It's the climb
Distance doesn’t scare Eddie Thomas.
Even if it’s 100 miles, a distance the Highland Lakes resident has never run in a single stretch before. Even if it’s up and down the mountainous terrain of Colorado. Even if that 100-mile run comes at the end of a series of two other long-distance runs and two equally long bike races.
Thomas loves the competition.
“At the end of the day, I am a very competitive person. I want to pass people one at a time and make it to the top,” 49-year-old Thomas said. “I love to pass people younger than me.”
Thomas’ participation in the Leadville Race Series in August was a chance to prove that taste for competition could outweigh an extreme physical challenge.
The Leadville Series, based almost 10,200 feet above sea level in Leadville, Colorado, includes a trail marathon, a 50-mile mountain bike ride, a 100-mile bike ride, a 10K (6.2-mile) run and closes with the Leadville Trail 100-mile Run. Completing all of those events with a qualifying time earns Thomas the title of Leadman.
Thomas started running while serving in the U.S. Marines and continued through civilian life. He “went through a phase like a lot of adults who start doing triathlons,” Thomas said, before switching to trail running and mountain biking for their softer terrain and slower pace.
“Trail running is something that you can do at a conversational pace with your buddies,” Thomas said. “A lot of guys are hunters, a lot of guys are fishers, golfers. I don’t do any of that.”
He is part of a group of friends who run and bike together regularly. Thomas competes in 10 to 12 events per year, and while training for Leadville he was logging 60 miles a week on the trails and 180 miles a week on his bike.
Thomas had competed in Leadville’s 100-mile bike ride twice before, but he had never run above 50 miles in a single setting prior to the closing race of the Leadville Series.
“We always thought those guys doing the 100-mile run were crazy,” Thomas said. “It’s certainly a bucket list race.”
The decision to try for the Leadman title came about because Thomas and coworker Johnathon Stevens planned to do the 100-mile run together as a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA). It’s a cause close to Stevens’ heart through family connections with the foundation’s work funding cancer research at UAB.
Stevens said having a fundraising goal provided him and Thomas with motivation to keep training as well as a way to distinguish themselves from other runners.
“Motivation and ego will have you dropping at mile 20. Having a purpose is what gets us out of bed before 5 o’clock every morning to train something like this,” Stevens said.
Since Thomas was already planning to run the 100-mile race and the marathon with Stevens, and he had friends who wanted to do one of the mountain bike races, he said, “so hell, I might as well do the Leadman competition.”
While training with Stevens, Thomas started the quest for the Leadman title in June with the marathon, followed by the 50-mile bike ride in July. The 100-mile mountain bike ride was Aug. 11, and Thomas ran the 10K the following day. He and Stevens closed out the series together with the 100-mile run Aug. 18.
Though 100 miles was a daunting distance, Thomas said the marathon was no less challenging “because you’re pretty much going straight up” or straight down, while the longer race had room for more gradual altitude shifts. The 50-mile bike ride was similar to the marathon.
“They took out all the easy parts, so it was either straight up or straight down. It was very challenging,” Thomas said.
In the 100-mile run, Thomas and Stevens could have a small crew of family and friends to bring them food, first aid, shoes and other necessities at checkpoints along the run. The run started at 4 a.m. and all runners had 30 hours to complete it.
“The part I’m looking forward to is the finish line, and the part that haunts me are the climbs. The climbs are relentless,” Thomas said prior to the final three events in August.
As of Aug. 15, Stevens and Thomas had raised nearly $33,000, which Stevens said has come from all over the country.
Details about the Leadville Series are available at leadvilleraceseries.com.