Beaverhead 100K started at 5:00 am on Bannock Pass on the border between Idaho and Montana. I was thinking that I wouldn’t need a headlight to start the race because 5:00 am was pretty light back in Corvallis. But as 5:00 am approached it became clear that I would need a light. Fortunately, we brought a few lights for the race, so Dad gave me a handheld light just before I took off.
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| The start Photo: Jacob Miller |
We counted down the last ten seconds, then took off up the road. Less than a quarter mile up the road we turned off onto the trail and headed into the sagebrush. I was first onto the trail with a few other runners close behind, but it didn’t take us too long to start to spread out. There were a few places in the dark early miles where I had to look twice to see which way to go as the trail was a little rough and overgrown in spots. However, that was a small price to pay for the views you get at the front of the line. Before the first aid station I saw a deer and two pairs of elk.
Around 30 or 40 minutes into the race, we had all started to spread out a little bit more. There was one runner maybe 30 seconds behind me and maybe a few other about that far back from him, but it was a little hard to tell. It was still a bit dark and the trail didn’t make too many turns where I could look back.
I ran through the first aid station because it was only 4.5 miles in, and I started with a liter of water. By the first aid station I had turned out my light but was surprised that I had needed to light for the first 30 minutes.
We climbed a little more after the first aid station, then began descending down to a big open meadow. I think this meadow was the prettiest part of the course. We traversed across the meadow then began ascending some switchback on the other side. Just before we started climbing, Jakub Galczynski was maybe 30 seconds behind me, but it seemed like I was pulling away as we ascended. I looked back across the meadow but couldn’t see anyone else coming. I lost sight of Jakub as we entered some trees and I didn’t see him when the trail opened up into another meadow. I knew that I was gaining a little ground going uphill but didn’t want to be giving it back on the downhill, so I was glad no to see him as we started the next climb.
After following a trail for the entire race, the course turned onto an ATV track. The ATV track made a steep ascent along the ridge before it levelled off and rolled into the second aid station. Here I refilled my bottles then headed out. I looked back as I left the aid station to see if anyone was coming but no one was in sight. I figured I could see about a minute back and that it would probably take a minute to fill up at the aid station giving me at least a 1-2 minute lead.
The next few miles were on fairly smooth ATV track. Most of the time I was focused on giving a solid effort without pushing too hard early on. There were a couple hills where I hiked for 20 or 30 seconds, but mainly I was able to keep running along at a pretty steady effort. This section was mostly small climbs and descents which made it easy to keep a relatively constant effort. There were also two short patches of rock-hard snow here.
I ran through aid station 3 and without stopping to fill my bottles. Like aid station 1, I had planned to skip it because I thought I’d have plenty of water. Seeing no need to change my plan, I kept running down the ATV track.
On the descent down to aid station 4 there were a few rough sections of ATV track, but also some smooth sections. At bottom of the hill, the race turned off onto some overgrown single-track. We climbed around a hillside, descended down a brushy trail then continued on. We climbed around another hillside then headed into an open meadow where the trail was little more than an elk track. After traversing the meadow, the course turned onto a road. For some reason I was expecting the aid station to be much closer to the bottom of the descent, so this section seemed to be taking a long time. After hitting the road, I followed it for a few minutes then climbed up the trail to aid station 4, Lemhi Pass. Dad and Jacob were able to crew me at this aid station, so I got an ice bandana, some gels, and two new water bottles.
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| Climbing up to Lemhi Pass Photo: Jacob Miller |
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| Still going up Photo: Jacob Miller |
Leaving the aid station, the trail climbed up pretty steeply. I ran all this section and once I reached the trees the trail levelled off a bit. There were a few rocky sections where the trees opened up a little more, but there wasn’t really any chance to look out and get a view on this climb. Once I reached the top of the climb, there were a few more rollers before the trail dropped down to aid station 5, Warm Springs Road. This downhill had some rocky sections but there was enough smoother trail I could run the downhill pretty fast.
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| On the 100 yards of road at Lemhi Pass aid station Photo: Jacob Miller |
Dad and Jacob were able to crew at aid station 5 as well, so I got water bottles, more gels, and another ice bandana before taking off down the trail. There were a few gradual climbs and descents leaving the aid station, but none of the climbs were very steep so I was able to keep a faster pace through this section. Between here and Cutout, aid station 6, the course was all in the trees except for a few burns. The trail was mostly gradual, so I was able to make good time this whole section. At Cutout, Jacob gave me another ice bandana, two more bottles, and a bunch of gels. Dad and Jacob had split up at this point and Dad had gone back to Lemhi Pass to crew Mom.
Coming into Cutout aid station I was starting to pass some 55K runners but leaving Cutout I really started to pass a lot of people. I like running by myself, especially later in races as I usually have built a good rhythm. When I’m out there on my own I can run each section of trail exactly how I want to. With other people, you can’t because you have to get their attention and find a way to get around them. A couple people is no problem, but I ended up having to pass quite a few.
Outside of more runners, the trail was a bit rockier and the trees were a bit thinner. I felt like I was running well, but there were a few grinding climbs that were starting to feel pretty tough. Still I felt like I was moving along well. At least until I hit the snow. That when things started to slow down a bit. Unlike the rock-hard snow of the early morning, this snow was soft snow. I don’t think I was ever on snow for more than a minute at a time, but there were quite a few small patches and even 10 or 15 steps sinking into the snow slows me down a bit. Some sections were just a bit slick and I didn’t sink in too much, but there were a lot of sections where I’d sink in at least 8 inches. Not great for speed, but since I couldn’t change it, I just tried my best to keep moving fast.
As I neared Goldstone Pass aid station, the trail climbs up to the ridge and follows it right on the crest. The trail got pretty rocky here and the ascents and descents were a bit steeper and rougher. There were probably a lot of nice views here, but I was pretty focused on the trail, so I didn’t look out much. I finished up my water a little bit before I reached Goldstone Pass, but fortunately I wasn’t thirsty when I got there. I hurried through the aid station and headed out to Janke Lake which I was told was just 4.7 miles away.
From Goldstone Pass to Janke Lake, the trail was still rocky and rough, but there was a couple section of ATV track which were a little easier to run. Most of this terrain was still running for me, but there were a few times I had to hike. I’d like to think this was because the terrain was steep or snowy, but it was probably because I was getting tired. I really don’t remember too much about this section other than working pretty hard, passing a lot of people, and wondering what the scree field would be like.
From Janke Lake, we started down which surprised me. I thought we were just going to head straight up the ridge and hop along the talus for a while. Soon enough though the trail started up toward the ridge and back into a little bit of snow. I can’t remember the climb up to the talus too specifically other than trying to run a bit of it, then giving up and hiking; initially because it was tough to run on the snow or through the scrubby trees and rocks around the snow, and later because the footing on the rocks got so bad it was easier to walk.
On the talus I hiked up, shuffled down, and looked for flags. There wasn’t a lot of places for flagging and I was looking approximately 3 feet ahead which made it difficult to spot any flags. Of course, it was pretty clear to just stay on the ridge, but my fear was that when the course turns left and leaves the the ridge, I might miss the turnoff and keep trucking along through the talus. The turnoff was completely obvious, so I had nothing to worry about.
Once we left the talus, we got on a rough old road which climbed up gradually. At this point, I was glad to be running again as the talus was a bit tedious. After a little bit of up, we headed down the hill down a steep, loose trail. I much preferred this section to the talus since I could actually run. After leaving the trail we hit a rocky road and descended a few minutes before reaching the final aid station. I filled one bottle and took off.
The road out of the aid station was pretty rocky to begin with. I was told I’d cross the creek twice before the finish so I was looking for it. It wasn’t long before I splashed through the creek the first time and only a minute or so later before the second time. The second time it was knee deep for me which felt pretty good as it was getting warm out. After the creek, the road was a little smoother as there was a bit of grass on the road which covered some of the rocks and help keep the dirt in place. There were a couple sections where there was a bit of water flowing down the road and a few sections where the road got a bit rockier but overall it got smoother and faster as I descended.
We left the road and headed on to a trail into the sagebrush. Now that we were at the bottom of the valley and in the direct sunlight it started to feel warm. I knew I was close to the end though so I ran as fast as I could. I knew there was a few short hills before the finish but wasn’t sure how many. It ended up being three, but after each one, I was hopeful that it would be the last one. After the last hill, we headed down a trail which looked like it was halfway between a cow trail and a real trail. Fortunately, all the sagebrush had been cut back, so it was pretty easy smooth running. After just a few minutes of downhill, I crossed a creek and then could see the finish line less than a minute out. I finished in 9:31 which was good enough for the win and course record. I was pretty pumped about that because the extra snow on the course probably made it a little slower than previous years.
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| We descended down the valley between the open hill and the treed hill behind me. Then we crossed over the open hill doing a few small climb in the process before descending to the creek (where the close trees are) and finishing Photo: Jacob Miller |
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| Masks required at the Start, Finish, and Aid Stations Photo: Jacob Miller |
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| Photo: Jacob Miller |
Yeah, this spring was a little weird with so many races being cancelled so I was happy to be able to race. I was feeling strong all spring so I was excited to see what I could do at a race. Race day is a lot different than training though, so I was glad to see that not only was I feeling good, but I could race fast too!
Mom ran Beaverhead 100K too, but unfortunately, she missed the cutoff at Goldstone Pass at mile 47.5 by 2 minutes. This was especially unlucky because her watch got paused early on in the race (probably climbing over some blowdown – there was only a little bit but two or three trees right away), so she wasn’t sure of the exact race time. I’m sure she would have got it done had she known the time more accurately, especially since the last cutoff at Janke Lake, 4.7 miles later, was extended from 7:30 pm to 7:45 pm.