Flagstaff elite ultrarunner Pete Kostelnick raced the notoriously difficult (and hypoxic) Leadville 100 Mile Run in Colorado this weekend. He finished 83rd in 24 hours 30 minutes 18 seconds in a race won in a course record 15:26:34 by David Roche.
You may think that a race like this wouldn’t rate highly on Kostelnick’s impressive list of ultra performances — he has, after all, won Badwater 135 and set the fastest known time across the whole damn United States — but Leadville clearly was memorable to Kostelnick.
A year ago, in Leadville to pace his friend Tyler Andrews, Kostelnick was involved in a serious car accident the night before the race. He was sitting in the backseat when a car going 60 miles per hour rear-ended them. Kostelnick was airlifted to a hospital in Colorado Springs, where he was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis, among other injuries. For two months, he was essentially immobile.
But anyone who knows Kostelnick’s past and his determination knew that he wouldn’t be down for long. Less than a year later, he finished the Cocodona 250, won the Denali 135 in Alaska and completed Badwater once more.
So, for Kostelnick, running Leadville on Saturday was something special. As he wrote on Instagram before the race: “(E)xactly a year ago, I got in a car accident near Leadville that put me in a wheelchair for several months and I thought that was the end of running for me. Already thankful for hitting the start line tomorrow, something I’ve been meaning to do for 11 years, and make it extra meaningful.”
Given all that, finishing in just slightly over 24 hours — with three screws still in his pelvis — is an accomplishment.
Another ultra star, Flagstaff’s Rob Krar did not finish Leadville on Saturday, dropping at the 23.5-mile mark. Flagstaff’s Jay Donosky also was a DNF.
— Sunday morning at the elite Falmouth (Mass.) Road Race, McKirdy Trained’s Yemane Haileselassie, originally from Eritrea, finished fourth in the 7-mile event in 32:13, just shy of a minute behind the winner, Kenya’s John Korir in 31:15. Dark Sky’s Kasey Knevelbaard (33:21) and Nick Randazzo (33:25) cracked the top 10, placing ninth and 10th respectively.
In the women’s race, the top Flagstaff finisher was Brit Philippa Bowden, training here the past two months. She was 10th in 37:53. Flag’s Diane Nukuri finished in 40:12 and McKirdy Trained’s Dani Polerecky 40:18.
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