Last Saturday, Jeff Spencer, a high school teacher from Leadville, Colorado, raced the Leadville 100. Despite some decent results from previous races, including previous Leadville 100 races, Spencer was slated to start dead last. With more than 1,400 racers ahead of him, Spencer had his work cut out for him. For the second year in a row, Spencer was the Leadville Dream Chaser.
Each racer he passed raised money for the Leadville Trail 100 Legacy Foundation. In the past two years, Spencer has raised nearly $300,000 by passing roughly 3,000 racers.
This year he passed nearly 1,400 Leadville racers
“A little over 1,400 people started; maybe like 1,420 people or so,” Spencer told Singletracks, trying to recount the exact numbers. “I finished in 44th place.”
Spencer is a Leadville resident and a math teacher at the local high school. He only got into mountain biking in 2009 when he moved to the city. He was intrigued by the endurance side and quickly started racing, entering his first Leadville 100 in 2012. Even if he didn’t always know or care about the exact race results, we can assure you he’s done pretty well.
But we have the exact numbers. There were 1,433 racers ahead of Spencer when he started the race this year. Including him, that is a field of 1,434 (excluding the pros). Finishing 44th means that he passed 1,390 Leadville racers. While the official dollar figures for the Leadville Trail 100 Legacy Foundation aren’t in yet, Spencer said he raised roughly the same amount as last year: $140,000.
Despite not “racing” against the pros, Spencer’s time bested several in the field. His 6:54:51 time puts him ahead of seven of the elite men. With over 1,500 racers, including the elite fields, the Leadville 100 uses mass starts in waves. And, of course, Spencer was dead last.
“I think they have [the pro men] start around 6 a.m.,” he told us. “The pro women at about 6:15. And then at about — I think it’s 6:25 — they start sending out waves. And so, by about 7 a.m., I finally take off.”
A 100-mile race provides ample opportunities to catch and pass many people. But despite the long distance, 1,400 racers are a lot of people to catch, many of whom started more than 30 minutes ahead of him. But knowing that each person he passes is another chunk of money he is raising makes Spencer push even harder.
As a Leadville local, he also recognizes a few advantages. Beyond the course being in his backyard, living and riding at such a high elevation is normal for Spencer. He often looks to some of the iconic climbs of the Leadville course to really grind hard and put a substantial number of racers behind him.
But with the course change this year, Spencer had to re-evaluate strategies from previous years. He was especially disappointed that the iconic Powerline climb and descent would not be part of the 2026 course.
“It’s a downhill that a lot of folks who come and do this race [can be] pretty anxious about. And then, heading back home, I really appreciate the challenge of having to climb back up it.”
That said, Spencer also mentioned that after conquering the Columbine Climb, he wasn’t as disappointed that Powerline wasn’t in the mix. Regardless, he was just happy to see the race happen at all and, of course, to raise well over $100,000.
The Leadville Trail 100 Legacy Foundation
“11 years ago, they did the first Dream Chaser fundraiser as a part of the Legacy Foundation,” Spencer explained. “His name is Ty Hall, and he did it for about nine years and was ready to pass the torch.”
The torch was passed to the high school teacher for the 2025 race. Last year, nearly 1,800 racers lined up at the start, and Spencer passed more than 1,600 of them.
Spencer explained that Ken Chlouber and Merilee Maupin started the foundation. If those names sound familiar, it is because the two also originally founded the Leadville race in response to the closing of a local mine. Thousands lost their jobs, and the town of Leadville neared economic collapse. Chlouber and Maupin started the epic race to bring people and a new industry back to Leadville.
Then, Lifetime bought the Leadville 100. Still wanting the race to have a direct impact on the Leadville community, Chlouber and Maupin started the Legacy Foundation. Spencer explained that the foundation is the place to go for funding in the Leadville area. As the Nordic ski coach, he said that the Legacy Foundation provided funds to help repair and service ski equipment. They also provided the elementary PE teacher with balance bikes for the school’s programming.
“In terms of what [the Dream Chaser] raises dollars for, it is scholarships for any kid who graduates from Lake County High School,” Spencer told us. The scholarships extend beyond those pursuing a traditional college education. Those looking to the trades — welding, construction, cosmetology — can all benefit from the funds. “As long as they have a plan, they get those dollars raised by the foundation and Dream Chaser effort.”
And many of the recipients are former students of Spencer.
“I feel super blessed to be a part of it. I love biking, I love racing bikes, and I love teaching. For the two big parts of my world to come together like that and have a positive impact on the community, it’s pretty awesome.”
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