Will the Willow Fire Claim Leadville Trail 100 as Victim in 2026?
My job as a coach is to prepare athletes for the demands a race can throw at you—climbs, altitude, pacing and weather, etc. But this summer, a new nemesis faces my athletes who have targeted Life Time's Leadville Trail 100; the unpredictable nature of the active Willow Fire west of Leadville.
With thousands of acres burning, the Forest Service has placed the heart of the course under a strict emergency closure. We already saw the race organization make the heartbreaking but necessary call to cancel the Silver Rush 50 earlier this month. The reality is this race is under imminent threat of cancellation.
Lake County Office of Emergency Management
Right now, if you're slated to race, keep a close watch on the conditions and firmly establish your cancellation plans. You have poured months of sweat, sacrifice, and tears into this goal, and that fitness doesn't evaporate if the race does. Check your lodging cancellation policies, look into backup races, and mentally prepare for any outcome. We train to adapt to changing race conditions; now it's time to apply that exact same resilience to the logistics.
How much of the Leadville 100 course is really closed?
I’ve been diving into the official U.S. Forest Service Forest Order to see how dire the situation is. The legal area closure blankets all National Forest System lands west of Highway 24, from the northern district border all the way south to CO Highway 82.
Because the Leadville out-and-back route runs right through this corridor, the operational impact is massive. Currently, roughly 70 miles of the 100-mile course currently locked down. According to active fire maps, the actual flames and smoke hazards directly compromise a 4-to-5-mile stretch right over Sugarloaf Mountain and the Powerline climb.
Even if crews stop the fire from burning more of the trail, freshly burned land isn't the best of air quality. Also, the race cannot legally proceed unless the Forest Service lifts or modifies this public safety order before mid-August. It's currently scheduled to lift at the end of September. This could all change and the event could reschedule, re-route, or cancel. Stay engaged with the race communiques. Stay dialed into your training, but keep your logistics flexible. We will pivot together, no matter what happens.
Thanks for reading.