Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 14:47:45 -0600 From: Scott Weber Subject: The "Real" Cut-offs at Leadville The following is a comparison of the official Leadville cutoffs to what I consider the "real cutoffs". In my opinion, the official cutoffs do little more than set a runner up for failure. If a runner approaches these official cutoffs in the actual race, especially during the first 50 miles, then they are almost a sure DNF. The "real cutoff" is the slowest time out of an aid station that can still realistically result in a finish. My method of determining these "real cutoffs" was to look at the field of finishers to see what the slowest time out of an aid station was, that still resulted in a finish. I used 1996 and 1997 to illustrate the difference between the official Leadville cutoffs and the "real cutoffs". Slowest Time Out Slowest Time Out of Aid Station of Aid Station Aid Station of Anyone Who of Anyone Who Official LT Finished the 1996Finished the 1997 Cutoff LT 100.. LT 100. May Queen 13.5 Miles 2:57 2:56 3:15 Fish Hatchery 23.5 Miles 5:27 5:29 6:00 Half Moon 30.5 Miles 7:07 7:26 8:00 Twin Lakes 39.5 Miles 9:36 9:35 10:30 Hope Pass Summit (No official 45 Miles 11:51 11:45 cutoff) Winfield 50 Miles 13:39 13:22 14:00 Hope Pass Summit (No official 55 Miles 15:55 15:52 cutoff) Twin Lakes 60.5 Miles 17:39 17:40 17:45 Half Moon 69.5 Miles 20:40 20:45 20:45 Fish Hatchery 76.5 Miles 22:54 22:52 23:00 May Queen 86.5 26:31 (as listed Miles 26:29 in results) 26:30 Finish 100 Miles 29:55 29:56 30:00 The "crunch" for the 29+ hour runner occurs between Twin Lakes and Winfield and back. The official cutoff allows just 7 hours and 15 minutes total for this 21 mile section, while the average back of the pack finisher completes this section in just over 8 hours, thereby losing 45-50 minutes against the official cutoff. The advice would be to make the "real cutoff" of 9:35 at Twin Lakes (the first time) and have that 45-50 minutes in the bank. I'm sure that someone can dig up exceptions, but the above "real cutoffs" can help a runner intent on breaking 30 hours at Leadville get it done. Scott Weber scottweber@earthlink.net