Waiting for Tom Garrison to finish his 10th Leadville Trail 100 ultra-marathon is a ginormous silver buckle bearing his name and the legend “1,000 miles.”
“We figured if you can run 1,000 miles, you should get a personalized buckle,” said Kathy Bedell, who handles public relations for the Leadville Trail 100.
Those buckles are equivalent of the Holy Grail, as far as hard-core ultra-marathon runners are concerned. Finishing the Leadville Trail 100, one of the most difficult ultra-marathons in the U.S., is gratifying enough. Ten successful finishes?
Money can’t buy that kind of happiness, says trail runner Dave Strong, who has 13 100-mile buckles — one for every Leadville Trail 100 he completed — plus the 1,000-mile buckle with his name on it, and the satiny black jacket that’s distributed to 11-time finishers.
“Was it worth the pain?” Strong asks rhetorically.
“Yes, very much. It was something I just wanted to do.”
Getting that 10th success can be tricky, though. That “Tom” buckle is waiting for New Mexican Tom Garrison, who didn’t finish the Leadville trail 100 when he last entered two years ago. He didn’t sign up for this year’s event.
“When he comes back, his buckle will be here waiting for him,” Bedell said.
