race report: you are the manufacturer of your own misery

I didn't want to write this one, given how incredibly chaotic it was the six days leading up to the race, plus the race itself.

proudly sponsored by Big Donut

But I figured it would help someone, including myself, in the future, so here we are.  

I had signed up for Bandera way back in May 2024 before I left Canada, having figured the idea of an early season race and a fat-boy summer to follow was relevant once again given the difficulty of training long distances during the oppressive summer heat/humidity and hurricane season.  It was two loops of 50k, which was more palatable than some of the other 5-6x looped WSER qualifiers down here, and relatively flat compared to what I was used to (6,6xx' of gain in total for a 100k), so I figured it should be a decent challenge to test my fitness during my first winter stateside.  The plan was to go hard around Thanksgiving, scouting out at least one loop at the race venue that weekend, and then gradually increasing my endurance on the Rocky Raccoon loop 40 minutes north of my apartment as much as I could.  

Of course, nothing ever goes according to plan, so here's what actually happened:

• Thanksgiving weekend: I drove 4h out to Bandera, stayed a night, then ran a self-supported loop.  Well, I had to cut out less than two miles because I ran out of water painfully close to the finish but I was satisfied with a 29mi effort done in well under 7h, which was way faster than I wanted.  
• My Calgary friends cannot fathom that I drove 4h just to find over 3500' of vert inside of 50k.  Normally this kind of quality would be accessible 10km from my house.
• December:
• I had started volunteering with the Huntsville State Park a few months back but between Hurricane Beryl, the May 2024 derecho and general Texas State Park funding issues, the Rocky Raccoon course was still heavily closed for bridge damage, washouts and deadfall.  Officially these trails were closed because they couldn't safely get an ATV in to safely evacuate casualties in emergencies (not to mention you'd be running through an active worksite), but for someone who doesn't run with a phone, I selfishly started running on the Rocky Raccoon loop as much as I could, starting at first light and finishing before crews could get out to do any trail work and ask why I was in a closed area.  
• kids, don't try this at home.
• by chaining together some trails in the Sam Houston National Forest, I was able to route out 1550' of gain in 23mi, which is.....not great, not terrible.
• I spent Christmas over in Southern California, which was marked by bagging a month's worth of Texan vert over five days.  Key to this was a 25mi run with 5100' of vert (the vert was all done inside the first 15mi) in Orange County, which involved this gem.  
• Dale, the RD for Hardrock, emailed me right before Christmas to offer any help for training for my second finish over the "Texan winter".  That was nice.
• It was definitely a nice feeling to be able to bag over 1600' of vert every 6mi again.  We definitely don't have that in SE Texas.
• January:
• pre-taper week was 120km, with 42mi done in the last two days.  vert was probably only around 1600'.
• The Monday night before the race, it was announced that Texas State Parks had pulled the event permit for Bandera because of winter storm Blair causing wet conditions, but the race was moved to a new venue 75-90 minutes further away at Camp Eagle ("next door in Texas terms", according to the race directors).  I don't think I had ever seen this drastic of a change before this close to the start - normally races would just cancel at this point for force majeure.  I was of the school of thought that this was materially a whole other race.
• The course was basically less runnable but still 2x50km with around 7000' of vert, run clockwise.  
• This series of events was done back in 2019, with about the same amount of notice.
• Not wishing to drive 2h from my original accommodations to the start line on race day and not wishing to stay on hostel style bunks at the race venue (I value my beauty sleep), I had to scramble to source replacement accommodations but I did find something only a 40min drive away.  It was definitely a bit of added stress to an otherwise sedentary week.

Did part of me wish the race was canceled?  For sure - now that Hardrock, which was another WSER qualifier, was on the docket, I had no necessity or business running a fast, flatter 100k and should have be working on strengthening my legs for the nonexistent mountains I was not running.  But Asians gotta Asian, especially when it came to sunk costs, and especially when it felt like nature/race management/the original host venue was hilariously making it way more difficult to get to the start line.  I also realized this would actually be the coldest 100k race I had ever run, in which the irony of its locale was not lost on me.  

As such my goals were as follows:

1. <14h?  I had to return my rental car for 1PM back home the next day and would like some beauty sleep before driving 5h (an extra 1.5h) to facilitate that.  
2. <16h, because that was my Quicksilver goal.
3. <17h to get my ticket.  also shamelessly stolen from Quicksilver.

I think the last time I planned a race with such a ninja schedule was World's End back in 2017 - the plan was to drive from Houston to just outside the race venue in Rocksprings (a 5.25h drive), refuel, then circle back to the race venue (about 25mi, more on that below), grab my race stuff, then go to bed early; race all day Saturday, then blitz out of there on the Sunday at the ass crack of dawn to dump my rental car and get a massage.  I was also wary of all the deer and wildlife out in the boonies - there weren't any moose but there was still sufficient creatures out there to make me want to avoid driving in the dark.  

Upon driving to the race venue, another problem would present itself - now that the race was on private property, there was absolute disregard for how many racers could sign up.....but there was literally nothing done about how to manage the traffic getting in on the one buffed-out 8mi road onto the property.  It was literally a scene out of Leadville in 2013 just to pick up my package -  I had signed all my waivers online but was still stuck in traffic for 30+ minutes because of facility staff dealing with those who didn't.  There was no diversion for those who got their shit together like me, and it was just one line to get in the Camp. 

I told myself that 40 minutes prior to the race should be enough of a buffer to deal with this bullshit on race morning, but somehow that was not enough.  I had gotten to within 0.8mi of the race start at that time on race morning, and it took me another 50 minutes to park my car because the lack of traffic management cascaded into folks getting stuck on an iced-up uphill, resulting in upwards of 100 racers in the line.  I had contemplated parking my car outside the camp and proceeding in on foot (at least twenty people did this), but I knew from the day before that the bottom of that hill sat a decently long ankle-deep water crossing with no detour for pedestrians.  It was also well below freezing at this point, so I wagered there was no way the RD would start the race with all of us (at least half the field?) stuck in line.  

It turned out I was right - I got to the start line 13 minutes after the originally scheduled gun time, and two minutes before the original deadline to start - but the RD pushed the start back by half an hour.   Plenty of time to drop off my start/finish drop bag and do a quick interview with Texas Monthly (which was weird as it was one of those vox pop interviews but I gave a different interview a month ago as a voly at Brazos Bend).

Lap 1

The course was set up so it'd be five aid stations dividing six segments of five-ish miles, plus the start-finish.  In theory I could have pulled this off with just a belt and handhelds, but I got nervous with the new course and ended up bringing my UD Timmy Olsen vest from Quicksilver.  The route itself, like most Texan courses, was basically in the shape of compressed zigzags without any crossroads, utilizing as little space as possible while maximizing the distance run.  I'd run west from the start/finish area three times, each time progressing a little further north than the last, and only coming back to the start line once per lap.

I also found out late Friday night that instead of bringing 2x500mL flasks, I had brought one that had a leak (I didn't know this at the time) and a 350mL one (that was the same color as my intended flask).  I ended up rebalancing my vest to be heavy on solids on the 350mL side and throwing a 500mL bottled-water bottle on the other side.....which added an extra challenge as I now had to ensure I didn't lose this bottle cap for 100km.  

The plan was to try to keep each five mile segment as close as possible to an hour, and hold on for dear life to the 14h target, knowing I would shit the bed eventually.  I also opted to not take my poles on the first loop as I knew I had parked my car close to the 15mi/45mi mark, and would figure out whether to tap them in at that point or not.  

I opted to start with my Salomon S-Lab Sense 8 SG's because of the recent rain and freezing conditions, which was a good call as it was incredibly slick on some of the bigger rocky sections, like the dry riverbed in the first mile.  I did notice that some of the rock was slick enough to warrant not switching to my Arc'teryx Norvan LD3's on my second loop, as I had found out on a training run at Fort Ord in Salinas that they were not able to wick mud properly (granted it was monsooning that day).  Alas I'd be riding the same shoes for two loops, so it was imperative I keep my socks dry for as long as I could.  

It was also clear that I needed to close out the first lap as quickly as possible to preserve as much daylight for the second lap.  Of course it did not help that we burnt a half hour for the early morning traffic jam and I am known to overcook the first 30 and pay for it through the nose afterwards, but I figured it would be optimal to memorize the first lap in the daylight so that even if I walked the second, I'd have some idea of where I'm going and just sleep through the whole section.  This also meant that I would have to minimize my aid station splits as much as possible, and keep the loitering to a minimum.

I ended up with some 12h runners at the start, having jockeyed into position to get through the first few climbs (1800' in the first 10mi) without punching anyone in the back of the head (in which I was successful).  One of these was actually Mira Rai, who came cruising by at the 5mi mark and just sent it shortly thereafter.  We would hit this aid station, dubbed Windmill for its giant windmill, twice - once from the south, and once from the north.  This was staffed by a few Houston Area Trail Runners so it would be a sight for sore eyes later.  I kept my stay there short, literally just grabbing a cup of pretzels and then proceeding.  

uphill

then downhill

The next five started out mildly amusing - you'd run out for a bit, in then come back in towards Windmill without never actually seeing it.  I figured this experience would be characteristic for the rest of the race - you'd hear runners and aid station music all around you, but you would not be actually anywhere near them with regards to course progression.  There was still a decent flock of folks in close proximity at this point, but we started to spread out once we got close to the property fence line and the elevation gain/loss started to separate the flatlanders from everyone else.  It ended with a climb on a fire road back up to Windmill, where I breezed out of there in seconds once again.

so. many. rocks.

The next segment back to the car/Mi Casa aid station started with the same fire road - I turned on the afterburners on this bit as I lost a few folks ahead of me back at Windmill and jogged the ridge until we got back on single track.  It wasn't nearly as aggressive in elevation as the previous five miles, but this was the first bit where it felt like whoever "built" the trail the race was on was legit trolling us, as our route felt like a game trail at times.  It was a bit of a challenge looking for flagging and occasionally picking the wrong lines but after letting a few folks pass me I ended up getting paced into the 15mi aid station uneventfully.  I was still feeling cocky so I decided to forgo my poles, even though I had glanced at my watch and I was about 10 minutes behind 12h pace at this point.  

It was finally hot enough for me to fill up my water bottles again - but I was in and out in less than 30s again.  The way back west was marked with a slight uphill back towards the last segment, then back onto the same fire road I was on (albeit a different segment) before ducking down towards the next aid station (Zip Road), albeit around two miles early.  It turned out that we had to run east back a little bit on a rougher fire road, before circling back on another loop.  

elbows up!

With just one more aid station before hitting my bag of crystallized ginger and massage roller back at the finish - I sent it out of there, for like a few seconds as we hit a hill right away.  As the name suggests, we were on part of a ridge road again - but it was pretty uneventful getting into the Party Barn.    There was a gong just outside the doors that folks were using in lieu of a cowbell, so the aid station ended up being further away than I thought it'd be.  I had to refill my fluids once again now that it was getting hotter (by Canadian standards) and figured this was a good time to snag some pickle juice since we'd be assaulting yet another uphill back west.

This section was suddenly more difficult than the last 10mi - partly because the trail suddenly got batshit insane to find.  Folks who passed me didn't get that much further ahead as they figured I was running slow to pick the trail out.  Sounds of other runners made it seem like we had a horde either in front or behind us - but it turned out we were actually hearing folks as far back as more than five miles behind me.  That's how squeezed this course is.  

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally broke into a fire road and I was free to shuffle mindlessly again.  We dipped down towards the camp access road, and then back down to the lake, along the slickrock beach before driving back up the hill.  I could see there was plenty of folks parading into the Party Barn five miles back, so I knew I was doing ok, but looking at my watch I was now a good half hour back of 12h pace....although the loops were only running 30mi.

Lap 2

Strangely the finish line aid station was set at least 90' in front of the bag drop.  Nevertheless I topped up my fluids, strolled over and quickly rolled out my legs while chewing through all the candied ginger I could.  I was also wide awake but I ingested not my usual 200mg caffeine pill but rather a strip of 50mg caffeine/25mg Alpha GPC from Floyd's just in case as I hadn't really been taking caffeine through soft drinks.  Doing the math - it was now getting close to 3pm and I'd have at best 3h of sunlight left, so I elected to take both my headlamp and waist lamp.  

It was probably five minutes before I left, and I left alone but knew there were folks hunting me nearby.  I finally saw Mira again within a mile, but unfortunately she was headed the other way and it was clear she was tapping out.  I made it probably halfway through the segment alone before a horde of three runners/pacers from Fredricksburg caught up to me.  These three would yo-yo me pretty much up to the Zip Road - they were all running super light so they were spending more time at the aid stations than me.  That being said I had to refill my fluids both times at Windmill, but the sun started setting once I hit mi 40 and I was able to take my shades off.

I had decided back at the start of the loop that I would grab my poles at Mi Casa, as running 45mi on this bullshit terrain was enough (and also akin to how Killian Jornet pulls off Hardrock with only 50mi on poles), so I had that to look forward to.  It was dark enough once I got to my car that my headlight was on, so I knew I was probably an hour back of 12h pace at this point.  

There were silver linings about this time of day - it was now cold enough that I wasn't refilling fluids every 5mi again, and that for a course as batshit insane as this route - the reflectors on flagging actually made it easy for me to spot where I was going.  Weirdly there was no hot food at Mi Casa but they told me there was stuff 5mi up at the Zip Road.  I smashed another caffeine strip and trudged back up the hill all alone, amazing passing one guy from Boston before grazing the Zip Road aid station with the three folks from Fredricksburg.  They kicked it into high gear as they wanted to drive home immediately after that race so I bid them adieu and never saw them again.

Unfortunately it took a minute for the volunteers to conjure up some brothy ramen at Zip Road, and in that time I somehow started cramping and realized the caffeine strip had not kicked in.  Weird, but good to know that I guess I don't need those 200mg pills anymore since I can't even stomach 2x50 mg in four hours.  It was pretty uneventful coming into the Party Barn, with the Bostonian catching up to me right before but I had started to run by 50k hikers at this point, so I had that to look forward to too.  I smashed a gel right before the aid station, which seemed to help cognitively but did nothing for my cramps.

Party Barn didn't have hot food either (it was almost 9pm at this point) which was disappointing, but they did have cold tater tots, which I pretty much just drank down.  The Bostonian and I left almost simultaneously but because his headlamp was puny compared to my head/waist combo, he let me pick out the lines on this section until the fire road.  He stayed a respectable distance back and we passed by a few more hikers in the 50k (these folks were now approaching 13h on the trail) before I told him to just send it to the finish line once the single track widened.  I was all alone once again inside these last two miles, with the faint beats of the aid stations piercing through the night.  He did wait for me at the finish line, but I was just so done with this experience that I basically fist bumped him upon completing the race, scarfed down a few sausages and a cheesy quesadilla before grabbing my drop bag and getting the fuck out of there.  

I joked with a few runners during the race that I was pretty much hate-running this race and 100% fueled by spite because of all the obstacles thrown at me just to get to the start line, but there are a few bright sides that came out of this - 

• my stomach was fine.  probably because i stayed away from too much caffeine, and the cold.  
• no chafing or blisters!
• not that it's advisable, but I managed 45mi on this stupid rocky course with no poles.  I was pretty stiff towards the end (my masseuse was very amused) but mentally I was still good for another 40mi.  
• no one mentioned my limp at mi45.  I don't run with a mirror so I don't know if it's still there.
• the texan trail community has amazing vibes.  i think we all got dealt a shitty hand, but all the volunteers and operational management definitely pivoted as much, if not more than we did.
• I have six months to prep for Hardrock now, instead of three weeks like in 2022.  
• And in that time, I will have to look for shoes with cushioning and aggressive tread.  
• No more training in fire season!

By the numbers:

• Distance according to Garmin: 97.16km/60.725mi
• Elevation gain according to Garmin: 2930m/9464'
• Time: 14:34:08
• loitering time: 29 minutes
• Place: 42/350
• DNF%: 33%

Stray observations:

• The winner was from Quebec because of course he was.  
• I did keep the bottle cap for the whole race.
• I really felt bad for those who couldn't source alternative accommodations as quickly as I did (i.e. less than 20 minutes after the email went out), especially the international racers or those with pets/small children.
• While the host venue did have hostel-style bunks available, I heard from some racers on-course that they got put into unheated outdoor screen shelters instead, and some who got overbilled accordingly.  Yikes.  
• I have to disclose that cots were also available for those hitting the road back to Bandera, TX and needing a moment prior to doing so.
• I was told the course from 2019 was different; this year was more aggressive.
• I left Rocksprings at 6am Sunday because I tripped the breaker in my AirBnB and couldn't find the box to reset it, and I noticed the cars coming in from Kerrville onto 41 into the race venue for the 25/50k distance was in the dozens.  Folks were actually driving the 60+ minutes to the race venue, albeit it was for a shorter distance.
• I know I sound like a little bitch on my soapbox with diva-esque standards for the races I run, but I'll probably still volunteer with these folks.  I just don't see myself racing in one of their events for the foreseeable future.  
• Hill country is a beautiful place if you've never been, but you don't need a half-assed race to fully experience it.  
• Excluding slightly more fuel consumption for the added distance, I actually didn't end up too much more out of pocket for the venue change (probably less than 30$?).
• I'm starting to feel that I will be undertrained for every race I sign up for.  It's fucking flat out here and I keep signing up for gnarly ones or races advertised as 'runs'.  
• The stats don't lie
• This is the second belt buckle I've earned for a 100k, after World's End.  

Tips for prospective Bandera racers:

• as noted it's roughly 5 mi between aid's but it's not exact; that being said I clocked an even 30mi loop twice.  
• as dumb as it is for my hyperactive mind, segmenting this race into 2 loops of 30, 4 loops of 15 AND 12 loops of 5 really helped me.  it gives you something to look forward to once the pity party starts.  
• of course you do end up 2mi back of where you need to be at the end but that's like.  another 30 mins?
• HCSNA course:
• lots of ungroomed sotol to draw blood and wake you up, so I had to bring my calf panties for next time  
• most of the vert was on steep hills on the west side of the course, with some runnable tread on the east/middle part.  Poles are allowed but bring something to stash them in for that portion.
• Camp Eagle course:
• Just don't.  It's a nice venue and all, but this course has been used as an emergency alternate twice and it really shows.  
• It's also a private property so unless you're doing one of the Tejas camps or another sporting event there, you'll never be able to properly scout it.
• Like, I get it - just like Waldo, the RD wanted to put the onus on you to make the DNS call.  But it's not necessarily a game meant to be played by everyone.
• I acknowledge there will be things I will never understand like reputational risk in cancelling, deferring the race or why a closer venue with more loops couldn't be configured.
• The official race management guidance was to retain existing accommodations in the Bandera vicinity, which was up to 2h away from the start line.  I did not see how this was reasonable and safe.   
• Ok fine, since you asked, you masochists:
• camp there if you can.  there's one fire road in with two exits but one way adds too many cattle gates, weird turns, extra miles and has a water crossing most airport rental cars can't pull off.  the eight mile buffed out segment is not something you want to deal with on race morning, but entirely doable if you have enough time.
• and bring a warm enough sleeping bag for sleeping outside even if you booked an indoor spot.
• there are no amenities inside 30 minutes from the start.  bring all your shit.  
• I personally do not like to stay anywhere more than an hour outside the start, but it sounded like a ton of folks were staying either in Leakey or Kerrville.
• I somehow encountered a herd of deer driving in the dark at the 377/41 junction........twice.
• it's 50+ mi between Kerrville and Rocksprings, and there are no gas stations in between.
• rocks are about grapefruit sized on some sections so plan your shoes accordingly.
• there was mud in spots.  my Norvans would not have liked those patches.
• poles from the get-go, nothing is runnable for us flatlanders for that long.
• i didn't end up going off course but we ran across at least one racer who had to get escorted back on course after somehow ending up on a segment he just ran a couple hours ago.
• for a similar course with such close aid station proximities, i'd do this again with a waist belt instead.
• there will be no one at the finish.  not as in there will be no volunteers - but you literally finish well around bedtime.  it will probably be quieter than the Plain 100 finish line.
• it's advertised as very similar to the HCSNA course BUT IT IS NOT.  we only had 2 sub-12h finishes and it's usually like 55ish at HCSNA.  

"Pivot.  PIVOOOOOOOOT!"

--Ross Geller