Adrian Macdonald won the Leadville Trail 100 for a third time on Saturday, covering the rerouted Race Across the Sky in 15:47:23 to add the 2026 title to his victories from 2021 and 2022. Racing at altitudes that never drop below 9,200 feet, Macdonald controlled the race from the front half onwards and came home nearly half an hour clear of the field. Matthew Zupan took second in 16:15:25, with Tim Tollefson — one of the most decorated American ultrarunners of the past decade — third in 16:45:14.
The women's race went to McKendree Hickory in 19:39:12, a composed performance that held off a persistent challenge from Jacquie Mannhard, who finished second in 20:28:37. Emma Wood completed the podium in 20:33:33, less than five minutes behind Mannhard after nearly twenty and a half hours of racing — one of the closer gaps between second and third in the race's recent history.
This year's edition will be remembered as much for the course as the results. The Willow Fire closed the Powerline and Sugarloaf sections that have defined Leadville since 1983, forcing organisers to redraw the route around Turquoise Lake just days before the start. The out-and-back character of the race survived, but the loss of May Queen as a crew hub changed the rhythm of the day for runners and support teams alike, and comparisons with previous years' times should be made cautiously.
That the race happened at all was an achievement. As we reported on race morning, Colorado's summer of wildfires had already forced outright cancellations elsewhere in the state, and Leadville's organisers spent the final week before the event in continuous consultation with the Forest Service. The reroute was confirmed with a green light only on 22 August, and more than 700 runners still took the 4am start in the historic mining town.
Macdonald's third title puts him in rare company in the race's four-decade history and re-establishes him as the benchmark at Leadville after two years away from the top step. For Hickory, the win is the biggest of her career and a statement ahead of a potential tilt at the sport's larger stages. Attention in the ultra world now pivots to Chamonix, where the UTMB World Series Finals conclude this weekend with a field already reshaped by high-profile withdrawals.