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!