Leadville Stage Race will go ahead with rerouted course
Three-day stage race will use the Leadville Historic Mining District and the Columbine climb
The Leadville Stage Race will take place this weekend on a rerouted course.
The stage race typically races the Leadville Trail 100 course over the course of three days, allowing athletes to warm up the legs while previewing the course ahead of the August 100-mile race.
This year, the impacts of the Willow Fire mean that the stage race will stick to the east side of town on two of the days while featuring the Columbine climb near Twin Lakes as standard.
Days one and three of the race will take place in the Leadville Historic Mining District, an area used by the Silver Rush 50 mountain bike race. The stages feature Ball Mountain, Evan’s Gulch. Iowa Gulch, and singletrack near the Colorado Mountain College campus.
Day 1 is 37 miles with 5,000 feet of climbing. Day two is the standard out-and-back of the Columbine climb, starting and ending at Twin Lakes, which totals 22 miles and 3,800 feet of climbing. Day three is the reverse course of stage one and features roughly the same stats.
With nearly 14,000 feet of climbing in about 100 miles, the race is a worthy tune up or fitness builder for the 100.
Leadville has not yet confirmed details of the 100-mile course. If it uses a similar course to the stage race, it would require crossing U.S. Highway 24, an added logistical hurdle.
The Willow Fire burning in the Mount Massive Wilderness Area is now 7,196 acres with 48% containment, as of Wednesday night. Emergency officials have removed evacuation orders for areas on the west side of Leadville, but some areas are still under pre-evacuation orders. The areas in the immediate vicinity of the burn area are still under evacuation orders, including the Turquoise Lake, Sugarloaf Mountain, and Powerline areas. A forest closure also remains in effect for the impacted areas.
Last week, Leadville announced that the rest of the races in the Leadville Race Series—including the Leadville Trail 100 run and MTB races—will be allowed to go on if favorable fire conditions hold.
Racers visiting Leadville this weekend will be a welcome sight for Leadville as fires across the state have impacted summer tourist trends.
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On the ground: Leadville
Keegan Swenson crossed the finish line on sixth street and was immediately surrounded by photographers and his support crew. After a few minutes, he was shuffled into the athlete recovery tent, gazed on by the watchful eye of photo and video cameras. After sitting there in a post-race daze for about 10 minutes, race officials moved him to the mixed zone…