, logistical support provided by the corporation. of them.” Almost overnight, the highest incorpo- some money into the local economy. Fitness, competed in the 2008 event and gradually billion-dollar company and that the entire there’s no higher praise than that. The cowboy doesn’t have any plans to ride into rated town in North America also had the coun- In the mid-1990s, the race expanded its profile developed a friendship with Chlouber. Akradi’s Leadville Race Series budget is less than a frac- the sunset; speaking about his and Maupin’s con- try’s highest unemployment rate. Leadville had with a couple of key milestones. The first was commitment to the race series grew more each survived many cycles of boom and bust through somewhat inadvertent, as Leadville became an year; he returned to Leadville to compete in both gold and silver rushes during its 100-year history, experimental showcase for the reclusive Tarahu- the running and biking events, and Life Time but losing the molybdenum mine threatened to mara Indians, and turned into the battleground became a first-tier sponsor of the series. In 2011, turn the community into a ghost town. for one of the most epic footraces of all time: Akradi went all-in, entering the notorious Lead- Run run run eat run run run... From the beginning, Chlouber envisioned the the showdown between the Tarahumara and man competition which requires participation in Leadville 100 for “one singular purpose: to sup- American ultrarunning legend Ann Trason that five series events including the 100-mile MTB race port the economic vitality of this community.” He would be chronicled many years later by Chris- and 100-mile run. (He missed the finish line cutoff wanted to create something that would highlight topher McDougall in Born to Run. of the run, but “unofficially” completed the course 8 Leadville’s two greatest assets – its history and its The other development was definitely inten- in 30 hours and 45 minutes.) 9 mountains – and bring some much-needed rev- tional. In 1994, Chlouber was persuaded to create By the time Akradi attempted to run Leadville, N ULTRAR OVEMBER 2012 enue into the community. He decided on a 100- a mountain bike event similar to the 100-mile his company had already assumed ownership of mile event instead of something more manage- footrace. Understanding the surging popularity the race. The deal went down in 2010, but not U able like a marathon for a fairly simple reason. of mountain biking, and knowing that draw- before Ken Chlouber had declined other offers. NNING.COM “The key was to get people to come to town and ing more 25- to 45-year-old men with disposable He had been contemplating a succession plan stay overnight; with a 100-miler, they wouldn’t income was a great thing for the community, for quite a while by that point, “especially when have any other choice,” he says.