Grit, Guts and Determination: The Leadville Race Series Podcast

Welcome to this episode of Grit, Guts and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority on all things Leadville. Host Cole Chlouber takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38 year rich history of this race. Listen in as they provide tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville members. In this episode, Cole speaks with Tamira Jenlink who is the new Leadville Race Series director. Tamira is passionate about the outdoors, mental health, and Leadville. Listen as she shares about her passions and her love for Leadville.

The episode begins with Tamira sharing about her mountain biking past history and skills. She fell in love with bikes at a young age and several years later, fell in love with mountain bike racing after her first 24 hour race through the woods. She shares how inspired she was by the ability to join together her love for biking and working with a team through racing. Not only is biking a big part of her life, but so is rock climbing. She shares about this passion and her view on how connecting with a community and the outdoors promotes health and emotional wellness.

Tamira goes on to share about her history of racing and her first time participating in the 100 mile race. For her, one of the most inspiring moments of her first race was being able to become a part of the biking community and see the bigger picture. She also shares some of her injuries and close calls from her years of racing. Even these parts of racing have shown her the importance of working together as a team and being there for each other.

Cole then asks Tamira to share how Leadville has shaped her life beyond racing. For Tamira, Leadville has offered her not only a community, but a family that is there to support and encourage her. She wants to be able to support her community and give back to them, which she is able to do through her bike coaching to girls. She talks about her desire to see them reach their goals and shares her love of biking with them. Additionally, she also shares her desire to use this as a means to promote mental health through movement, connection with humans, and being outside.

Lastly, Cole then brings up the new journey Tamira is about to encounter in becoming the new Leadville Race Series director. This is a huge dream come true for her and she talks about her excitement to have a connection with an even bigger group of people through this job. Her desire is to cheer on and encourage others and use this position to open new doors for the people there and to continue to make impacts. She wants it to be a place where people can come together and be a part of something bigger than themselves. She concludes by sharing some of her best coaching tips for racing.

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Welcome to this episode of Grit, Guts and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority on all things Leadville. Host Cole Chlouber takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38 year rich history of this race. Listen in as they provide tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville members. In today’s episode we meet Donna Marie Provenzano, resident of Twin Lakes, a mother with a full-time career and is involved in multiple philanthropic endeavors. Despite all of these commitments, she still found a way to be successful on that trail. Sit back and hear Donna Marie’s story and her journey to being found by Leadville.

As the conversation begins, Donna Marie recalls how she was found by Leadville 20 years ago, when a friend was participating in the race and asked Donna Marie to be her timer. She was a marathon runner, but Leadville seemed untouchable and impossible for her experience level at the time. After a few years of trail running, she decided to take a chance and put her name in the hat for Leadville, and she was chosen! She has since ran in 5 Leadvilles, with 2 DNF’s. After the race of her first DNF, it became the mission of her and her team to ensure she finished the following year. Much of Leadville is a mental game that requires your brain’s commitment to finishing when you show up at the start line.

The Leadville family is one very close to Donna Marie’s heart. Despite her recent medical setbacks, she details her upcoming plans for races in the future and her hopes to be back with Leadville in the next few years. She is a teacher in Denver, but comes to Twin Lakes during weekends for the serenity and mountain views. Between being a single mom, an artist, a teacher and a runner, she has her hands quite full. As a teacher, she shares her appreciation for the Leadville Foundation and all of the different ways they help out the local community.

Because of the intense training schedule, Donna Marie always makes a point to ask her daughters for their permission to commit to the race. The Leadville family has been more than welcoming to her three daughters, who love the community just as much as their mom. In response, Cole iterated that Leadville is founded on the backs of strong women. Donna Marie has instilled in her three daughters the fact that they can do anything they put their mind to. They have found many role models in the Leadville community.

Leadville 100 has instilled in Donna Marie the knowledge that she can overcome anything. People and community help you be the best person you can be, to volunteer and to give back to them and your own family, too. In closing, they speak of unexpected challenges that could present themselves during Leadville and how to prepare for them.

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Check out the Leadville Race Series

Welcome to this episode of Grit, Guts and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority on all things Leadville. Host Cole Chlouber takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38 year rich history of this race. Listen in as they provide tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville members. In today’s episode we meet Leadville 100 founder Ken Chlouber’s right hand man Carl Miller. Carl and Ken served together in the mine, as county commissioners and at the State House in Denver. Carl also had a great deal in developing the National Mining Hall of Fame and is seven time generation Leadville resident.

As the conversation begins, Carl discusses his family’s background. Carl’s maternal grandfather moved to Leadville in 1896 from Ireland to work in the mines and ended up serving three terms in the city council. After working in the mine and serving two years in the army, Carl came back to his hometown, Leadville, where he married his high school sweetheart. Ken and Carl met when Ken first came to Leadville in 1976.

Carl recalls the day Ken came to him with the idea of the Leadville 100. The idea was sparked when Governor Lamm urged them to create a new staple in Leadville’s culture to entice more people to come to the town. When Ken first presented his idea, Carl thought he was crazy, but he stood beside him for support. There weren't many participants in the first year, but the numbers increased with each passing year. There were two factors behind Ken’s idea. The first was to help out the local small business community and economy. The second was to convince people to believe in themselves and know they can do anything. He succeeded in both.

The drive behind Carl and Ken’s desire to be in the state commissioners office was to serve the Leadville community. Working with the energy committee, they took international trips together to Canada, Venezuela and more to advocate for their local energy and mining resources. Carl’s granddaughter herself is now involved in local politics. Leadville is founded on the backs of strong women, and Carl’s granddaughter Kayla is one herself.

Carl stresses that his community has been the biggest reason for his success. He tells the story of how he came to develop the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville. The community of the town holds magic in all accounts, which Cole attests to. There is so much to see in the mining museum, but Carl’s favorite is the underground mine portion, which he designed based on his experience working in the early mines. If you’re in town for the off season, Carl recommends checking out the snow sports scene, including skiing and snowboarding. Many people are drawn to Leadville for the multitude of outdoor activities, and never leave.

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Welcome to the third episode of Grit, Guts and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority on all things Leadville. Host Cole Chlouber takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38 year rich history of this race. Listen in as they provide tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville members. In this episode, Leadville’s leading lady, Merilee Maupin, is invited into the conversation. Don’t miss the rich knowledge and stories she has to share from the very beginning days—what it took to get the race up and running and how you can get across that finish line.

The conversation starts with a brief introduction of Merilee and the various roles she’s had in life. From being inducted into the Colorado Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, to hanging the medals around Leadville’s winners, she has done it all. What does she remember about the early years? Merilee recounts the day in 1982 when Kenneth Chlouber, Cole’s father, presented the grandiose idea of a 100 mile foot race to her. Merilee and Kenneth participated in various types of running together, even burro racing. She shares about what the buy-in looked like and the early day race operations from a directing standpoint. Despite the challenges, Merilee recalls the fonder memories of being at the finish line and part of such great victories, along with the friends gained over the years.

Gain a deeper look into the finish line as Merliee shares about this experience. Learn about the signature hug from her at the end and how this was never planned. She chats about how joyous it was to be part of such a big and victorious moment in people’s lives. The last hour of the race is absolutely epic. Cole asks Merilee about Harry’s signature finish as a gentleman in pure white clothing.

Cole shifts the conversation to head about the biggest challenge of it all—that it was only Kenneth and Merilee to do everything. Marketing, t-shirts, pre-race, mailings, marking the trail, signage, ordering for stations, cleaning, removing trail markings, and taking care of the chairs; they did it all as a team of 2. Were there any big catastrophes in losing people on the course? Learn about Essie Garret, a Colorado ultra-runner who spent an evening out in the woods after getting lost. Would Merilee do it all over again? In a heartbeat, she says!

In wrapping up this episode, Merilee shares a few thoughts with the listeners and what to take away. Do not underestimate the courage it takes to sign up. There are no limits in life, except for those we put on ourselves. Draw from the inexhaustible well of grit, guts, and determination inside of you. Take what you learn in Leadville home with you to make your community a better place.

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This is an into to describe what "Grit, Guts & Determination: The Leadville Race Series podcast" will cover, how frequently. So join host Cole Chlouber, son of Race Founder Ken Chlouber, and a host of guests for all things LEADVILLE.

Welcome to this episode of Grit, Guts and Determination, The Leadville Race Series Podcast, a leading authority on all things Leadville. Host Cole Chlouber takes us on a story-telling journey of the 38 year rich history of this race. Listen in as they provide tips, tricks, and stories from the Leadville members. In this episode, race founder Ken Chlouber tells the second part of the Leadville story. Don’t miss the rich knowledge and wisdom Ken has to share - from motivation and inspiration to the values Leadville cherishes most.

If there is one thing Ken could pass on from the Leadville family to another, it’s that you just don’t quit. A good attitude, integrity, honesty and character matter to Ken and to the Leadville 100. It’s what gets the athletes to the finish line. Leadville is like one big intimate family, but it could be even bigger. More people are coming out of the pandemic understanding that health is vital and the importance of being fit for a lifetime. Ken relays the magic of Leadville and the sacredness you can only experience there. No matter what, the story has to continue on.

He stresses the importance of believing in yourself and sharing that belief with others. Through this, they have made a better Leadville, now let’s make a better world. He passes the torch on to Cole, who will step up in his father’s place. Leadville is a source of hope for many and soon the whole world will see it. Ken gives Cole some of the credit for the motivation he provided his dad the times he completed the Leadville 100. His father taught him from early on that it’s never okay to quit.

Cole hopes to pass on all of the lessons his father has taught him over the years. Putting one foot in front of the other is simple if you know how to, but if you don’t, it’s the hardest thing in the world. It’s not the Leadville way to determine if someone is good enough to participate. If there’s enough room, everyone is welcome. There’s no finish line, but a line where you start training for the next one.

Thanks for joining! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.

Links:

Check out the Leadville Race Series

In this episode of Grit, Guts, and Determination, Race Founder Ken Chlouber shares what Leadville was like during the dark days of the mine. In the 80’s Ken worked in the mine when one day his boss called him in for a meeting. This was abnormal, Ken says “miners don’t have meetings.” His boss told him they were shutting down the mine and they needed to go home, it was a short meeting. He and the community lost not just their jobs, but also their identity that day, they were no longer hard rock miners. Ken needed a job, but he also recognized they needed to save the town. They needed to bring people to Leadville to spend money, and one of the best ways to do that was to get people to stay overnight.

That’s where the 100 mile race was born. They had no money, but the miners were out of work and came together volunteering to put the work together and other members of the community stepped up to help as well. Leadville found him, and Ken says it taught him he was better than he thought he was, he could do more than he thought he could. You just have to dig deep. Leadville shows people what they can do without limits.

They hit their target because the race brought economic survival to the community, but Ken says more importantly it’s changed lives.

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Learn more about the Leadville Race Series

The format differs as this is less of an interview and more of Ken offering a story.