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.