David Roche made history by running the Leadville 100-mile race in 15 hours, 26 minutes and 34 seconds, breaking a 19-year-old course record for the Race Across the Sky. Roche had never competed in a 100-mile race before Cloud City. Read more to hear from the trail runner, coach, and host of the podcast Some Work All Play.
The 2024 Leadville 100 Miler was my first crack at the distance. While I coach multiple athletes who have won the race, I was painfully aware of the conventional wisdom: “Respect the distance.”
Instead of talking about how it would be an honor to finish (which it would, and I had my doubts I could even do that!), I made my big goal public, motivated by my sports heroes like Noah Lyles and Jim Walsmley. I told the world on our podcast that when the race started at 4 AM on Saturday, I’d be chasing mountain running legend Matt Carpenter’s 2005 time, widely regarded as one of the stoutest records in the sport.
Let’s be real though: I am pretty good, and I work hard, but I am no Matt Carpenter. So what gave me the confidence to go for it, when some commentators were saying that I had no shot?
Well, I really respect these trails and the natural beauty of Leadville. I respect the sport’s history, the development of training theory, and the legends whose shoulders we’re all standing upon. But because of an extremely high-carb fueling plan, I decided that the respect could end there.
I was ready to disrespect the distance.
We have seen a revolution in endurance performance across sports, and I think that a large chunk of that growth comes from better fueling options and more understanding of how to use them. The more carbs, the harder athletes can push (relative to aerobic threshold in longer ultras, and lactate threshold in shorter events), and the more they can disrespect their endurance limits. To eclipse the record, I didn’t need to be fitter than one of the GOATs--that’s not possible for me, since Matt’s VO2 max is one of the highest ever recorded and he was a brilliant tactician in training. How could I solve for that offset? The answer makes intuitive sense, assuming all else is equal: I’d have to push harder.
To do that, I’d have to slurp carbs like my life depended on it.
My crew sheet kept it simple: approximate time to expect me to arrive, how many gels to stuff in my belt, and what to put in my bottles. No special instructions. No frills. History wouldn’t wait for us to be uncertain about gels or fluids. We could fall back on the formula developed with the best coach in the world, Megan Roche.
Here was the plan for every 2.5 or so hours based on training and the science showing that it’s possible to push up to 120 grams of carbs per hour at higher efforts:
Hour 1: Science in Sport Beta Fuel gel (40g carbs), Beta Fuel, Precision Fuel and Hydration 100 mg caffeine gel (30g carbs)
30 min break from gels
Hour 2: Beta Fuel, Beta Fuel, Precision gel without caffeine (30g)
I’m way less formulaic with hydration since needs vary more throughout the day based on conditions and effort, but the general approach was to aim for 24-36 ounces per hour depending on temperature and cooling opportunities. Every bottle was filled with Skratch Sports Mix, most mixed with a Precision 1000 tab (500 mg sodium). While it’s tough to know the exact concentration of aid station Skratch, I was probably getting around 30-40 grams of carbs per hour from the drinks, and around 800-1000 mg of sodium.
That’s a lot of carbs! We’re talking 500 calories an hour for a solid chunk of the race, which is not something I would recommend without a ton of practice. Thankfully, I love slurping Precision and Science in Sport, so I enjoy practicing. I might not train as much as some of the legends, but I am legendary at slurping.
The exact numbers varied a ton through the day based on the realities of aid station placement and big juicy burps. However, I was mostly able to stick with it, with my last gel coming 2 miles from the finish, forced by my superstar pacer Teddy. I didn’t take in any fuel or fluid outside of Precision, Skratch, and Science in Sport. Yes, I did vomit 10 minutes after finishing, but that is par for the course. (Interestingly, that barf was almost all fluid, indicating I may have messed up some late-race hydration. Or maybe it was the finish-line champagne.)
Sitting here writing this reflection two days post race, it feels surreal and dreamlike. Did that actually happen? I was a baseball fan before I was an ultra fan, and Matt’s 15:42 record always felt like Joe Dimaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. And I think his performance in its time was like Joe Dimaggio’s – probably unbreakable. We’re not in 2005 anymore, though. The rules of the game have changed with high-carb fueling.
When I doubted myself pre-race, Megan told me that I didn’t have to bet on a miracle. I was betting on training, mindset, and fueling. She told me to stop being intimidated by legends (I am painfully aware of my limitations), and start thinking about what I thought I could do without any of those preconceived notions about unbreakable records. My final sheet told them to expect me back in Leadville at 7:27 PM, 15:27 after the start. Megan and I ran those final few hundred meters together, me carrying 6 empty gel wrappers in my waist belt and her carrying a fetus in her uterus, as the clock ticked over.
15:26:34. 16 minutes under the record. 26 seconds off the vibes-based prediction.
If I woke up tomorrow and found out this was all a dream, I’d be ok with that. It was a good dream.
But I think I can say with confidence that despite all of my doubts, I’m not living through some sort of wildly real hallucination. You know how I know?
The post-100 gel burps seem to last 48 hours. Forget pinching, the hottest way to evaluate whether you’re dreaming is belching. History comes with an aftertaste.
