Keith Whited and I went to Bandera, Texas which is 45 minutes north west of San Antonio. If you like the wide open country and don't mind hills, rocks, cactus, rain, mud and snow flurries after dark this one was for you.
After Keith and my little adventure in February of 2002 I thought it would be appropriate to try and find a course tougher than the one he came up with which was going to the highest point east of the Mississippi. That point by the way was in the middle of a 40 mile run called the Mount Mitchell Challenge. There was basically one hill with ice for ? mile at the top followed by one down hill. Not too bad but it did kick our butts.
In Texas the story was a lot different. There were many more hills and you got to do them twice for a 100K. I had two favorite sections. One was the Three Sisters which was three peaks one right after the other. From the top of the last two peaks you could see an aid station in the valley which would take you 30-45 minutes to get to. The other was Hermit Trace which was the steepest and second longest climb. It was at miles 29 and 60 which put it at the end of each loop. There were many other hills and they all had one thing in common besides the rocks and Soto cactus. (this cactus has long thin leaves and prickly needles to scratch your legs) The one thing was all the trails went straight up the hills with no switchbacks to reduce the grade. Since they were horse trails I guess the Texans figure the horse was doing all the work so why zigzag up a hill.
Here is a description of the course from my perspective: Start and run on a flat section for ? mile then go up a lot noticing the many rocks along the way. Just when you think you are at the top drop down a little and go up a lot more. If you think you just made a wide u-turn and cut back on yourself you did. Finally go down a bit and hit an aid station at mile 5 or so.
Leave the aid station and go up paying attention to your options which could be going straight up a gully or around the clump of cactus the long way. Cactus everywhere over lapping the trail brushing you legs as you ascend a steep section then down a bit through the field as it starts to rain. Then into an aid station at mile 10 where you get soup and put on that extra polypro shirt you put in the drop bag since you are getting a little chilly.
Leave the aid station go down the road a hundred yards then through a field with a lot of rocks on the trail, climbing and climbing then finally down to the aid station at mile 15. The rain lets up a little and on what seems like a flat section you trip over some hidden rock and fall on your face. How can that happen, it is smooth and flat here? Remind yourself if it was really rocky you would not have fallen. Go up and down through the fields hey what is that off to the left. It's the aid station located at mile 10and 20. Question your sanity as you seem to be going away from it and your are. Cross a couple of streams which are wide and deep so you get wet feet. Finally cut back in the other direction and go into the aid station at mile 20.
Leave the aid station, it rains again as you go up a gradual hill then turn right to look straight up to the top of the first peak of Three Sisters. At the second peak you see the aid station in the valley and think you are almost there. Stop a couple of times and soak up the scenery since you know it will be dark the next time you come through here. Finally you get to the aid station at mile 26.
Leave the aid station and say hi to your buddies the cactus again. Lots of ups and downs here but you feel like you are going in the right direction. You can see the dirt road you are headed for in the distance. Just as you get near it what happens, you make a hard left and them cut back adding a mile extra before you get to the road. Once you get to the road it is raining again. The top ? inch is slime and feels like running on ice. Finally you get onto a trail and cut back away from the finish line. This field looks good except the mud is what they make adobe houses out of. It starts to build up on your shoes to the point you feel like you have a couple of pounds extra on each shoe and you are 2-3 inches taller. This is tough running. Finally make a u-turn cross the creek and slog through the adobe mud until you get to the aid station at mile 28, I think.
Leave the aid station. Hey wait a minute what's that noise. Its people talking and laughing at the start/finish line off to your left. You think you are close but you are not. You turn away from it and start a mile climb up a steep hill (Hermits Trace). You start to think this hill is never going to end. When it finally does you go back in the other direction towards the finish only to be slowed to a crawl by the adobe mud again. Pull into the aid station located at the ? way and finish. Grab a few things then run through the food tent where the 25k finishers are celebrating with real food. Grab a burger leave the tent and realize you still haven't crossed the start finish line so they could get your number confirming you did the first 50K. Go back through the tent cross the line then go by the car and get your Gortex jacket and headlamp.
Leave the aid Station, finally, and do everything all over again except with more rain, temps dropping into the 30?s, more mud, snow flurries and darkness. At mile 41 button everything up tight and gobble more soup to heat up your innards. Put more on your head and hands as it is really getting cold. The aid station is talking about how many people either dropped out or stopped at the 50K. Things are tough and people should know what they are doing or the hypothermia will get you. The Gortex is great as my wet clothes under my jacket are dry within the hour even though it was raining. Now I am toasty but not moving very fast. I decide to take it to the finish and get my 100K belt buckle. Who cares about the time? This 100k is like a 100miles.
The RD meets me at the finish line, shows me where a hot shower is and offers a place on the floor at Race headquarters. I shower and sleep on the floor for a while. Then the RD comes by and says my buddy Keith finished but to stay where I am as he is coming to the shower. I congratulate Keith as these conditions and the course are special and anyone that can do a 100K on it is also very special.
We sit around discussing life for a while then head to the hotel and it's no TV, no heat, no daily maid service and one bare light bulb room.
In the morning we had a great breakfast of eggs, taco mix and tortillas provided by the race. Then I drove a 4X4 into the back country with the RD and his wife to help haul out the equipment, trash and left overs from three aid stations.
All in all a great weekend in Texas. Keith said he will never get even after this one.