And even once I had decided that a 100 was probably in my future, the idea of running Leadville-one of the original Grand Slam 100s, with nearly 16,000 feet of climbing at an elevation between 9,200 and 12,600 feet above sea level-seemed ludicrous. Mike Siudy still reminds me frequently that I swore I'd never run 100 miles. I can still remember, having already completed multiple 50Ks, telling a friend that he was crazy for running the 40-mile Mount Mitchell Challenge (a race I've since run three times). But the move to the 100-mile distance was by no means a given. Ultrarunning may have been an inevitable destination for me at every stage of my life as a runner, I've always gravitated towards, and found the most success at, the longer distances. But it certainly feels like an apex of sorts, and I think marked the beginning of a new phase of my running career. I don't want to say that Leadville was the culmination of my years as an ultra runner, partly because I think I can run it faster and partly because that sounds kind of final and I'd like to think that I still have a few good races left in me.
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