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Youth reigned supreme at the Life Time Silver Rush 50 Run on Saturday in Leadville.

New Mexico State sophomore Thomas Croshaw burst onto the ultra scene with a dominating half-century debut, covering the Cloud City course, which climbed 7,503 feet through the town’s historic mining district, in 6 hours, 36 minutes, 40 seconds.

“It’s a little surreal,” said Croshaw, whose previous longest run was the Bosque Bigfoot 50K, a four-lap course with almost zero elevation gain.

“I bonked at mile 24 and the last 8 miles were the most horrendous thing I’ve ever run,” he said of that race, which he also won. “And I said, ‘I’m never doing that again.’ And then I signed up for this.”

Prior to the Silver Rush, Croshaw used to estimate his finishing time. He figured he’d return to the Dutch Henry finish line approximately 7 1/2 to 8 hours after the 6 a.m. start, but instead of zeroing in on splits, he decided to focus on keeping his heart rate below 155 beats per minute.

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“And it turns out I was running faster than all my predicted splits,” he said.

After settling into sixth out of the gate, Croshaw moved into fourth at the top of the valley. Cade Michael, a member of The Trail Team, reached the Printer Boy 14.3-mile aid station first, but four miles later, Josh Eberly had taken over. Croshaw felt the fatigue descending out of Stumptown, but a timely ice bandana revived his spirits. As the course seesawed back above the 12,024-foot high point, the New Mexico State runner battled nausea, but finally regained his composure after dropping back below tree line for good. Croshaw passed a fading Michael and caught Eberly at the halfway point. Intimidated by the Western State trail running coach’s pro status, Croshaw initially backed off. When he made his move, however, it was decisive.

“Once I got turned down hill, it was just kind of a crazy feeling. Like, leading a 50-mile race — I’ve never done a 50 — I was just like, let’s see what we can do,” said Croshaw, who only started running competitively as a junior in high school. The 20-year-old said he’s recently drawn inspiration from . After going under 14-minutes in the 5K during his spring track campaign, Croshaw expressed ultra trail desires to his college coach.

“I can’t believe we have him,” he said of the Aggies’ leader, Joseph Rath. “I love being in the mountains and he knew this was something I wanted to do.”

Littleton’s Austin Chirico passed a pair of runners in the final 15 miles to finish second in 7:01:40 as Denver’s Bo Shelby (7:05:31) rounded out the podium. Olympic road marathon trials competitor Anne Flower was fourth overall and first for women in 7:08:32. Avon’s Alister Ratcliff (7:16:14), Vail’s Zeke Smith (8:27:12) and Eagle’s Stefan Brenner were sixth, 21st and 35th, respectively.

The youngsters also ruled the 15-mile event, which traced the 50-mile course for roughly the first 8 miles. Recent University of Wyoming graduate Kylie Simshauser won the women’s title (2:00:53) and 17-year-old Cabell Townsend was second in the men’s race, coming home in a time of 1:57:30 despite missing a turn in the final mile and covering an extra 600 meters or so.

“It was beautiful. It was wonderful,” said Simshauser, who cut almost two minutes off her time from her runner-up finish last year. The uphill-focused Florence-native is prepping for the Pikes Peak Ascent, where she’s hoping for a top-10 finish.

“The harder the race, the better it is,” the 22-year-old said, adding that she tested her bold beliefs in the Leadville Trail Heavy Half earlier this summer. “Mosquito Pass hurt, but it was awesome.”

Townsend, a rising senior from Atlanta, Georgia, also had a good time, even if his GPS read 16 miles by the end.

“It was a blast; it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,” he said. The 9:15 two-miler is spending his summer training in Boulder.

“I want to run in college, so Boulder is the place to be,” Townsend said before adding that he would entertain a return to Leadville for one of the series’ iconic longer races — once he’s a little older.

“I’m going to try and get my 5K down and get that speed while my legs have it in them,” he said. “And then maybe later on when I’m 30 or so, I’ll do the longer runs.”

Croshaw isn’t sure about going up in distance yet either. At this point, he said he’s deciding whether to frame his Leadville 100 qualifier coin from Saturday’s win or use it for an entry into the prestigious race later this summer. Regardless, the ultimate thrill from his Silver Rush 50 experience transcended titles.

“The most exciting thing to me was not that I was up front and winning, but just thinking, ‘Man this is amazing: all the people who come out and just do something crazy hard like this,'” he said. “No matter who they are.”