2026 Leadville 100 Mile Results: Adrian Macdonald Gets Third Victory, McKendree Hickory Wins Her Debut

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The 2026 Leadville 100 Mile, which ran on a modified course due to the impacts of wildfire, saw Adrian Macdonald secure his third win at this storied race in 15:47:23, while McKendree Hickory claimed victory in her debut with a finishing time of 19:39:12.

In the men’s race, Macdonald ran a smart but dominating race, only taking the lead near the halfway mark and then slowly growing it over the rest of the race while the battle for the rest of the podium places played out behind him. After a conservative start, Matthew Zupan made a second-half surge to finish second, and Tim Tollefson, after staying steady in the top five throughout the race, finished in third.

For the women, Canada’s Ailsa MacDonald — no relation to Adrian Macdonald — led the women’s race for the first 80 miles until being overtaken by a surging Hickory, with Jacquie Mannhard and Emma Wood later passing Macdonald in the final 11 miles to secure second and third, respectively.

The race started at 4 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time on Saturday, August 22, in Leadville, Colorado, the highest incorporated city in the U.S. at an elevation of 10,200 feet (3,100 meters). The day proved ideal for racing with partly cloudy skies and a high temperature in the mid-70s Fahrenheit (low-20s Celsius) in Leadville, although scattered rain moved through late in the afternoon.

Climbing to 12,600 feet (3,800 meters) twice in the legendary out-and-back course, the Leadville 100 Mile has always been famous for its thin air, grueling climbs, and sometimes volatile mountain weather. Due to the impacts of the Willow Fire outside of Leadville, this year’s race was held on a modified course. Sections including Sugarloaf Mountain and Powerline were removed, with runners instead taking modified routes between the start/finish line and the Outward Bound aid station. The roughly 52-mile round-trip between Outward Bound and the Winfield turnaround, through Twin Lakes and over Hope Pass, remained exactly the same as the traditional course.

This year’s course measured 99.7 miles (160.5 kilometers), 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometers) shorter than the traditional course, with a similar 13,552 feet (4,100 meters) of elevation gain but with more pavement.

Read on for the full race story.

2026 Leadville 100 Mile Men’s Race

By the 8.6-mile mark, at Merilee’s Corner aid station, the lead six men were running in pairs. Mitch Klomp shared the lead with Paul Suflita in 1:03 elapsed, followed four minutes later by Sean Harren and Michael Mitchell in third and fourth. Another minute behind them were Adrian Macdonald and Tim Tollefson, two very experienced elite ultrarunners. This was Macdonald’s fourth appearance at the race, having won twice and finished second once, and Tollefson’s debut.

By the Outward Bound aid station, 26 miles into the race and where runners joined the traditional course, the top five had started to come apart. Suflita came through in first place in 3:16 elapsed, followed by Klomp less than two minutes behind. A new pair of Macdonald and Mitchell formed as they left the aid station together in third and fourth. Tollefson dropped back to fifth, about 3.5 minutes behind them. There was then a nine-minute gap until the rest of the top 10, who were all within two minutes of each other. Matthew Zupan rounded out the top 10, 17 minutes off the lead, while Harren had fallen back into ninth and would eventually drop out of the race.

As the day warmed up and leaders made their way over the exposed Hope Pass for the first time, widely considered the crux of the course at 12,600 feet (3,800 meters), the men’s field had spread out. The first time through the Hope Pass aid station, located at 45.6 miles into the race and at treeline when approaching the pass from Twin Lakes, Macdonald made a big move, putting himself into first place with 6:39 on the clock, and with more than a four-minute gap over Klomp. This was the winning move, and Macdonald would hold the lead until the finish, 54 miles away. Another 12 minutes behind Klomp, Mitchell — who is a well-known running influencer — approached the pass, saying he had just “puked his soul out” before joyously cresting the pass. Tollefson also came over the pass, smiling, and was only 36 seconds behind Mitchell now. Zupan had also been putting in some hard work on the climb and had made a large jump into fifth place, 15 minutes up on the rest of the field.

Between the huge descent to the turnaround point at Winfield and the massive climb back up to Hope Pass, crossing over it for the second time and then down to the Hope Pass inbound aid station at 59.1 miles, the top five remained the same, but Zupan had made another big move into third. Macdonald’s leading gap grew to 20 minutes as Klomp, who just placed fifth in the High Lonesome 100 Mile five weeks ago, began to fade. Klomp would soon drop out at Twin Lakes inbound. Meanwhile, Tollefson had overtaken Mitchell, and the podium battle between a veteran of the sport and a rising star began.

By the time they passed through Twin Lakes for the second time, at mile 64.2, Zupan had moved into second, the position he would hold for the rest of the race. Behind him, Mitchell and Tollefson continued to duke it out for the final podium spot, swapping places multiple times in the second half of the race. But by mile 84, at the Turquoise Dam aid station, Tollefson had put more than a 14-minute gap into Mitchell, and that was the finishing move between them.

Adrian Macdonald crossed the finish line in 15:47:23, looking tired but still having enough energy to high-five the entirety of the finishing chute’s spectators, who had turned out for him despite the rain that had started to fall. In his finish-line interview, he said he found this fourth Leadville journey the hardest but would definitely be back for another one.

An emotional Matthew Zupan crossed the finish line in second in 16:15:25.

He was followed by Tim Tollefson in third, who finished in 16:45:14, his first finish at an ultra in two years.

Michael Mitchell finished in fourth in 17:48:07, running over the finish line energetic and smiling with a new 100-mile PR.

2026 Leadville 100 Mile Men’s Results

1. Adrian Macdonald – 15:47:23
2. Matthew Zupan – 16:15:25
3. Tim Tollefson – 16:45:14
4. Michael Mitchell – 17:48:07
5. Corky Patton – 19:03:10
6. David Carpenter – 19:04:27
7. Pat Cade – 19:30:40
8. Alister Ratcliff – 19:34:35
9. Paul Suflita – 19:36:02
10. Justin Henry – 19:44:48

Full results.

2026 Leadville 100 Mile Women’s Race

The women’s race played out quite differently from the men’s. Canada’s Ailsa MacDonald immediately took the lead, running through Merilee’s Corner aid station at 8.6 miles with 1:17 on the clock, just five seconds ahead of Jacquie Mannhard, the 2023 Leadville 100 Mile champion. The two had about a four-minute gap on the rest of the field.

By the Outward Bound aid station at mile 26, MacDonald had opened a six-minute gap on Mannhard, and it was another 14 minutes back to McKendree Hickory in third, who was running her first Leadville 100 Mile after placing fifth in the Leadville Marathon earlier in the year. Emma Wood, a Leadville local, was just one minute behind Hickory.

At the Hope Pass aid station for the first time, at mile 45.6, the top four remained the same, and they were all smiling and looking strong. With 8:03 on the clock, MacDonald had a 19-minute gap on Mannhard, who was 12 minutes ahead of Hickory, who was just a few seconds ahead of Wood. After cresting Hope Pass and the big descent down into the Winfield turnaround point, 52.3 miles into the race, MacDonald had extended her lead over Mannhard to 27 minutes. Wood was now only two minutes back from Mannhard, with a five-minute gap on Hickory.

Leaving Winfield, Wood overtook Mannhard on the climb back over Hope Pass to move into second place. Hickory overtook Mannhard on the descent and proceeded to pass Wood between Twin Lakes and the Half Pipe aid station at mile 72.8, and was now in second place. At this point, MacDonald was still charging in the lead and held more than a 30-minute lead over Hickory.

By the Outward Bound aid station at mile 78.7, the gap between the lead two had shrunk to less than 10 minutes, and by Turquoise Dam at mile 84.2, Hickory had overtaken MacDonald and built a six-minute lead. For the first time in the race, MacDonald was no longer in first place. Mannhard followed 19 minutes behind her, and Wood was only three minutes behind that, with the podium still in reach.

In the final 16 miles of the race, McKendree Hickory extended her lead and secured an impressive victory at her Leadville 100 Mile debut, finishing in 19:39:12 with a tired but happy smile.

Jacquie Mannhard overtook MacDonald in the final miles to finish second in 20:28:37.

Emma Wood also pressed ahead, overtaking MacDonald to finish third in 20:33:33.

After fading in the final miles, Ailsa MacDonald finished in fourth place in 20:42:07.

2026 Leadville 100 Mile Women’s Results

1. McKendree Hickory – 19:39:12
2. Jacquie Mannhard – 20:28:37
3. Emma Wood – 20:33:33
4. Ailsa MacDonald (Canada) – 20:42:07
5. Silke Koester – 22:16:47
6. Raven Johnson – 22:34:12
7. Rachael Banton – 22:44:50
8. Lauren Schmidt – 23:10:27
9. Summer Frazier – 23:15:22
10. Addy Rastall – 23:17:13

Full results.

2026 Leadville 100 Mile Results: Adrian Macdonald Gets Third Victory, McKendree Hickory Wins Her Debut by Clare Gunton.