I’ve had a hard time thinking about how and what I wanted to communicate on this final blog post. Trying to figure out how summarize the race and everything that happened in a way which accurately embodies how and what I feel about it, the easiest way to start I guess would be an overview from the beginning. (Check out the first post “Origin Story” for a more detailed overview of how it came to be)
A year ago almost to the week, my brother in law Chris had the goal to run a 100k and a 100 miler by the end of the year (2024). At that point I hadn’t ran all but but a handful of times since I was 20 years old. I always have enjoyed running but it was never anything I ever persuade in any fashion. The idea of running a 100k (62 miles) seemed pretty lofty let alone covering 100 miles on foot. The more I looked into what Ultramarathons entailed the more excited and the more realistic I thought it might be to run one too. Ultramarathons consist anything over a marathon but generally are 50k, 50 mile, 100k, or 100 mile distances. With Chris and my friend Kevin actively training for 100 mile races I figured I better at least start running if I wanted to hangout with them. One of the things that quickly became apparent was the amount of time needed to be dedicated to training and with no formal foundation for running I needed to get the ball rolling.
Middle of November of 2023 I started to go out on runs, my initial goal was trying to run an hour a day for a week to see how my body felt after putting it through that stress. Fast forward through learning some hard lessons from pushing to hard, getting hurt, and having to take time off running for the month of Jan. I made it to April ready for the first hurtle of running a 100k. After finishing that race the 100 mile distance not only seemed plausible it seemed realistic that we might be able to just knock it out. After that race Chris and I were looking around for possible 100 mile races to try out, nothing in Oklahoma lined up but there was a point to point 100 mile race through the Ozark Highland Trail in Arkansas called the HareMountain 100 that was looking like something we might be interested in.
After a few weeks we pulled the trigger and registered for the HareMoutain 100. This race was only going to be its second year with only one person completing the race during the first year, we knew it was going to be a challenge. The next 20 weeks were spent similar to the last training block for the 100k race. I would run push to hard, get hurt have to focus on recovery for a month, and then hit the trails again trying to avoid the mistakes I had just made. During this training block we ran more miles, did more strength training, and focused on both day and night runs. Leading up to the race I felt strong and ready, I knew the race was going to be a challenge but we had a solid game plan.
Fast forward to the morning of the race Friday November 1st, we got to the campgrounds where the starting line was for Check-In and a quick race briefing around 6:30am. During this race there would be 12 aid stations with 7 aid stations that crew could be at. After mile 50 we would pick up pacers who would run with us until mile 95 when Chris and I would have the final push up to White Rock Mountain. Our Crew for the race would consist of Hannah,who would pace at mile 61, Amy, all the mothers, Devon who would pace at 84, my cousin Carly who would pace at 67, my cousin Jake who would pace at 50, and the grandparents. Needless to say we had the biggest crew there. At 6:59 they started the count down and at 7am from the Haw Creek Falls camp grounds 16 runners took off into the mountains.
Our plan from the start was to try and take it easy for the first half of the race playing it pretty conservatively. 100 miles even after training was still a pretty intimidating distance. To avoid the mental fatigue from thinking about how big that distance is we focused breaking the course up by aid stations. From the start to the first aid station we had to go 8 miles. These first few miles went pretty quick, most of this section was just trying to find a rhythm. At the start everyone is pretty bunched together with the trails being single track and rocky. Last year the lady who finished wrote about her experience and said how the first part of the race was super rocky but it opened up to be a lot more runnable later on so in our minds we would knock out these sections without worrying too much about pace and then be able to make up time during the parts we could run. The area had been in a drought so the leaves had fallen a lot more than normal for that time of the year. The trail itself made it pretty impossible to get a good pace going without rolling your ankle or having rocks kick up under the leaves. By the time we made it to the first aid station we were in the upper middle of the pack.
Leaving the first aid station we had 9 more miles before we would reach the second aid station. It was at this next one we would see our crew for the first time. The day before Chris and I had gone out scouting a few parts of the trail. We knew right before the aid station there was a pretty significant climb up. This section went fairly smoothly apart from one of Chris’ pole loosing washer discs. By the time we got to the first crewed aid station we were in 6th and 7th place. We ate some food, got our flasks for hydration filled and fuel then headed back out in about 7-10 minutes. Leaving this aid station we started a descent on the other side of the mountain leading west. About a mile or so after leaving I was running in front and stepped on or kicked a log that was in the middle of the trail which instantly awoke a hive of wasps. By the time I realized what it was I had been stung twice and took off trying to get away. I was stung another two times before I got far enough way they left me alone. I was very much so awake after that. The rest of this section to the next aid station was a lot like what we had covered so far very rocky trail on a narrow path cut on the side of the mountain going up and down. Around this point I ended up loosing one of the washer discs on my running poles too. At the third aid station we were told that if we saw a big fat black bear he was friendly and is fed by a local guy who lives in the area. At the aid station got our flasks filled back up and ate a banana and started off on the next leg to see our crew again!
The fourth aid station was around 31 miles into the race and was the first one we had our whole crew there. Seeing everyone was a great break from the miles, we stayed at that aid station for what only felt like 10 min but was probably closer to 15 minutes. The next time we would see our crew would be at mile 45 so we got our running vests restocked with fuel and liquids and we were off. At this point in the race my legs still felt fairly fresh I could feel some soreness starting up the front of my shins but nothing that I was worried about. Before the race my concern was my left leg but throughout the entire race it was surprisingly fine. We left that aid station right on time and at the pace we had planned to try and get a 30 hour finish. After leaving the aid station we quickly caught up to one of the runners who had been ahead of us, he had looked like he was in bad shape leaving the aid station. As we passed him he sounded like he was holding back from puking while he was trying to run on the trail. Probably an hour later the runner comes flying by us saying “Puke and rally boys, puke and rally.” It was sometime around this portion of the race my watch somehow stopped the run activity which meant my gps, distance, and time was not on or tracking. Thankfully I caught it fairly quick within a mile so I was able to still figure out about how far we had gone but I did loose my continuous 100 mile run which was slightly disappointing. When we made it to the next un crewed aid station it was starting to get dark and we were not moving through the trail quiet as quickly as we had thought, the trail itself was at times difficult to see what was trail and what was just the forrest floor. We refueled, ate a banana and were off within 3-5 min take on the 7 mile section to mile 45 where we would see our crew again.
During this portion of the race the sun started to set and we we would be in the darkness soon. This was the first aid station we were off from our projected time, I was really hoping we would have made it to mile 45 by the time it got dark but unfortunately that didn’t pan out. We were cruising fairly well but navigating seemed to be more of a challenge during this section with how far the trail markers were placed and the trail itself being more difficult to see in the dark. By the time we were about half a mile away from the 45 mile aid station we were both pretty ready to be done with that section of the course and to see our people. That is when Chris and I lost the trail for a little, after looking around we found a trail marker on the tree and were back on track so we thought. We started back on course and I saw a wrapper on the ground and picked it up. Chris recognized that it was one of his chew wrappers that had fallen out of his pocket. We realized we had found the trail but we unfortunately were back tracking, so we turned back around heading in the correct direction this time. We made it a little further before getting lost again. Unfortunately we were significantly more lost than last time, we could not figure out where the trail went. Chris and I were both walking in different directions looking at the map on our watches to figure out where the trail connected. As we were looking for the trail markers I remember standing there for a second and just looking around not being able to see anything. Instantly I had a pit in my stomach I wanted to be at this next aid station so bad and at this point my legs were starting to burn, my stomach was starting to feel nauseous and all you could see was the 5 feet in front of you that your headlight would light up. Thankfully we found the trail after what felt like 15 minutes of searching which was really probably only like 5-8 minutes.
It was about 8:30pm when we finally rolled into the Lick Branch aid station at mile 45. At this point I did not feel good and hit the lowest points in the race. For the entire race hydration was perfect and I was staying on top of the fueling and everything was seeming to be working according to the plan. I am not sure if it was the stress from getting lost or just a perfect combination but as soon as I stopped moving I instantly was freezing cold and felt like I was going to throw up. I was sitting in the chair at that aid station and jumped up, moved over to the bushes and threw up everything I had in my stomach. This was the only moment during the race that when I was sitting there I had a moment of doubt about what would happen if I wasn’t able to keep anything down for the remainder of the race. It was still so early in the race, would I be able to actually run another 55 miles while feeling like this. Hannah had gotten me a cup of noodles from the aid station and I tried to drink the broth and eat as many noodles as I could. By the time I was back to functioning and we took off from that aid station we had been there for close to an hour. I knew this next stent was only 5 miles, easy I can do that and we get pacers from that point on. Chris and I got up and took off into the night.
About a mile down the trail after leaving that aid station I realized I wasn’t wearing my glasses. Hannah had taken them when I was throwing up and they had been fogging up all day so everything had been blurry I didn’t think anything of it. Chris and I kept going knowing that we would see them in 4 miles and we made it this far already. This was one of the more smooth sections of trail and we managed to get through it fairly quick. The 50 mile aid station was at the bottom of one of the mountains along the Mulberry River, as we made it down the switch backs and crossed the road to the aid station we could see Chris’ mom Becky and Hannah. Hannah came up to me and asked me if I got my glasses. She started to tell us that when they realized that I didn’t have them Jake and Carly threw on their running gear and started to chase us down the trail to try and catch us. Shortly after that, up the mountain you could hear my Cousins yelling and their two headlamps starting to make their way down the switchbacks. The problem now was that my mom was up at the last aid station with no service waiting for them to come back. At this aid station I was able to change into a new dry base layer my Walaco shorts I was using for a base layer were starting to chafe a little and thankfully after switching those I didn’t have any issues. We spent about 10 to 15 minutes at this Aid Station and we got to pick up our first pacer which was my cousin Jake for 11 miles. Chris, Jake, and I got our gear and fueled up for the largest total elevation accent in the race. The crew made a plan to have one car go back to let my mom know while another car goes to the next aid station but as we were getting ready to take off my mom’s car rolls into the aid station. With all the ducks back in a row we took off on the next section of trail.
Throughout the entire race I never listened to music, I had brought my headphones to use as a moral boost sometime between miles 31 to 50 but it never seemed like it would beneficial in the moment. I think had I ran the race alone then I could see having used them simply to pass the time but even when my mind would wonder or Chris and I weren’t saying anything there was something profound about the suffering he and I were enduring while being disconnected from everything. As we started the second half of the race it was like listening to a podcast. Next adventure will be called trail talk where we interview people while running an utltra lol. Jake and Chris had never met before and this section was a really enjoyable 11 miles that I got to for the most part just listen to a quality conversations about life, fatherhood, discipleship, and some jokes about pirates and the Italian mafia sprinkled in there. It was during this section of the trail that we saw two eyes off into the darkness that would kinda pop up and down. At one point we were able to shine the light and as it ran across from in front of us it looked like some sort of coyote-small-dog-creature. We never did get a great look at it but as we continued to run we then saw a group of about 3 of them all together watching us as we ran past on the ridge. We found out later on that Hannah and my mom did have a coyote stop on one of the mountain roads in front of them while they were driving so we are going with a pack of coyotes. This section took us until about 2 am to get through, it was the last section that I remember actively trying to have to follow the trail markers. After this section it was pretty easy to follow the trail without having to be mindful of looking out for them.
When we got to the next aid station we got some more food, I was able to eat some potato soup that the aid station had and put on a long sleeve base layer that was dry. At this aid station we were still in 6th and 7th with over a 3 hour gap from us and the runner in 1st and over 2 hours from second and third place. We were still moving though and felt overall pretty good. I had caffeine for the first time at the mile 50 aid station and then more at each crewed aid station for the rest of the race. One of the things I was worried about was being tired during the night portion of the race which thankfully was never an issue. Hannah joined us for this next portion of the trail which was a 6 mile hike back up the other side of the mountain. If you ask Hannah she had the most boring part for the pacing sections. It was smooth sailing apart from having to be like big foot and take a deuce in the woods, we just cruised through. During this section of the trail we did find out about how one of the runners who was ahead of us had gotten lost without having a watch with a map or GPS or a phone on him. (spark notes: they don’t find him until evening of the next day after searching all night, and having search rescue out looking for him along with all the 55k and 50 mile runners who started the next morning out yelling for him while they ran the trail he was last seen on. He ended up not making a correct turn at some point and keep going until he ended up at a different state park. Having to have a park ranger drop him off at the finish line. Next year gps has been made mandatory.)
We got to the next aid station at mile 67 around 6:30am and this is where I had a grilled cheese which hit the spot. During the night section it got cold but I was able to keep shorts on the whole time, it was warm unless you stopped running. Once I stopped moving though my body would start shivering. At the aid stations while we were getting refueled I would wear my trusty puffer jacket that is covered in DuckTape to keep all the fluff in. Up to this point it had the weather had been great, slightly cooler with some slight mist but never raining. Carly stepped in next for the long haul. This next section was 7 miles with a big climb up to the top of Hare Mountain and then back down to an un-crewed aid station and then from there it was another 10 miles to the last crewed aid station we would pick up a pacer at.
The three of us took off and started our climb up Hare Mountain. As we made our way up you could feel the temperature change as we climbed higher. The mist started getting heavier as we made our way into the clouds that surrounded the mountain top. It was on this climb we got our first really good rain which lasted until we were starting to make our way down the other side of the peak. It continued to rain on and off for the remainder of Carly pacing us. The rocks became very slippery and at this point the tendon from front of my shins down to the top of my foot was screaming at me with every downward step. By the time we were making our way down to the aid station the sun was up, we were moving as fast as we could in a safe manner. We had hit a plateau and the trail over Hare Mountain was pretty technical, the whole OHT was brutal on the ankles and fairly technical overall. Close to the end of the first section we were able to pick up the pace and have some room to run a little bit more which surprisingly hurt less than the shuffle run-power hike that I had been doing. We made it to the un-crewed aid station around 10am got some food, topped off our hydration and took off for the last 10 miles before we would see the full crew.
The first part of the next 10 miles went by quickly but the last 3 to 4 miles was the second to worst part of the trail for me. By the time we made it to the back half of this section my mind was ready to be done, my body was ready to be done. Every time I stopped moving the muscles and tendons on the top of my foot up to the top of my shins were on fire. Every step I would feel a burning pain that would shoot up my leg, I couldn’t stop moving. I knew as soon as we got to the aid station I would be able to sit down, get fluids, some food, and tiger balm all my legs and it would be fine. As we made it closer to 10 miles I would go around a turn or get a glimpse of what I thought was the aid station on top of a hill. It was probably 3 or 4 times I thought we were about to be at the aid station but it was a all a ruse. Eventually we did make it to the aid station around 1pm which is where we picked up Devon who would be our last pacer and would bring us to mile 95.
Leaving the aid station we would have a few climbs and then a big decline to the final aid station. As we started out we got into our rhythm and were going down the first part which is where Chris fell backwards and landed on the bladder in his running vest which busted open and leaked most of his water out. Thankfully throughout the OHT the trail maintenance had left jugs of water for any hikers to use at different sections which we were able to find at the top of the climb a mile or so down this section of the trail. As we started to descend on the other side the rain really started to pick up and the rocks became even more slippery. With about four or five miles left Chris and I were discussing how we thought the cut off time for this next aid station was 5:30pm which means we needed to hustle if we were going to make it. We ended up deciding that we had to push hard to make sure we made the cut off. We were not about to be told we couldn’t finish after having already made it 90 miles. During this part one of my pole straps snapped off which made the inclines even more difficult and I had drank all the fluids I was carrying. Despite everything as we were about half a mile out from the aid station we ended up passing the lady who ran the race last year. She had been ahead of us for a majority of the race but was moving significantly slower at this point, we rolled into the aid station right around 5pm and she came through right after us. By the end of the 11 miles Chris and I knew the race was on if we wanted to stay in 4th and 5th place. We got our fluids refilled and some fuel then took off, we were there for about 5-8 minutes. As we left and got back on the trail we could hear the sounds of cheering as the lady who we had passed was leaving that aid station too.
This final 5 mile section felt like it was one of the more grueling steep, and technical parts of the trail we pushed harder than we had at any point in the race. As we got to the base of a mountain we ran along it for about two miles going back and forth across a river a few times until we got to the final 3ish miles which was up about 1900 feet in elevation. Most of the rivers we crossed during the race were completely dried up until this one, it was partially dry but we had to navigate stepping on and walking across bigger boulders that were slippery from the rain to avoid stepping in the water. As we started the climb I felt every step forward with shooting pains going up my legs. The entire race the phrase that would become my mantra of sorts that I would repeat to myself was “This too shall pass” which between that, cussing at rocks, and yelling as loud as I could seemed to distract from the pain enough. Chris and I found ourselves almost to the top of White Rock Mountain where the finish was at. I remember this part of the race felt like it would never end and then as we were making our way up a hill we saw the lights! As we came up and around we could see the finish, there was a guy right ahead of Chris, I yelled at him to “send it” and Chris took off seemingly disappearing into the darkness between us and the lights at the finish. Chris ended up chasing that runner down and tied for Third place overall, I came up right behind them and with one final yell I ran as fast as I could to the table at the end of the lights. It was over, we had finished the race. After 35+ hours of running, covering 20-24k feet elevation gain, and running over 103 miles we accomplished the task. In the end we were 3 hours off from first and only 20 minutes off from second place, we stuck to the plan and executed.
This wasn’t the original 100 mile race we had first thought and planned on running but it was the race we unknowingly needed. Overall I would give my first 100 mile ultramarathon experience a 10/10. I would have never been able to cover that distance at the speed we did without the crew that we had. For none of our crew having actually crewed a 100 mile race before let alone a point to point 100 mile race they were topnotch. To all the family that came out to support and help us, operating on little to no sleep, navigating from one aid station to the next, being willing to jump in at any point to grab something or help out in whatever way was needed. You all were the real MVPS that day and couldn’t have asked for a better crew to have been able to share this adventure with. Thank you; Hannah, the mothers (Kerie, Leslie, & Becky), Carly, Jake, Amy, Devon, Po, and Papa + kids.
This trail was way more technical then we had thought with large rocks that were covered in leaves and would roll out from under your foot which lasted from the start to the finish. The race consisted of continuous rolling ascents and descents, with significant climbs just for kicks and giggles thrown in. For most of the climbing portions of trail you were running along a cut out in the side of the hill which was probably around 1 to 3 feet wide and generally never completely flat so you’re always placing your feet down on an angle. My ankles after finishing were so swollen they didn’t go back down to normal until 8 days later. One of the cool things about running as far as we did though was that throughout the race you could see the difference in the plants and trees, different mountain sections had almost their own completely unique micro environment. At one point after leaving the un-crewed aid station at mile 74 it felt like it was “almost” tropical, probably the rain and lack of sleep honestly. It was truly an incredible experience and unreal race to be able to have gotten the buckle for our first 100 mile ultra and so much more could be said I’m sure I will be buffering those 103 miles in my mind for a while. As for whats next I hope to make it through this holiday season, get caught up on everything that I’ve pushed off during training. Since picking up running and training for this race within a year I haven’t really had any time to just enjoy running so this next year my goal is to just create rhythms within the week where I can run and just enjoy the movement.
Until the next adventure,
-T
Q&A
How are your legs feeling?
Legs overall have recovered well. Yesterday was the first day I went for a run. I ended up running 2 miles but it felt pretty good. I had general soreness for a couple days but other than that my legs felt great. My ankles were what really took the brunt of the impact, the tendon/muscle that runs from the top of your foot up your shin and allows your ankle to hinge is no longer painful but still gives me some zings if I move it at the right spot sometimes.
What shoes did you wear?
I brought two pairs for the race and ended up sticking with my Speedlands the entire race.
How did you know what to eat or what nutrition to add to your water?
For fueling my game plan was to consume around 60-90 grams of carbs an hour, which I split up between gels, and solid food, as well as liquid carbs from tailwind. During the race I just had to keep in mind how much I had consumed roughly per hour and at each aid station I was able to refill what I needed for the next section based off of how fast we were moving and the distance we had to cover.
Who and what kept your positive thinking and will power to finish as strong as you did?
I never really had any “dark” periods apart from when I was throwing up in the race that I had to wrestle with negative thoughts, but when we knew we were coming up to an aid station that we would see our crew at it would always be a good lift to the spirits and give us a little bump to our step. As far as will power in finishing strong I think it was resting in our race day game plan and leveraging all the training we had done leading up to the race so when it came to the fatigue of running our bodies could handle the stress even at the end that allowed us to execute it well.
Would you do it again, or was this just a wild Hare?
I would absolutely do another 100 miler again but I would probably try to find one which would be more runnable for at least some sections of the race.
If you had to pick another 100 miler and run in the next year which race would you pick?
I’m not entirely sure maybe one back home in the PNW, a lot of the bigger races have lotteries and you can end up waiting years to get in.
How did you take care of your feet?
For feet care I actually didn’t end up doing too much throughout the race which is probably why I ended up with some blisters on both feet. At the start I tapped my toes individually with KT tape and then swapped my socks at two different points during the race.
So proud of you guys and so happy I was able to be part of the adventure!! Also glad I didn’t find out about the falls, rolled ankles and wild animals until you all were safely back!!