While many of us are spending time relaxing by the water, camping with friends, and enjoying the dog days of summer, Smartwool athlete Rob Krar has decided to spend his summer a little differently. Rob has set out to complete theLead Challenge, a five-race running and mountain bike series totaling 282.4 miles with 42,369’ of vertical gain. We checked in with Rob to see how the races have been going and how he’s feeling about the rest of the summer.
Tell us a little bit about why you decided to take on this incredible challenge.
Leadville has held a special place in my heart over the years. In one of my very first trail races in 2009, I ran over the 12,600’ Hope Pass and my mind was blown. Later that same day, I spoke my first words to my future wife and promptly received the cold shoulder. I raced and won the 100-mile run for the first time in 2014. In 2018, less than a year after a major knee surgery, I raced the 100-mile MTB and a week later won the 100-mile run. All my time in Leadville has quite literally changed the course of my life.
I was drawn to the Lead Challenge by the difficulty of the series—an opportunity to embrace my strengths in the running races while challenging my skills and will in the mountain bike races. I appreciate the training and dedication the series requires to reach the finish line and it motivates me to get out the door each and every day.
Now that you are a little halfway through the summer, what have been some of your most memorable moments on the trail? (would be great to have a high and a low here)
June found me swimming laps in the pool as I worked through a tibial stress fracture, unable to run in the leadup to the first races. I was full of apprehension and a little doubt driving to Leadville for the first two races of the series, the Trail Marathon and the Silver Rush 50-mile mountain bike. How would a month of cross-training translate to the high point of the marathon at 13,000’ or over the technical trails of the mountain bike?
The races proved to be just as hard as I expected. I chuckled a few times as I remembered a quote from the founder of the Leadville race series, Ken Chlouber: “It sure is a pretty day for pain,” as we moved our bodies under glorious blue skies in one of my favorite places in the world.
Now that you are a little halfway through the summer, what have been some of your most memorable moments on the trail? (would be great to have a high and a low here)
June found me swimming laps in the pool as I worked through a tibial stress fracture, unable to run in the leadup to the first races. I was full of apprehension and a little doubt driving to Leadville for the first two races of the series, the Trail Marathon and the Silver Rush 50-mile mountain bike. How would a month of cross-training translate to the high point of the marathon at 13,000’ or over the technical trails of the mountain bike?
The races proved to be just as hard as I expected. I chuckled a few times as I remembered a quote from the founder of the Leadville race series, Ken Chlouber: “It sure is a pretty day for pain,” as we moved our bodies under glorious blue skies in one of my favorite places in the world.
Looking ahead, how are you feeling about the rest of the series?
While I didn’t thrive at the first two races, I worked hard with the tools I had and am stoked to have finished them feeling bruised but not broken. It’ll be a delicate balance in the time I have before the crux of the series in August. I’ll be spending a lot of time in the saddle, not only in preparation for the 100-mile mountain bike race, but also as a gentler and less stressful activity while I nurse the tail end of my injury to health.
I’ve always felt that completing the Lead Challenge would require hard work, a little bit of luck, and a healthy dose of good karma. I’m putting my theory to the test and feel excited to continue venturing into the unknown.
What’s your go-to trail snack?
I discovered one of the greatest pleasures at one of my most lowest moments during the 2013 Western States Endurance Run. It was my very first 100 miler and the second hottest year on record for the race. At the bottom of El Dorado Canyon, the temperature 107°F with over half the race remaining, I was offered a slice of SALTED watermelon and it was sublime.
