The finish line of the Leadville Trail 100 was a damp and somewhat somber scene, as Kirk Apt of Crested Butte, Colorado, was the first to finish just before 1 a.m. Sunday.

Maybe the weather--at times very wet and cold--cooled the enthusiasm as Apt finished the 100-mile high-altitude race in 20 hours, 33 minutes, and five seconds, a full three hours behind the record pace set last year by Juan Herrera.

This year, fewer runners completed the epic race than ever before in its 13-year history, with only 130 of 325 starters coming in under the 30-hour cutoff at noon Sunday.

Also not at the finish line was Herrera, a member of Mexico's Tarahumara tribe, who didn't enter the race that last year drew national media attention and a throng of spectators to this sleepy burg situated 10,000 feet above sea level in the Rocky Mountains.

In contrast, Apt was greeted by only a handful of people at 12:45 a.m. Sunday morning, mostly anxious husbands, wives, and pacesetters waiting through the apparent insanity of it all, hoping their mates would come in under the 30-hour cutoff.

The reason for the rate of attrition and the mellow atmosphere surrounding this famed ultra-endurance test was obvious out on the course. After over a month of dry weather, the rains came Friday night before the race and continued through Saturday morning, chilling the runners, turning the course into a quagmire, and swelling the local rivers to capacity.

The current in Lake Creek, which is just before the 13,000-foot Hope Pass turnaround point, was moving so fast that runners had to cling for their lives to the zip line across the current.

Adding insult to injury, the rain turned to snow atop Hope Pass, forcing many of the already-soaking runners to quicken their pace, which didn't bode well with 50 miles remaining.

Fresno, California's Joe Schlereth, the early leader, fell apart coming back down Hope Pass, leaving David Park of Canyon Country, California, in front. Mark Samuelson of Cool, California, was one minute back in second, and Apt trailed in third place, nearly 12 minutes behind.

Park fell prey to the slick trail as he went down on a rocky section, breaking bones in his hand just after the Twin Lakes Aid Station, 40 miles from the finish. He lost the lead to Samuelson, but would go on to finish sixth overall.

Theresa Duas-Weber of Littleton, Colorado, led the women's race her second time through Lake Creek, with a 30-minute advantage over Linda Lee of Santa Cruz, California. But it was obvious Duas-Weber was in pain, and she was dropped by Lee 20 miles later.

Lee went on to finish fifth overall and first among the women at 22:59:01, while Duas-Weber slid into third place behind Marge Adelman of Denver, Colorado, who took second and 10th overall at 23:44:25.

Meanwhile, Samuelson was overtaken by Apt on the way to the Halfmoon Aid Station at mile 70, with Apt increasing his lead to 10 minutes headed into the last 20 miles.

"The last section I kept getting reports that he was eight minutes back or twenty minutes back," said Apt. "I really had no idea. I'm just looking over my shoulder the whole way, and by that time you're pretty spent, so you're just doing the best you can to keep moving forward."

But if Apt was spent, Samuelson's account was closed, and by the time he got to the finish he was 30 minutes and 30 seconds behind Apt's winning time.

"I'm elated and glad to be done, but I'm hurting," admitted Samuelson. "I tried to catch (Apt), but he was running really well. I was just doing my best and I'm real happy with second."

Randy Wojno, who started slow, began stalking the leaders in the late afternoon and was able to sneak up on Randy Albrecht in the dark of the night to steal third place with a time of 22:17:46.

Gant Enderle is a reporter with the Vail Daily News in Colorado