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.

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