Haley Smith continued her run of big results at the Life Time Grand Prix by adding a bronze in the iconic Leadville Trail 100 on Saturday.
Smith’s podium adds to her win at Crushar in the Tushar, a gravel event that is part of Life Time’s new mixed-format series, and a big sixth place at Unbound Gravel earlier in the year. Leadville 100, a long-running Colorado cross country marathon race, is the fourth event in the Life Time series.
Utah’s Hannah Otto and Keegan Swenson take home wins in Colorado. Otto won the women’s race in seven hours 24 minutes. She was followed five minutes and 30 seconds later by two-time Leadville winner Rose Grant, in second. Haley Smith, in third, finished in 7:41:53.
Smith currently sits second overall in the debut Life Time Grand Prix behind series leader Sofia Gomez Villafane. Saturday’s podium will propel her to into the lead as of the best 5-of-6 series passes the midway point.
Britton cracks top-10 of XC race
On the men’s side, freshly minted U.S. cross country national champion Keegan Swenson stormed the win in six hours and one second. With a huge 14-minute 30-second, Swenson just narrowly missed the Leadville 100 course record. Swenson, a past winner of the Colorado epic, was joined on the podium byJohn Gaston and Howard Grotts.
Rob Britton landed the top Canadian time on the men’s side. The semi-retired road racer, now trying his hand at Life Time’s combo of gravel and mountain biking, was 10th in Leadville. Cory Wallace followed 6:49 later in 13th.
The win goes a long way to solidifying Swenson’s lead in the Life Time Grand Prix series. The U.S. rider is now four-for-four as the top Life Time athlete at all four events. With three wins and a second place behind non-series rider, Ivar Slik, at Unbound, just needs one more big result at the remaining two races to seal his victory in the high-dollar series.
Full results (in progress) from Leadville Trail 100 cross country race.
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