Your Leadville, Colorado Tourism Guide with Adam Ducharme

A Mining Town Reinvented

Adam Ducharme wears many hats: father, runner, endurance athlete, filmmaker, and now the Tourism and Economic Development Director for Lake County, Colorado. From his home base in Leadville—the highest incorporated city in the U.S.—he works to highlight the region’s beauty and resilience while balancing his own love of endurance sports.

Leadville was once a booming mining hub of 40,000 residents. But when mining collapsed in the 1980s, the population shrank to fewer than 3,000. For Adam, the transformation of Leadville into a destination for trail runners, cyclists, and adventure seekers speaks volumes about community grit and the power of reinvention.

Growing Up with “Off-Leash Time”

Adam describes himself as someone who has always needed “off-leash time.” His mom recognized it early on, spending hours throwing a ball for him to chase as a child. That restless energy carried through school and into a professional career in filmmaking and photography.

“I require about an hour to two hours of off-leash time every day,” he said. Running became not just a sport, but a vital practice for managing ADHD and staying grounded. “I think that doing hard things, putting yourself through training and really setting really competitive or seemingly unrealistic endurance goals…really speaks volumes to how focused you can truly be.”

From high school cross country to chasing a Boston Marathon qualifier, Adam found that endurance sports gave him structure, and, eventually, a way to connect his personal passions with his professional life.

Boston and Leadville: Collective History

Adam remembers watching the Boston Marathon while in college in the city. The race’s history and collective energy inspired him to aim for a 3:07 marathon qualifier time. He came close in Sydney with a 3:11, but the experience left him hooked on the sense of reverence and community endurance events can foster.

“For me, the story of Boston is the story of Leadville,” Adam said. “There’s something so authentic and it feels really seminal…you can feel the collective history and reverence for it.”

That same reverence runs through the Leadville 100, which he now lives among daily. “It’s pretty monumental,” Adam explained. “When you tow the line on Sixth and Harrison, you definitely feel that sense of collective energy, experience, history…everyone is there for the same thing.”

Leadville’s Economic Transformation

As Tourism and Economic Development Director, Adam spends his days balancing preservation with growth. Leadville sits surrounded by affluent resort towns like Aspen, Breckenridge, and Vail, yet its character is distinct: no franchises, no chain stores, just entrepreneurs running local businesses on historic Harrison Avenue.

“We basically from the 1980s until COVID were on a slow trajectory of one to three percent growth in tourism each year,” Adam explained. “And then in 2021, we saw a 46% increase.”

With rapid growth comes challenges: affordability, infrastructure, and protecting local culture. Adam views his work as “community development” just as much as economic development, ensuring that Leadville remains authentic while welcoming new visitors.

Racing the Leadville 100

Adam’s love for endurance sports isn’t just professional—it’s personal. He’s lined up at Leadville races himself, including the iconic 100-mile run. Standing at the starting line on Harrison Avenue was surreal.

“Every single person that I was lined up next to was excited to be there and excited to share their understanding of what was about to happen,” he recalled. “There was this sense of pinch me, this sense of just sort of like, this is so cool.”

The camaraderie stood out: “I can’t tell you how many times I was passed or passed someone out there where somebody didn’t say, great job, amazing work.” That encouragement and community spirit are hallmarks of trail running—and why Adam believes these races have such a lasting impact.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How Adam uses running to manage ADHD

• The history of Leadville and the creation of the race series

• Why authenticity is Leadville’s greatest strength

• Essential tips for visiting and training at 10,000 feet

• How endurance sports create “core memory moments”

Endurance, Authenticity, and Community

From his own training to his role shaping tourism, Adam circles back to one theme: authenticity. He sees it in the local businesses of Harrison Avenue, the grit of the Leadville 100, and the resilience of a community reinventing itself.

“Human beings just innately have this ability to tell if something is manufactured or if something is genuine and authentic,” Adam said. Leadville’s secret is that it has always been the latter.

Listen to this one and get stoked on one of the best mountain towns in the United States 👇

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Lessons from Growing My Podcast to 1 Million Downloads with Matt Chittim of Rambling Runner

From Fundraising to Podcasting

Matt’s professional life began in fundraising at Providence College. It was steady, worthwhile work, but he felt disconnected from the mission. At the same time, he was always searching for ways to talk more about sports, a lifelong passion rooted in basketball, football, and eventually running.

Podcasting provided that outlet. Inspired by his early involvement with the Providence College podcast and then a new app called Anchor, Matt launched the Rambling Runner in 2017. He wasn’t a professional athlete, and his neighbors barely knew he ran, but the podcast gave him permission to connect with others in the sport.

Using the Podcast as a Laboratory

The first six months of the Rambling Runner brought just over 6,000 downloads, mostly from friends and family of guests. By most measures, that was a small start. But instead of quitting, Matt treated the podcast as a laboratory.

His goal was to get better at social media marketing. He doubled down on producing content, recording two episodes per week, and engaging directly with listeners on Instagram. This hands-on approach taught him how to build community, refine his messaging, and grow an audience, all skills that proved invaluable as the podcast matured.

Hitting One Million Downloads

By 2018, things shifted. The podcast hit one million downloads in a year, propelled by a mix of persistence, good timing, and generous guests who shared their episodes widely. It was the right content at the right moment: social media was still heavily chronological, making it easier for posts to reach large portions of a guest’s following.

The rapid growth validated Matt’s belief in amateur-focused storytelling and proved that building connections one listener at a time could scale into a thriving community.

The Business of Content

Matt is candid about the economics of coaching and content creation. Coaching alone is hard to scale, often limited by how many athletes a coach can manage. Podcast sponsorships provide additional revenue but can be inconsistent. For creators, the real opportunity lies in combining distribution with ownership—using a platform you control to promote your own services or products.

He experiments with ads for his own coaching, solo episodes on running topics, and collaborations like Relay, a group project with other voices in the running space. These ventures show the power of creators to diversify revenue and strengthen their brands without relying solely on outside sponsors.

Relay and the Creator Economy

Relay began as a Patreon-supported collaboration among nine contributors. The idea was simple: transparency in subscriptions, with each contributor earning directly from the subscriber base. While it eventually shifted to a free podcast model, the experiment taught Matt valuable lessons about paywalls, community retention, and the challenges of monetization in running media.

He notes that Patreon works best in genres where creators can offer closer access (like comedians or musicians) but running media has yet to crack that model fully. Still, projects like Relay demonstrate the appetite for group conversations, diverse voices, and community-driven storytelling.

Lessons in Brand and Personality

Matt emphasizes that successful content is never just about information. It’s about personality, trust, and the emotions tied to the stories we tell. He points to examples from sports and business where individuals personify brands: Michael Jordan with Nike, Courtney Dauwalter with Tailwind, Des Linden with Brooks.

For creators, the takeaway is clear: lean into what makes you unique. Whether that’s humor, relatability, or a distinctive perspective, personality is the differentiator that builds loyalty and drives engagement.

Looking Ahead

Matt’s story is both a case study in persistence and a reminder that side projects can evolve into something much bigger than expected. From fundraising calls to podcast interviews with amateur runners, he’s built a platform that entertains, educates, and inspires. His journey shows that creators don’t need to chase perfection. They just need to keep showing up, telling stories, and building community one conversation at a time.

You’re not going to want to miss this one 👇

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About Jon Levitt and For The Long Run

Jon is a runner, cyclist, and podcast host from Boston, MA, who now lives in Boulder, CO. For The Long Run is aimed at exploring the why behind what keeps runners running long, strong, and motivated.

Follow Jon on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.