Our Mission is to increase women’s participation and opportunity in trail running and hiking through inspiration, education and empowerment.
Join us Friday, August 16th from 11:30AM-12:00PM MT at the Leadville Trail 100 Expo in Downtown Leadville for the Ladies of Leadville Panel Q&A, hosted by Gina Lucrezi of Trail Sisters.
The Ladies of Leadville was created in 2019 to bring more awareness and celebration to all of the women running in the Leadville Trail 100. The panel event features a diverse set of athletes highlighting their journey, background, and why running Leadville is meaningful to them.
We believe sharing stories helps to inspire others, while bridging the gap in relatability and what is possible and achievable.
2024 marks the 4th edition of the Ladies of Leadville and features: Becki Lynn Bauer, Nicole Bitter, Tia Bodington, Gayle Hoffmeister, Junko Kazukawa, and Amanda Kimiko.
Join us in person on Friday 16th at 11:30am at the Leadville Trail 100 Expo!
Gayle is a lifelong distance runner, having run her first marathon at age 12 and continuing her passion today as she nears her seventh year as a streak runner, having run at least a mile every day for the last 7 years.
An army veteran and consummate adventure seeker, Gayle is always chasing the next challenge. She’s completed marathons, Ironman’s, and adventure races around the world, summited Denali and Kilimanjaro, climbed in the Andes, circumnavigated Mt Rainier, traversed the Grand Canyon from rim to rim to rim and raced fat bikes in the Arctic. All of which has been training for her current passion for ultra running.
After winning her first 100-mile race, the Tesla 100, she’s set her sights on Leadville and is excited to share this new and epic journey with her trail sisters. When she’s not running trails, she finds time to visit with her spouse, Marc, and their Jack Russell, Koda, at their home in Littleton, CO.
Tia ran her first ultra, the Miwok 100K, in 2000, and has been the Miwok RD since 2004. She was the Managing Editor of UltraRunning magazine from 2007-2014, and has served on the Western States 100 Board of Directors since 2012. In 2023 Tia joined the Board of Runners for Public Lands to continue work on enhancing sustainability, diversity, and community in the trail running niche.
Tia won the Heartland 100 in 2004, placed 8th at the Leadville Trail 100 in 2005, 11th at the Marathon des Sables in 2010, raced Ironman Canada in 2012, and was the oldest female finisher at the UTMB’s CCC100K in 2016.
Junko Kazukawa is an ultra runner, ultra running coach ( Boundless ), and a personal trainer and strength trainer ( Junko Mountain Training ). She is a 2x cancer survivor, and a Leadville Trail 100 9x finisher, making 2024 her 10th running! She is hungry for that 1000 miles buckle! Junko is also a 2x Leadville Challenge finisher, making 2024 her 3rd finish.
Junko has 23 one hundred mile finishes, including: UTMB, Mt Fuji, Ultra Fiord, she has also finished the Tor Des Geant 200 miler, and has completed the Grand Slam of ultra running in 2015 (Old Dominion 100, Western States Endurance Run, Vermont 100, Leadville Trail 100, and Wasatch Front 100).
Nicole Bitter has been a member of the Altra team since 2015. It was also in 2015 when she ran the fastest North American time in the 100 mile on a trail. Nicole is a two-time USATF (USA Track & Field) winner at the 100-mile distance and two-time USATF trail runner of the year.
She has been in the top ten at Western States three times and most recently won the Javelina Jundred in 2020 and was second at Bandera in 2023. Professionally, Nicole is an attorney and leads a team related to compliance at WTW. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, Zach and their pup, Stella.
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