Three years after falling short at the Leadville Trail 100 Run, Lt. Toby Vicknair of the Boerne Fire Department returned to Colorado with the goal of finishing what he started.
His first attempt in August 2023 was derailed by knee problems and altitude sickness, which set in between miles 32 and 40, resulting in an afternoon of nausea and discomfort and ultimately a failure to reach the finish line. But it also sparked an undaunted desire to return to the race.
“I was taught that if you don’t succeed at what you are trying to do, go back, get better and try again,” Vicknair said in an email to MySA.
On August 22, 2026, the firefighter did just that, returning more than 10,000-miles above sea level to the 100-mile trail race after years of training and more than 1,200 training miles behind him.
By mile 62, he was sick, exhausted and covered in mud. Vicknair had thrown up four times and fallen six other times during the previous 20 miles. About two miles from an aid station where his crew was waiting, he tried to jump across a roughly two-foot-wide creek, but his foot slipped.
“I was just feeling sick and tired, tired of running,” he wrote. “I sat there for a second, looked at the mud and thought I can just jog into the aid station and call it a day. Then I got this feeling like – no, no you can’t – that would be giving up. This is the moment you have been looking for to see if you have the guts to really do this. I said, ‘Lord, Please help me to finish this, make the nausea go away and let me get this done.'”
Vicknair got up and started running again, reaching his support crew just two miles away. They helped him get set up with snacks and fuel, change his clothes and cool down. Then his son and daughter helped him pace for the next stretch of the race.
His children would take turns pacing him, helping him navigate and endure the rest of the race. Vicknair said four things ultimately helped him finish the race this time around: his faith; his coach, Ryan Miller of Maverick Running; his children’s help; and the support of his wife, family and friends.
“Yes, it was me that ran it, but it took more than me to get it done. It took all the friends that I have been running with over the last 10 years.”