At 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, the cowboy town of Leadville was shivering. 

Early morning thunderstorms brought a nasty mixture of rain and hail that fell like sharp shards of steel the size of golf balls. The temperatures were dismally cold, the mountains brushed with snow, the skies smothered with gray clouds and runners of the Leadville 100-mile Trail Run were only halfway through their masochistic competition taking place at an elevation of more than 10,000 feet.

In the Golden Burro Cafe on Main Street, waitresses were quietly fretting about how the runners were doing.

"I haven't heard thunder this bad in years, I nearly jumped out of bed it was so loud," one of them said.

"I just can't believe they would run in these conditions. This is just crazy," another one said.

The word "crazy," however, doesn't sum up exactly how absurd, insane and ungodly difficult this race really is.

Let's break it down quickly: Many people spend their lives training for a marathon, which is slightly more than 26 miles. OK, now imagine stacking roughly four marathons next to each other, running the race 10,000 feet above sea level - an altitude that makes a fit athlete feel like a smoker - and then factoring in diabolic weather that one would normally experience in December. Agony, madness and consternation are just a few words that can be applied to what these freakishly talented, stubborn athletes are doing.

This, in short, is the Leadville 100 - a race that Aspen's Zeke Tiernan, 32, decided to enter with only the goal of finishing in under 24 hours.

But when Tiernan - a former CU Boulder All-American cross-country and track runner - crossed the line on Saturday night, finishing in third place with a time of 18 hours and 37 minutes, he proved that there is a new and rising ultra-marathon running star in Aspen.

Viva Zeke

Clad in bright pink and green shirts emblazoned with the words "Viva Zeke" was a team of nearly a dozen Roaring Fork Valley locals that made the trek to Leadville to support Tiernan. Their job was not just to cheer on Tiernan, but also to meet him at a series of aid stations in order to provide him with water, food, medicine and extra clothes and shoes to change into.

It was nearing dusk on Saturday night when we first ran into the Viva Zeke crew. There was roughly 30 miles left in the race, and the crew had been up since 4 a.m., which is when the race actually began.

Molly Kridel, 32, who is Tiernan's girlfriend and a proud Viva Zeke team member, waited patiently for Tiernan to arrive at the aid station.

"It can be heart wrenching at times," she said. "They (the runners) disappear for like two hours and you can only have faith that they will make it out OK, which can be hard when there is lightning flashing in the sky and hail falling on the trail."

Thankfully, Tiernan did appear minutes later, striding confidently in second place. His arrival was preceded by a series of shouts from members of his team that ran up the trail to meet him. "The green Asics," someone yelled. "He wants the green Asics." The message was carried down the assembly line, ending with Kridel, who dug madly through a bag to find the dry pair of shoes for Tiernan.

When Tiernan finally pulled into the aid station and sat down, he was swarmed by the team: "Water? Food? Turkey? Socks? Glasses? Are you dry? Cold? What can we get you?" Tiernan rested for maybe one minute, then stood back up, and began running down the trail. The sun is beginning to set, the temperatures dropping.

He has already run 70 miles.

Finding the Finish

By 10 p.m., 100 of the 450 runners that started the race had already dropped out. The weather was just too cold, the conditions too poor.

After clearing another aid station, news was radioed back to Leadville, confirming that Tiernan had dropped one spot and is sitting comfortably in third place.

At this point, The Viva Zeke team has done all they can do, and now huddle around the finish line with headlamps, waiting for Tiernan to appear. A dreary rain drizzled down over the town. The snow continued to fall over the peaks. It had been a long day.

In the distance, a bobbing headlamp appeared on the road followed by two cop cars. Unfortunately it wasn't Tiernan, but the first place finisher, Duncan Callaghan, 25, of Gunnison, who had been leading the race for nearly eight straight hours.

He crossed the line with a time of 18 hours and 2 minutes, falling immediately into the arms of his wife, tears falling down his face. Callaghan could barely walk, his body supported by two friends.

"I feel completely numb," he said, "but I think that is a good thing."

Callaghan was then led back into a medical station where he was immediately covered with blankets and observed by a nurse - a standard procedure for all racers.

"I was dying around mile 80," he continued. "I just couldn't keep any food down. But with about 13 miles left, I knew this was my race."

When asked why he chose to put himself through such torment, he simply answered: "I've had this goal for a while now, and wanted to complete it. It is also about the lifestyle - about being healthy and fit."

In the meantime, the second place runner, Andrew Skurka, of Boulder, came across the line, cementing the fact that Tiernan would indeed drop one spot and would finish in third place.

Team Viva Zeke continued to pace anxiously around the finish area, the rain transforming itself into unforgiving pellets of hail. Other spectators scattered for cover. But Kridel and Tiernan's friends and family refuse to budge - they have been waiting all day for this.

Finally, a faint light appeared half a mile away. It is Tiernan, and he was still running strong, hail or no hail.

Viva Zeke explodes. He crosses the line in 18 hours and 37 minutes. Though thoroughly fatigued, Tiernan looks surprisingly good. He can still walk, hold his back straight and speak lucidly.

Like the other finishers, he is led to the medical station, stripped of his wet clothes and warmed with thick blankets.

"For me, it is more mental than physical," said Tiernan. "Everything in your mind is telling you to stop - stop all the pain. It is a matter of letting that idea go."

To mitigate the pain, Tiernan was forced to switch his focus.

"I tried to think about my rhythm," he said. "There were other times where I just tried to enjoy where I was by taking in the scenery."

In terms of the foul weather, Tiernan claimed that it was a major factor in his race.

"I was angry about it for the first 50 miles of the race. This was the worst day of the summer," he continued. "But after that, I just adjusted to it. You generate a lot of heat by running, so I wasn't struggling with being cold."

Though Tiernan is not exactly sure whether or not he will ever compete in the Leadville 100 again, he is certainly pleased with what he has accomplished.

"Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by this race," he said. "I remember when Aspenite Skip Hamilton won the race a few years in a row, and something in me really wanted to give it a shot."

Not bad for a first effort.

bastian@aspendailynews.com