Two athletes, one legendary course, and two records that many believed might never fall. That was the story in Leadville this weekend, where Colorado runners Anne Flower and David Roche rewrote the history books at the 2025 Leadville Trail 100 Run, one of ultrarunning’s most iconic and grueling tests.
Flower, in her 100-mile debut, broke Ann Trason’s 31-year-old women’s course record by eight minutes, finishing in 17:58:19 and placing second overall. Not long before, Roche crossed the line in 15:12:30, defending his title and shaving more than 14 minutes off the men’s course record he set just last year.
Both athletes ran alone for large chunks of the race, and both set records once thought untouchable.
A debut that shocked the field
Anne Flower’s name wasn’t unfamiliar heading into race weekend. The 35-year-old emergency room doctor from Colorado Springs had won the Silver Rush 50 earlier this summer and the Javelina Jundred 100K last fall. But Leadville was her first attempt at 100 miles, and her first race chasing the ghosts of ultra legends.
“I feel like I shouldn’t be in the same category as Ann Trason,” Flower said after finishing. “She’s a goddess of running.”
Flower thought Trason’s record was somewhere in the low 17s and didn’t realize the actual mark was 18:06:24 until the final miles, when spectators near the Boulevard clued her in.
“So I thought I should probably get it done,” she said.
She had run smart from the start, holding back early while several women surged ahead.
“I was running my own race, especially at the start because there were a few ladies who went out faster than me and I knew I had to keep it controlled,” she added.
That control paid off.
Flower moved into the lead before halfway, climbed into third overall by the top of Hope Pass, and kept a steady push through the back half to finish second overall, and the first woman ever under 18 hours at Leadville.
Roche finds redemption in the mountains
David Roche wasn’t planning to return to Leadville, at least not this year. After a highly publicized buildup to the Western States 100, he dropped out near mile 62 with stomach problems. He only decided to defend his Leadville title after his wife and coach, Megan Roche, convinced him to go for it.
“Megan asked me, ‘Well, how often are you fit? You’re 37 now and you don’t know when your last chance is,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to do it. I’m not ready, am I?’ And Megan said, ‘David, you’re ready.’ And even today, I didn’t think there was any shot at the record. I just think it’s part of the Leadville magic.”
Roche ran aggressively from the start and stuck close to last year’s pace through Winfield. In the second half, though, he pulled away from his 2024 splits, gaining 11 minutes and finishing more than three hours ahead of second-place Justin Grunewald.
“I thought I was going to be an hour behind the record today,” he said. “It just shows that sometimes love goes a long way.”
His finish of 15:12:30 improved on the mark he set in 2024, which had broken Matt Carpenter’s 19-year-old course record. In just two years, Roche has taken more than 30 minutes off what once looked like an untouchable time.
The curious case of Truett Hanes, aka “jeans guy”
While Flower and Roche commanded the top of the field, one runner earned outsized attention from spectators and social media alike, Truett Hanes, better known as “jeans guy.”
Hanes, 26, became something of a cult figure in 2024 for racing ultras in full-length denim jeans, and he returned to Leadville this year with the same look. He ran the entire 100-mile course in jeans, clocking a time of 22:34:39 to place 22nd overall.
While some assumed it was a gimmick, Hanes is a legitimate ultrarunner based in Texas, reportedly logging most of his training on rural roads, often in the same jeans he races in. His performance drew both disbelief and admiration online.
There’s no confirmed quote from Hanes yet, but it’s widely noted among race watchers that he never switched outfits, even after 20-plus hours on the trail.
A course that doesn’t give second chances
Leadville is as much a test of altitude tolerance as it is of endurance.
The course starts and finishes at 10,152 feet (3,094 meters), with runners twice summiting Hope Pass at 12,600 feet (3,840 meters). With roughly 14,400 feet (4,390 meters) of climbing, Leadville’s terrain is unrelenting, and deceptively runnable in between its brutal ascents.
The physical toll has ended the race early for many elites over the years. That’s why the longevity of Trason’s and Carpenter’s records made sense. To run fast here, you have to be willing to suffer late, not just survive.
Flower and Roche didn’t just survive, they attacked. And in doing so, they redefined what’s possible at one of the hardest races in North America.
