The cool cloudy weather with trace rain expected made prospects for a fast time at Bighorn100 promising this year. I was excited about this race.
On Thursday before the race, I got my bib and dropped off my three soft sided drop bags and then headed with my family to Ole's for a nice dinner of spaghetti.
At 8am on race day--Friday, I gathered with my running friends for the day at Scott Park in Dayton for the race briefing and then was shuttled off to the start where I waited for an hour by the Tongue River.
It was a cool start with temps in the 60s with cloudy skies.
Miles 0-30
At 10am, the national anthem was played and we were off. Running at a 9:30 min/mile pace for the first mile was easy on the flat gravel road. Upon entering the Tongue River Trailhead single track, the trail gradually climbed up to Lower Sheep Aid Station at 3.5 miles where I refilled water and had a gel. The trail then headed steeper up to Upper Sheep Aid Station, and I was hiking at a comfortable pace in the cool weather. At Upper Sheep Aid Station, I took another gel, and a few items at the aid station, filled water, and took off, alternating running and hiking the gradual ascent to 8000' before running down at a 8 min/mile pace down to DryFork aid station. At DryFork, it had only taken me 3 hours 5 minutes to reach that point, a full 7 minutes faster than last year. After 7 minutes at the aid station, I proceeded down the trail, running at a good clip. The rolling hills between DryFork and Footbridge were nice allowing alternating running and hiking. Stopping briefly at Cow Camp aid, Stock Tank water supply, and Bear Camp aid for food and water, I felt great. Descending the 3.5 miles down the wall to Footbridge was slow going due to the steep narrow single track with many rocks and turns. Yet, I checked my watch at Footbridge and only 6 hours 48 minutes had gone by for the 30 miles of this tough course, a full 12 minutes faster than last year. I took 12 minutes to refuel and grabbed a light running long-sleeve shirt, running jacket and rain jacket as a little rain was expected.
Miles 30-48
Upon leaving Footbridge, drizzle turned into light rain. The 3 miles of single track to Cathedral Rock was muddier than I had remembered and had more hills than I had remembered. I hiked as much as I rain. At Cathedral Rock aid, a volunteer mentioned that the trail is going to get really muddy, but saw my Altra Lone Peak shoes and mentioned that they have great traction. I agreed and said, "they have never let me down."
With the rain, the muddy sections were muddier, causing me to slide sideways and frontward and backward. Even the normally dry single track was becoming slippery and non-negotiable. We had to navigate around the majority of the muddy trail in order to make any safe progress, meaning hiking on the grass next to the trail or navigating between the bushes by the trail. At this point flexibility and balance attributes were as important as strength and fitness. I gagged, vomited and stopped to catch my breath.
Spring March aid at mile 40 was a welcome site, and I was happy to see vegan soup and other delicious foods. Other runners were also mentioning that the front runners had not come through yet, and that we normally saw them by this point. The front runners crossed my path just after leaving Spring March (their mile 55), muttering about the terrible muddy trail conditions. I felt a little better now, knowing that the conditions were even tough on the fastest runners. The rain was heavier and heavier.
The muddy trail was getting worse and worse, with my Lone Peaks feeling like road shoes. I would slip one way, and then slip another way altogether. I would see a runner in front of me slipping and sliding in a dancing-like fashion, as if walking on an ice rink. At times it was almost comical; at other times, it was downright discouraging.
How would I ever finish this run, as I could not even hike fast? At Elk Camp at mile 43.5, the word from volunteers was that the next 2 miles were steep and terribly muddy. How could things get any worse though? The only tactic was to find the least muddy section of trail (usually on one side or other of the mud field.) I grabbed onto bushes and trees to keep my balance as my legs plunged into the mud pits. At one point, both of the legs were stuck in the mud up to my knees, my flashlight was covered with mud, and my hands were covered with mud. Finally I reached Jaws at mile 48, the turnaround point at 14 hours 14 minutes. It had taken me over 7 hours to negotiate 18 miles up the little Bighorn River Drainage arriving at 9000 ft. elevation. Upon reaching the aid station, I found my drop bag, and sat down on a chair. I munched on a quesadilla, drank some broth and shivered. A nice volunteer offered me a blanket which I readily took and warmed up before changing into a dry shirt, jacket, hat, fleece face mask and gloves. My headlamp was not working well so I ditched it, only having my flashlight now. I didn't seriously consider dropping at this point because I had dry clothes now, and I thought maybe the downhill would be easier in the mud.
Miles 48-66
After 40 minutes at Jaws aid, I trudged on. The rain showers continued and the muddy trail was actually worse on the way down as there had been more foot traffic since I came up. I passed quite a few runners on the way down. I encouraged them as much as I could while trying not to fall in the mud myself. At times I tried to tell other runners where the least muddy path was. I slipped, fell, and seemingly danced in the mud at times as I struggled to keep my balance. The muddy trails continued through Elk Camp, Spring Marsh, and Cathedral Rock down to Footbridge at mile 66. At Footbridge, it had taken me 21 hours and 21 minutes. The volunteer there said I didn't look so good. She rephrased that saying I didn't look terrible, but I looked a little pale. I quickly said that I just need to eat some food. After eating grapes, cheezits, potatoes, and M&Ms, I saw that I had spent 29 minutes there and had to get going. I was now 2 hours 10 minutes ahead of the cutoff times. I would be chasing the cutoff times all of the way, if I continued. The rain had stopped though.
Miles 66-83
The trail going up the Wall was really muddy, but it slowed me to a decent pace so that the ascent didn't seem bad at all compared to last year. I only had to stop a couple times to catch my breath. At Bear Camp aid, I sat down, ate a gel and other food before taking off for Stock Tank. The trail continued quite muddy all of the way to Stock Tank before drying up a bit going towards Cow Camp. By this time, I was getting really sleepy and hiked relatively slowly. I rain the downhills as much as I could but the ascent up to DryFork was excessively slow as I apparently hadn't fueled enough and was bonking. At DryFork, I had been on my feet for 28 hours 8 minutes and after an 11 minute aid stope, I was only 41 minutes ahead of the cutoff. This was going to be close. I didn't consider dropping though because I wasn't really that sore, and I figured I could run most of the downhills.
Miles 83-100
The climb up to 8000' was tough and I hiked slowly up and power-hiked down to Upper Sheep aid station. At Upper Sheep aid station I was 40 minutes ahead of the cutoff, and quickly took a gel. After vomiting what I just ingested, I ate potatoes instead and I felt so much better. Now I had enough energy to actually hike fast up the Haul and then run most of the way down to Lower Sheep aid. At Lower Sheep I was feeling quite well, and proceeded on. I was a little surprised at the rolling fashion of the trail to Tongue River TrailHead, as I expected it to be mostly downhill and longer than I had remembered. I reached the aid station mile 95 at 32 hours 11 minutes, and with a 4 minute stop, was only 15 minutes ahead of the cutoff. The volunteers there looked as tired as I was but were so very helpful with having fresh fruit and other food, and providing directions towards the finish. The last 5 miles would mostly entail power hiking at 15-16 min/mile pace. At mile 96, I texted my family letting them know I would be there soon. At mile 98, a happy boy brought me and others a popsicle. At mile 99, two excited girls did a cheer for each runner coming by, and I tipped my hat to them.
At mile 99.5, I saw the bridge and road and started to run. I went back to hiking a few times though as I was tired. As I reached to park and everyone was cheering, I couldn't help it and dashed ahead and sprinted the last stretch to the finish. After 33 hours 38 minutes, I had finished the 2017 Bighorn 100! Of my seven 100 mile finishes, this was my slowest, being just 22 minutes ahead of the final cutoff. Yet, I will probably value this finish the most of all--because I worked the hardest for it, physically, mentally, and emotionally. 328 runners checked into DryFork at mile 13, and only 175 runners finished which means nearly one-half of the starters DNF. This years average finish time was 2 hours slower than 2016. I heard opinions on the trail that this year's Bighorn had the worst mud in its history. It was certainly worse than the mud at Zion100 in 2016 when they closed it down early. It will be a trail run to remember for years to come.
During each tough 100 miles, I seem to doubt whether I will ever run another 100 mile race. At the end when I finish though, I contemplate the day and decide to hold off on making any judgment about that until another day, because somehow, the job got done. Maybe it was the helpful volunteers, the friendly runners on the course, the encouragement from family and friends, or my determination.
Finally, I usually like to discuss what went well and what things I could have done better.
What went well:
1. The build-up of races in the Spring with Badger100 in March (11 minutes slower than my 100 miler PR), Tillamook Burn50k in April (18 minute 50K PR), and Mountains2Beach Marathon in May (21 minute Marathon PR and BQ with 3:09 finish time). I felt rested enough for Bighorn and race fatigue was not a significant factor.
2. The hill training was adequate and the hills seemed easier than in 2016 despite the mud, maybe because of the slower pace
3. The heat training in the month before the race probably helped my VO2max enough to make the altitude not seem so pronounced as I didn't get any altitude training in, other than 2 ski days in February at Mt Hood Meadows
4. The even effort pace during this race helped me to keep my pace up during the second half of the race.
5. My drop bags had enough dry warm clothes
6. My negotiation of the mud was good, as I was familiar with the course.
What I could have done better:
1. The biggest factor in not achieving my time potential of 100s continues to be calorie intake. Looking at top ultra runners, Scott Jurek commonly took in 300 calories an hour, while Jim Walmsley takes in nearly 500 calories an hour. I read that people can only take in 200-250 calories an hour without GI upset tough, so maybe top ultra runners have especially accommodating GI tracts. I have mostly been doing low-calorie intake trail runs focusing on fat-burning.Yet it appears that I would have done better had I trained some times with high calorie intake to fine tune exactly how much I could ingest safely so I could run fast for the duration of the run. GU gels with water work well for me so I should use those more on training runs.
2. I was down to one light source at times, and had no back up in the early morning, so I should have thought this through more. Thankfully, my last light never went out although it dimmed some.
3. I should have used some sunscreen the second day when it got sunny, as the reflection off of the white rocks caused a mild sunburn.
4. I should not have taken in the gel with caffeine in it the second morning, as it made me very sleepy after I took it. I just don't take caffeine well, and almost always avoid it. You know what they say, "never experiment with something on race day."