Love is the Only Thing

“You didn’t find Leadville. Leadville found you.”

That’s how the film opens—crowds, cowbells, and the sound of someone trying again.

Seven weeks earlier, Western States sent David Roche to rock bottom—not for having a bad day, but for the shame that followed a stop at mile 62. He started therapy. He trained without a goal. He relearned the part where running is enough.

He wasn’t planning to race. Megan, his wife and coach, told him he was ready—not because of numbers, but because he’d done the harder work. He lined up in Leadville with one plan:

“Only goal today is to obliterate myself.”

From there, it moves like the course—humor and hurt, bathroom bets, burp strategies, long aid-station hugs. Powerline comes with Megan pacing and the kind of steady presence that keeps you from quitting on yourself.

At May Queen inbound (mile 87), they’re up on record pace. Megan says forget one foot in front of the other, let’s demolish this. And from there to the finish they put more than five minutes into the record and sealed it. New course record: 15:12:30.

At the line, the film lands on what the day meant:

“Love isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”

This isn’t a story about numbers. It’s about someone climbing out of his own head and meeting the sport again where it started—on a mountain, surrounded by people who believe in him, running on nothing but love.