Maude Farrell on winning the Lead Challenge after months of balancing cycling and ultrarunning

Mountain bike racing is hard. Ultrarunning is hard. So why did Maude Farrell decide to make things extra brutal for herself this season by combining them? Earlier this month, she won the Lead Challenge, a multi-month series comprised of five trail running and mountain bike races at over 10,000 feet. The final week of the series involved racing the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, running the Leadville 10k the next day, and running the Leadville Trail 100 race six days later. 

Maude sat down with Payson less than 36 hours after crossing that long-awaited finish line to talk about why she decided to blend these two punishing disciplines for her 2025 season after going all-in on gravel last year, how she trained for ultramarathons and cycling at the same time, and how those never-ending hundred miles of the Leadville Trail Race unfolded. Tears, a rave on Powerline, a life-giving cup of broth, and a lot of swearing were involved.

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