Swenson and Otto win 2022 Leadville Trail 100

Keegan Swenson and Hannah Otto took the top spaces at the 2022 Stages Cycling Leadville Trail 100 MTB race, owned and produced by Life Time. Leadville welcomed a field of more than 1,500 riders for the famed ‘Race Across the Sky’ through the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. Riders ranged in age from 18 to 75 years old, representing all 50 states and 18 countries, 47 of which were Leadville citizens proudly representing their hometown. Cyclists tackled over 13,000 feet of net gain, topping out at 12,424 feet on Columbine Pass.

“Honestly, patience was the name of the game today. I entered with complete and total openness and without expectation,” said Otto. “I honestly didn’t think I was going to win until the last 100 yards. The last time-check I got was at mile 70 and at that point I had a 45-second lead, so from there on out I just told myself that’s what I had to play with.”

Swenson’s win secures his first place position on the Life Time Grand Prix series presented by Mazda leaderboard. When asked about the day, Swenson commented, “We had a big group rolling out from Pipeline and everyone worked quite well together. Going up Columbine it was Howard Grotts, Alexey Vermuelen and myself, and then halfway up I slowly pulled away from those guys, rode at my own pace and rode smart.”

Women’s Results:

1. Hannah Otto, 26, of Salt Lake City, Utah with a time of 7:24:07
2. Rose Grant, 39, of Columbia Falls, Mont. with a time of 7:29:37
3. Haley Smith, 28, of Uxbridge, Ontario with a time of 7:41:53

Men’s Results:

1. Keegan Swenson, 28, of Heber City, Utah with a time of 6:00:01
2. John Gaston, 35, of Aspen, Colo. with a time of 6:14:31
3. Howard Grotts, 29, of Durango, Colo. with a time of 6:15:19

Non-Binary Results:

1. Rach McBride, 44, of Vancouver, BC with a time of 7:57:59

Women’s Para Results:

1. Hannah Raymond, 36, of Longmont, Colo. with a time of 10:56:48
2. Megan Fisher, 39, of Missoula, Mont. with a time of 11:41:30

Men’s Para Results:

1. Willie Stewart, 61, of Boise, Idaho with a time of 10:52:44
2. Anothony Lee, 49, of Colorado, Springs, Colo. with a time of 11:41:43
3. Jeff Glasbrenner, 49, of Little Rock, Ark. with a time of 12:03:08

Second place finisher in the men’s division, Gaston, known as one of the fastest ski mountaineering racers in the country said, “I don’t deserve to be up here, I’ve never done anything on my bike remotely close to a podium at Leadville in my whole life.” When asked about his day, he said, “I didn’t have much of a plan except to really stay on top of eating and drinking because I still have haunting memories of 2019 going up Powerline, so I wanted to do everything in my power not to relive that nightmare. I took every bottle I could, stayed on top of my gels. I’m over the moon.”

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is the fourth event in the Life Time Grand Prix series presented by Mazda. The next two Life Time owned off-road bike events on September 17 are the 40-mile Chequamegon MTB Festival presented by Trek in northwest Wisconsin, which will be the fifth event in the Life Time Grand Prix Series presented by Mazda, as well as the Stages Cycling Barn Burner in Flagstaff, Ariz. Now in its second year, The Rad Dirt Fest will take place in Trinidad, Colo. on Oct. 8 followed by the final bike event on the off-road event calendar, and final event of the Grand Prix series, the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda on Oct. 22.