Grit, Guts and Determination: The Leadville Race Series Podcast

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 40-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is Junko Kazukawa.

Meet Junko Kazukawa and hear how she has not only faced adversity since a PE class in grade school, but how she's faced all those adversities head-on to shape not only who she is but what she does for a living today. She's also a two-time cancer survivor and the best human you'll ever meet. You also won't ever catch Junko without a smile on her face, a can do attitude, and an encouraging note she'll pass along to you. If you are looking for a coach, Junko Mountain Training and Boundless Coaching is a stop for you!

Please remember to give us a like and subscribe where you are getting your podcasts, and we can't wait to see you at home, we can't wait to see you in Leadville!

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 40-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is Dr. John Byrne.

In this episode John tells us what it was like growing up on the younger side of a large Catholic family. Find out what made John tick early in life to give him such a strong work ethic. You will also hear how all of this strengthened when John was asked later in his career about what "fired his jets." Fifteen years later and John's jets are still firing and in this episode he lets us know how it all started with Leadville and he's passionate about sharing it with you, his Leadville family.

Listen in and hear not only what John is up to today but what you can take from what John has already done and make your own lives count, make them better!

As always, thanks for tuning in! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe, and we hope to see you in Leadville!

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 40-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is Randall "Bike" Bennett.

In this episode, Randall shares what it was like growing up on the wrong side of the tracks and not knowing it. Randall and Cole unpack all of Randall's early life challenges, challenges that started so early that "Digging Deep" just might be intwined into Randall's DNA.

Randall went on to find success in almost anything he touched, however, sometimes he found other parts of life that may have got lost in the shuffle. Waking up as a business success one day, left Randall realizing his physical appearance had taken a toll. In this episode you will hear how Randall not only took back control of his physical success but excelled at this also. Randal went from overweight to pedaling his bike over 12,000'! Today you can catch Randall spreading the word of Leadville while he's volunteering for, or participating in, his favorite LRS races.

Thanks for tuning in! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe, and we hope to see you in Leadville!

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 40-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! We are celebrating the 40th year anniversary of the Leadville Trail 100 and the third official season of Grit, Guts and Determination, the Leadville Race Series! Host Cole Chlouber is now the interviewee, with Merilee and Cole’s Dad, Ken Chlouber. Listen in to hear about what the Leadville Family means to him.

To begin, Merilee and Ken Chlouber ask Cole how Leadville found him. He shares that it was not by choice, but his Dad found a job in the mine, which moved their family to Leadville. In 1982, the mine closed and everyone was out of work. Cole was only 7 years old and remembers the sacrifices his family made. The Leadville Race 100 was birthed out of that situation. Ken and Marilee started the race because it gave them a sense of purpose. Cole says Leadville 100 changed his life because it made him learn what it means to dig deep to fight for something. But it didn’t always start out that way! Cole quit the race multiple times when he ran and biked it. That all changed when his Dad asked him to sweep on a 4 wheeler and he was behind an individual that he believed shouldn’t have been out there. As he stopped at each station, he saw an increased number of people that looked like him quit, but this individual did not. He learned that day what it means to keep going. The Leadville 100 Race is like mining- it may be dark and you’re in despair, but better things are on the other side.

Next, Cole shares his most meaningful athletic accomplishment in a competition that he ran for the Lake County Cross Country. It was a horrible weather day for a meet, and he remembered an opposing team saying that no one had a shot that day, it’s anybody’s game. His team had been training in this weather for months and it was their game- not just anybody’s. His coach, Frank, said not to be afraid to lead or win. Most of the time, the team had carried Cole, but that race he got to carry them. He also shares that running the Leadville Race in 2013 was a big accomplishment for him. He gave a speech to the people of Leadville inspiring them, but when it came to race time he was sicker than a dog. His Dad saw the look in his eyes, grabbed him by the collar and said, “You remember what you told those people.” Cole didn't have another problem the rest of the race, and it taught him what these races take and to keep digging deep.

Lastly, Cole discusses the preparation needed for race day. He says that the real training occurs between the 5 inches between your ears. You can physically train, and you should, but that won’t get you across the finish line. Your mentality will. You need to train yourself on your why. Then, when you hear the shotgun ring out and it’s your race day, nothing will stop you. In the next 20 years, Cole sees the races as bigger, brighter family reunions. The Leadville Trail 100 is about changing lives, but it had to start with changing ours. His purpose is to continue this passion they’ve created, to help people get to the finish line and to share the magic of Leadville with others so they can experience this family support system and the race for themselves. They say to every biker, runner and person: “You're better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can.” This has changed thousands of lives at the finish line and they hope it will change yours too!

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is Pro Skier, Drew Peterson, and in today’s episode Drew talks about his Sub 25hr Leadville 100, mental health and more!

To begin, Drew starts off explaining how the Leadviille experience is everything he hoped it would be- it included the good and the bad, lived up to his expectations and lived out his childhood dream. He explored deep parts of himself, met new people and enjoyed connecting again with the mountains. The day of the race started off rocky by getting in late and sneaking up to the front. He discusses his mistakes including not drinking caffeine at first and he made potatoes at the Airbnb, but they were bad, and created stomach issues during the race. He became frustrated with himself during the race because of those mistakes and it started to bring him down, but he changed his attitude with his mental fortitude, and decided he already learned some lessons today, but he could apply them to the rest of the race.

Next, Drew goes into his entire play-by-play of the race and how he thought he was going too fast starting off, so he started talking to people to see if he could hold conversations with them. He has a weak right foot and 2 miles into the race that started to hurt, but it quickly went away and that pain didn't pop up again the rest of the race. He explained his mental state that no matter how bad things get, they’re always going to get better and vice versa. He continued on and ran downhill really well, which gave him a boost of confidence, but then he hit a wall. His women coaches encouraged him and told him to have fun and go climb Hope Pass, and that’s exactly what he did. The climbing part of Hope Pass was his favorite part of the race in getting to reconnect with the mountains, get some confidence and positivity and even let out a wolf howl! He kept up that positivity, but the last 30 miles were the hardest where he was full of pain and struggled. His older brother paced him for the last section and getting to share that with him meant the world.

Finally, Drew explains how going across the finish line let all the emotions catch up with him. He was surrounded by his crew, was excited and cried from elation at the finish line. Drew continues on by talking about his film called “Ups + Downs,” which discusses how Drew navigated the mountains and valleys of mental health through skiing. He shares that if you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health, they can call the mental health hotline or check out his website for more resources. His last piece of advice is to start out slower in the race, but to make up your mind ahead of time that you are going to finish the race. Don’t leave any space to question whether or not you will finish, but to decide you will. No matter how bad things get, things will always get better.

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is Adrian Macdonald, who has won first place in the Leadville Trail 100 twice. On this episode, Adrian shares his experiences winning the Leadville Trail 100 race, his advice in the sport and how he found Leadville.

To begin, Adrian tells how he began running during his sophomore year of high school, and fell in love with the self-improvement aspect of the sport and found it addicting. He started running longer distances and ran cross country in college at Gettysburg University in Pennsylvania. He ran his first marathon after college in the Gettysburg marathon and had a perfect first attempt. His time was 2:30 and it took him four years to beat his personal best in Houston. Adrian was living in Boston and they canceled the 2020 marathon a month out due to COVID. He still wanted to race, so he started competing in trail running and found his body did well with the elevation gains and losses. He then found Leadville and shared with his mentor, Nick Clark, that he wanted to compete in the 2021 race and he was very supportive, and volunteered to crew and pace for him.

Next, Adrian shares how in his first Leadville Trail 100 race in 2021 that he was very aware of Cody Reed and Tyler Andrews- some of the other racers that were going after the record and setting the pace for the first half. He passed both of those racers and at 50 miles out, the race was very special to him after realizing that he was going to win. He was 35 minutes out on everyone else and he wanted to enjoy the last bit of the race and soak in the experience of winning. When Adrian returned to the Leadville 100 in 2022, he had a film crew and sponsors, but he says the most pressure he received was from himself. He won the 2022 Leadville Trail 100 as well, but he wasn’t feeling as good during this race and spent about half of his time running and walking. The other competitors were supporting him and the crowd was cheering him by name and knew who he was. He has a film coming out on YouTube in the next few weeks called “Out and Back” by Rabbit Wolf Creative. You can also check Adrian’s sponsors: Ultimate Direction for gear and On Running for shoes in the links below.

Adrian continues his passion for running as a cross country coach at Mountain View High School in Loveland, CO. His goal is to create life-long runners, but he tells the kids they will have more fun if they run fast! He is also a financial officer at Colorado State University in the Department of Statistics and he gives back to the Leadville Running Community. Adrian’s advice is to put yourself out there by meeting new people and going to new places. He says to enjoy the whole process of training for the Leadville 100 and that if you love what you’re doing and having fun, then you will train harder for it and find people to share it with. Adrian states that the Leadville 100 was a life-changing moment for him and has opened up opportunities for him to meet new people and given him confidence. He finishes up the conversation by saying that Leadville really does change your life and feels like family. You can find Adrian racing in Australia in mid-December and potentially the UTMB next summer!

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is Brian Feddema, the owner of the local bike shop called Cycles of Life in Leadville, CO. There is no one across the nation who can prepare your bike for the Leadville 100 better than he can. He has brought life into and protected the Leadville community, and he is the guy to see for every cycle, Leadville and business owner need, and everything in between.

To begin, Brian shares how he found Leadville. He is from St. Cloud, Minnesota and at the time, he was working in Utah in 2005. He skied in Leadville, and fell in love with the environment of the town and visited the bike shop. He remembered thinking that he could do it better. He talked to the coffee shop owner, Chris, for three hours and they opened the Cycles of Life bike shop together. Brian grew up in a small town and was involved with sports in high school- he didn’t bike until college. During college, he worked at a bike shop called Out and About Gear. He loved this shop and looked up to the owner, Bruce. After he graduated college, he moved to Montana to ski and then Utah to work, but quit to start his own bike shop. Brian did not always have aspirations of opening his own business, but after working in the bike shop in college, he decided to get his degree in Business and Administration. Brian competes in four major bike races a year including the Leadville 100, Unbound, Mesa Verde, but he prefers to ride with his friends for fun.

The services at Cycles of Life bike shop include: renting and buying bikes, bike maintenance, nutrition advice, shipping and service package, etc. They will help you with anything you need. Their shop has helped countless individuals with their bike needs before the race and they want to be as much of a resource as they can to maximize visitors' stay. Brian shares that his favorite part of owning a business in Leadville is getting to help and see the excitement on customer’s faces. He enjoys being the master of his own destiny in that if the shop succeeds or fails, it is due to himself. The most challenging part of owning a business is hiring employees that are skilled enough to help customers and leave people with a good impression in the summer. Another challenge is hiring employees because he can’t offer employees full employment since the winter months aren’t as busy.

Brian recently got married to a real estate agent named Heather, who owns RE/MAX at Aspen Leaf Realty. They met when Brian was trying to buy his first home. Brian shares that Leaville has helped keep him grounded and rooted in the things that matter in life. He is connected with a good core group of friends and Leadville has allowed him to focus on simple and meaningful things. He has also learned to protect what he values, including Leadville and the way that is it. He wants to add to Leadville and help everyone enjoy the city more. To finish, Brian’s last piece of advice for the race is to not underestimate the power of having a proper, operating bicycle. He says too many people focus on getting in shape and eating the proper nutrition, but don’t take the time to give their bike the respect that it deserves. He advises you to come to the bike shop and they will check your bike to give you that extra confidence you need to finish the race.

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38-year rich history of this race. Joining us today is Cole’s mother, Pat Chlouber, as she discusses how she found Leadville, her career, her involvement in the Leadville Trail 100 and more!

To begin, Pat shares how her husband, Ken, and her found Leadville, CO. Pat grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma and she met her husband and Cole’s father, Ken, in junior high. They were both in the same science class, and he played football and was very smart. She wanted to be a cheerleader, but Pat loved playing tennis. While she had to study and work very hard to earn good grades, Ken never studied but always did well. He was sitting at a special table in class where only the top ten students in the class could sit. She said it always bugged her how he didn’t try very hard and sat at the special table! They married and they both attended the University of Oklahoma for college. She worked very hard to get a good GPA, while Ken was not asked to come back to the university. He did go to the army and realized the benefit of education, and did return to finish his bachelors after Pat finished hers.

Pat and Ken had always wanted to live in Colorado. In 1976, they moved to the city of Leadville, Colorado. They were becoming concerned with the schools in Denver and Ken was hunting out in Leadville. They fell in love with the city and wanted to raise their son, Cole, there. Ken became a miner in Leadville and in 1982, the local mine closed. This was devastating to their family and to all the families that had their livelihood based on the mining jobs. Most families immediately thought of relocation and two of out five schools were closed in Leadville in 12 months. Ken took the loss of the mining job hard emotionally, while Pat kept thinking they would figure it out. Pat was focusing on helping her son grow up and keeping up the homefront. She continued to teach in Leadville, but decided to get her masters. She served on the school board for nine years in 1986. Ken came up with this idea of the Leadville Trail 100 – a 100 mile footrace. Pat was extremely supportive of his idea and the Leadville Trail 100 took off in popularity and started bringing back the economy and visitors to Leadville again.

After the Leadville Trail 100 first started, Ken became a very successful politician and he stayed in the state house for 18 years where he was then elected to the senate. He was very active in the first Bush campaign and Pat had the honor to serve the president for the years 2000-2009. Ken then started becoming more involved in the Leadville Trail 100 race. He needed a crew and pacers, so Pat was on his crew and would bring him food while he ran the race. Pat also was on the crew for Cole when he raced the Leadville Trail 100 as a biker and runner, both were not easy to crew for! Pat describes the differences between being a crew member for a runner and a biker. She said for the runners, she had to be extremely thoughtful in what she could carry in and what she had to wear weather-wise to see the athlete. For the bikers, it’s so fast that there are only a couple places you could see the athletes and she would carry a wheel with her to each place. The stations became very resourceful for the bikers and everyone would share and help fix the bikes together. She loves how the race has encouraged her to change her lifestyle as well and to be healthy, and helped her to achieve her goals. To finish, Pat shares what’s next for her in serving on the advisory board for the Colorado Mountain College and helping to meet the needs of the college students in Colorado.

Thanks for tuning in, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is a returning guest of the show, Cole's father and Leadville Founder Ken Chlouber. Don’t miss their conversation which focuses more on who Ken is.

To begin, Ken shares how Leadville found him, which he credits to his son. When Cole was born, Ken found a new job as a mechanic in Leadville, Colorado. He fell in love with Leadville, the place that gave him a job and a home for he and his family. Next, Ken shares about the hunting accident in high school which caused him a serious leg injury. Just like that, his youthful football dreams were over. Though it took a long time for him to heal the emotional wound of this, he was determined to heal himself physically. He took up running from there, and the rest is history!

Then, Ken shares some of his favorite (and least favorite) running stories and the genesis of the Leadville Trail 100. Ken had gone to work like usual when his foreman called him and his crew in for a meeting. At that moment, he learned the mine was closing for good. At that moment, Leadville lost 3,250 jobs out of its population of 5,000. Ken and his neighbors all saw the need to bring money to their town as quickly as possible, and that was the beginning of the Leadville 100. Ken is a strong believer that in order to be successful in life, you need to have a vision, a purpose and passion. A key philosophy for the race was that no one involved, including Ken, could act selfishly.

Don’t miss Ken’s personal tips on making it to that finish line. First and most importantly, you have to believe in yourself and your capabilities. What makes Leadville itself truly is its grit, guts and determination. By the late 80s, Leadville was not doing as financially well as Ken hoped. He had the bright idea to run for the Colorado state legislature in the House of Representatives to spread the word of Leadville and the economic and medical needs of the people living in the mountains. 18 years after his election, he still remains in politics. His platform and connections helped Leadville tremendously in many ways. When he first founded Leadville, it became Ken’s singular life purpose. Now, however, he shares his purpose has shifted to helping people realize their unlimited potential in life. This message applies to everybody on the planet, not just those involved in sports. We all have the well of grit, guts and determination in all of us. He leaves listeners with one key message: Never quit.

Thanks for tuning in! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe, and we hope to see you on the line in August!

Tune in here to this episode of Grits, Guts, and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority for all things Leadville! Host Cole Chlouber, son of race founder Ken Chlouber, takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38-year rich history of this race. We learn all the tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville community members! Joining us today is Simon Guérard who, in just one and a half years, has tackled over 10 hundred mile races with practically no experience.

To begin, Simon shares how Leadville found him. He came to Leadville as part of the Grand Slam Ultrarunning Challenge and fell in love with the race. Simon does not consider himself to be an athlete, but just enjoys running for the experience of taking it slow and being in nature. He recently discovered a passion for filmmaking while compiling clips he had recorded on his GoPro during races to show his wife. The video, he realized, was able to show other people that they can accomplish similar things. To complete the Grand Slam, he explains, a person has to run 4 out of 5 of the oldest and toughest 100-miles in the U.S., with Leadville being one of the options. Simon details the differences between the trails and which were his favorites.

This past summer, Simon decided to take on the challenge and complete the run and bike race at Leadville. He reveals that the 10K and the marathon were the two events he struggled the most with this summer. One of the biggest lessons that Leadville strives to teach its athletes is how to be tough and to always move forward. Without having the Leadville background, Simon shares how he persevered through his hardships. Often, he has found, it can feel like the right decision in the moment to just give up. However, we should recognize that pain is temporary and we will most likely never regret the moments that we decided not to give up on a goal we had. Then, Simon gives listeners a look into his nutrition intake during races. He typically doesn’t eat while training. During races, he usually starts with gels and Gatorade. When he feels it’s becoming difficult to digest these, he will slowly switch over to solid, salty foods. Later in the race, he usually eats ramen and tried this year to eat mashed potatoes at mile 40. When it comes to training, he doesn’t stick to a structured plan, but listens to his body and accomplishes daily goals. As the episode draws to a close, hear what is on Simon’s radar for 2023. Finally, he offers his best piece of advice for his new Leadville family members. Don’t give up, face adversity head on and realize that you can do more than you think you can do.

Thanks for tuning in! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe, and we hope to see you on the line in August!