Bighorn 100 Mile Wild & Scenic Trail Run

I road tripped out with two other Central Oregon ultrarunners, Chris Kraybill and Sean Meissner. They were both running the 50 miler. After camping in Idaho, then Jackson, Wyoming on Tuesday, we arrived on the west side of the Bighorns and camped on Wednesday. Then, got up Thursday and cruised up Highway 14A into the Bighorns, west of Dayton and scouted out the conditions on the high point of the course and the turnaround.

Trail conditions were perfect, dry and tacky. Unlike last year, that area was fully saturated from snow melt and there was water standing on the course around Devil’s Canyon Road. The temps were sunny but chilly at 9000 feet, a down coat being necessary. With the course conditions and my legs feeling really good, I was optimistic for race day.

There was talk of thunderstorms on race day, but we awoke to just a slight haze. Bighorn has an 11am start (the norm in most 100 milers being 4 or 5am starts). It’s nice, because you can get a good nights sleep the night before, get up and not feel rushed. I woke up on race day about 7am and had my normal pre-race meal of 3 raw organic eggs and organic raw milk, rocky-style, a banana, and water.

About 10:10am, my folks, Chris, Sean and I jumped into Chris’ VW Eurovan, Phoebe, and headed up the Tongue River Canyon Road to the start. We hung out and made small talk with Rob Cain and Tim Turk, two other Oregon runners from Ashland.

After checking in, I mingled with Roch Horton and Ty Draney, two former Montrail/Patagonia teammates. This would be my first showing under the new Patagonia Ultrarunning Team banner, as Columbia Sportswear bought out Montrail this year. Montrail/Patagonia became Montrail/Nathan, and Patagonia started a small grassroots team. Rod Bien and I were the first one’s to approach Patagonia to inquire about a team after the Columbia buyout. I was stoked to be representing Patagonia. They’ve always been true to their athletic core and are a very eco-conscience company—hard to find in today’s corporate structure. Plus, their gear is bombproof.

This year’s competition was a little deeper than last year. Last year, Ty Draney was my main competition. This year Ty was back from a stellar 3rd place finish at Wasatch 100 last September. He had stomach issues at Bighorn last year in the heat. I had told him to switch from E-caps to S-caps for his electrolytes and he had after Bighorn last year and hadn’t had any stomach issues since. Me and my big mouth! Oh well, I can’t help it. I’m such a geek; I like to share the love!

I knew he would be tough and unlikely to repeat his issues from last year. John Hemsky from Colorado and Sean Andrish from Virginia were entered, both men having fast times in other 100-mile races. Sean being the faster of the two. Also, Matt Sessions from British Columbia, who I later found out, was gunning for the course record too.

The 2006 Race Begins
At the start, Andrish went out like a rabbit. Ty and I had discussed this before the race. We knew he had a tendency to go out fast and either runs really well, or blows up—we were expecting the latter because everyone underestimates the course at Bighorn. It’s deceptive. Most mountain 100s in the west have 20,000-26,000 feet of ascent/descent. Bighorn only boasts 18,000. But the course is remote, the singletrack is super narrow (6 inches wide, rocky, with ground foliage covering 50-80% of that), the terrain is exposed, and the long climbs take their toll. Plus, everyone has to night run due to the 11 am start.

As we let Andrish go running up the first major climb, Ty and I settled into 4th and 5th place, in a chase pack. We were power hiking and talking about “conejo” (Spanish for “rabbit”) or joking in a Yosemite Sam voice, “I hate rabbits!” We were joking and hiking as Andrish pulled slightly away. It was early to be running so much on such steep terrain. I knew what was coming.

Soon we reeled in John Hemsky and moved into 3rd and 4th. Now only Sean Andrish and a ponytail dude (someone we didn’t know) were in front of us. The ponytail dude was losing ground to us and we couldn’t see Andrish anymore.

As we neared the top of Tongue River Canyon, you run along a fence row. The fence is a natural line and has a faint trail you run on. However, shortly after running along the fence, the course veers right across a meadow, which is a heavily flagged section to quickly gain a ATV road and top out the first climb. This is where Ty and I took the lead last year when the leader missed the turn and followed the fence row. We were approaching that spot when we noticed Andrish and the guy in second going up the fence row, past the flags! The curse of the fence row had struck again! Unbelievable!

Sean had notice his mistake and was heading back when we started up the meadow in the lead. They were maybe 4-5 minutes behind us now. Not much, and we fully expected Sean to catch back up soon. As we took the lead, Roch Horton ran to the front just to have the luxury of saying he’d lead the race. He was cracking me up. I looked forward to seeing him at this race. He’s a tough dude. He’s 48, and still runs 4 or 5 100s a year and finishes in strong times. I hope I’m as tough as him at 48. He’s an inspiration.

We topped out and headed down to Upper Sheep Creek Aid. We came into this aid in a group of 4 or 5 runners, with Sean only about 3 minutes back; Matt Sessions in 3rd place with another guy back 100 yards from him. Ty and I made our way to Dry Fork Aid at mile 13.5 by 1:38pm. This station is the first drop bag spot and our first point on the course where we’d see our crew.

I had planned on running drop bag to drop bag, with only quick stops at other aid stations to refill bottles and grab a mouthful of fruit. I had pre-filled Amphipod waist packs with my gel (Gu) refills and also pre-filled 24 ounce bottles at the drop bag locations consisting of one water and one Gu2o sports drink. Ty and I cruised in talking and laughing and he surged into the aid station to jokingly be in the lead. He’s a cool dude. I’ve really enjoyed getting to run with him the past three 100s I’ve done.

The Colonel (Sean Meissner) was waiting for me with my waist pack and my bottles. He walked with me as I switched gear, weighed in, ate some orange wedges and a bit of banana and Ty and I left together descending the 4WD road to Cow Camp.

The heat was starting to hit on the way to Cow Camp. The haze had blown off to make way for blue skies with a few scattered puffy white clouds. We arrived Cow Camp at 2:40pm and cruised on together to Bear Camp, arriving at 3:55pm.

I had planned on skipping Bear Camp and only refilling water this year, as it’s a remote aid station where they backpack in the supplies. The food is processed stuff (wheat thins, M&Ms, and pretzels usually—stuff that won’t go bad and they can easily pack in). I was planning on doing only gels though that section. Ty and I were in and out in probably 20 seconds and we were working together to pull away from the rest of the pack.

Ty is a really strong downhiller and we are pretty compatible runners, pace-wise. We descended the steep 3.5-mile section from Bear Camp to Footbridge in 33 minutes and arrived at the Footbridge at 4:28pm at mile 30. I was feeling the heat and feeling a little bonky coming into Footbridge.

I was sick of the Gu2o in my bottles and hadn’t drank enough in the last hour and a half and decided to switch back to only water and leave my pre-filled bottles in my drop bags I also had opted to ditch the Gu2o refills and bars I had in my waist pack and only proceed with gels. Less weight, and it wasn’t agreeing with me anyway.

My lack of hydration showed as I weighed in at 147 (ouch, my pre-race was 153). They let me go without a word, but I knew I needed to bump up my liquid per hour and get back on track or it was going to get ugly.

Ty and I left together, but I was fading a bit. He pulled 40 yards ahead and we quit talking. I soon had to make a pit stop and I lost contact with Ty. This next section to the Narrows aid proved to be my lowest point, as I tried to drink a lot and not slow down too much.

By the time I hiked into the Narrows at 5:35pm I was feeling better, as I had downed 48 ounces in less than an hour. I quickly downed two cups of broth and headed out 3 minutes behind Ty. The next section is 6.5 miles and uphill to Spring Marsh had been a slow section for me last year. I ran out of water in ’05, but was prepared with bigger bottles this year. I plugged along trying to keep up on my hydration and get back ahead of the bonk curve. I downed another 48 ounces in less than an hour and refilled at a creek crossing.

The water comes right out of a cliff band above and it’s clear as a bell and rushing down the hillside. Oh, it’s ice cold and so tasty. I filled both 24-ounce bottles, chugged 12 ounces and topped it off again. I got out of there and back to my hiking and running transitions as I made my way to Spring Marsh at mile 40.

I arrive at 7:10pm to find Ty had increased his lead to 8 minutes. I wasn’t freaked out yet. We still had a long way to go. I relaxed and kept forward progress, as I didn’t want to start pushing too hard, too soon.

I made Elk Camp by 8:00pm, downed a bowl of Raman and headed out 8 minutes behind Ty. Good. His gap was holding steady. I just wanted to keep him within 10 minutes and I figured I had a good chance of closing the gap after dark on the downhill back to the Footbridge.

As I pushed to the turnaround, I was feeling a blister on my right heel. I was wearing the Nike Kyotee and they were rubbing a small blister, nothing terrible, just annoying. The shoes are light, cushy and neutral. They were proving too lightweight and flimsy for this technical course. Plus, I had rolled my ankle slightly 3 times on the first major descent. I was nervous for the upcoming 17-mile night descent to the Footbridge, as it’s even more technical. Luckily, I had a plan.

To be safe, I had my Mom carrying an extra pair of shoes, Montrail’s Leona Divides (now discontinued…but, I have 4 pair at home in the closet to be safe). The Leona has been my racing shoe for 3 years with no blisters or issues. They aren’t very cushy, but super stable and bomb proof for my feet.

Not only was the blister bothering me, my heart rate monitor strap on my chest was bugging the me. I had recently pushed it down around my waist. I was planning on ditching the HR monitor and switching shoes at Porcupine.

I was also interested to see where Ty was. This is one good thing about an out and back course. You get to size up your competition at the turnaround. I made my way across Devil’s Canyon Road (1 mile from the turnaround). No Ty. I crossed the road, and descended the meadow to the dirt road (a half mile out). No Ty. Sweet. I was about a quarter mile out and met Ty on the dirt road at 8:53pm. Nice. He was not that far ahead. We did a little high five as we passed. I knew Ty would be hammering once he hit the downhill past Devil’s Canyon Road. He’s super-competitive and he would make me work my rear off to catch him.

I approached Porcupine Ranger Station hollering out instructions to my Dad…

“Ditch the empty Gu packets in my bottle pouches! Refill bottles with cold water! I can’t stand the Gu2o mix! I’m not using the bottles in my drop bags, just water! I need my other shoes too!”

They shuffled me into the Ranger Station shed, which was packed with people. I was so focused I didn’t even see who was there. I wanted to get in and out. I weighed 156. Three pounds heavy. I’ll take it. I was retaining a little water from salt intake and abundance of water I consumed on the climb to get my hydration caught back up. But, it was paying off, I felt strong.

I guess the Footbridge had radioed Porcupine about my weight loss, because the aid station captain kept probing me, “You’d tell us if something was up, right Jeff?! Are you feeling okay?”

Giddyup! Bronco Billy wants to ride, aid station lady! (I didn’t actually say that, she would have thought I was delirious and pulled me for sure.) I was definitely ready to roll. Now Ty was the conejo.

I ditched everything but gels in my waist pack, put on my lights, as my mom threaded my iPod headphone chord through my jersey. I quickly swapped my orthotics into the Montrail’s, downed two cups of noodle soup, tied an extra long sleeve jersey around my waist and left at 8:57pm with fire in my eyes and 10 minutes to make up.

On my way back and over Devil’s Canyon Road, I started thinking about how I should try to catch him. I decided to run smooth and relaxed in the fading daylight and not push too hard until Spring Marsh. It would be dark by then, that 10-mile section from Spring Marsh to the Footbridge is technical and I had confidence in my light set-up for hammering downhill at night. The Petzl Myo XP on my head and the Tikka XP around my waist. It’s really bright and allows smooth, non-bouncing, hands-free light.

Due to family time conflicts with my wife and kids and running my own business, I’ve found a good time to train was at night after the family was asleep. I had run 2-3 hour night trail runs nearly every Friday night from 11pm until whenever. Plus, various night maintenance runs during the week pretty much all year. I was very comfortable functioning at night. I figured I had a slight advantage, so, I needed to use it.

On the way to Elk Camp I met the 3rd place runner, at least 5-6 miles back. Good. Not close. I just needed to focus on Ty. I had to switch on my lights a couple miles before Elk Camp.

As I started to pass runners coming up, they kept giving me time differences. However, this is an inaccurate way to gauge because they are hiking uphill and we’re running downhill. I love that everyone tries to help, it’s super cool, but I knew not to rely on this info. For example, I had a runner tell me “he’s 15 minutes ahead,” and 100 yards later another runner said “4 minutes.”

I was relying on the aid station captains with the clipboards. However, I passed Tim Turk (from Ashland, Oregon), who gave me a smart way to know how far I was behind Ty. He said at 10:21 (time we’d been out at this point), Ty was at the muddy section. So, I crossed the muddy section at 10:29 and knew I was about 8 minutes back. Thanks Tim, that was a smart and accurate way to relay the info, brutha.

I arrived Elk Camp at 9:50pm with Ty 8 minutes ahead still. I downed more Raman, refilled my bottles and pushed on to Spring Marsh.

I started thinking about Spring Marsh’s broth soup. Oh, it’s the best on the course; it’s a broth with a little bit of rice in the bottom of the cup. Mainly broth. Super salty. Yummy. I got into Spring Marsh at 10:30pm, downed two cups of broth and left with 10 minutes to make up on Ty. I was getting anxious.

I was feeling really good, I was fully hydrated, and the temps were holding and comfortable. I was running in a sleeveless jersey and gloves. I was sweating, but not much at the current night temps. Skies were clear. No threat of storms coming. Giddyup! It was time to put the hammer down if I was going to catch Ty. This was my chance. I needed to catch and pass him by Footbridge or he’d be hard to drop up the long climb to Dry Fork.

I ran the technical 6.5-mile section to the Narrows hard, at times a little reckless, but I felt motivated. I love this hard course. I wanted the record. I wanted to come back next year. “You can’t come back to Bighorn if you don’t win. You can’t come back to Bighorn if you don’t win.” Jennifer’s little motivator was whispering in the back of my head. Thanks, baby.

I hauled into the Narrows and immediately asked what Ty’s lead was. They said, “he just left, he’s 1 minute in front of you.” Sweet Lord Almighty! Awesome. Oh man, was I fired up now. I downed a cup of broth and went out of the Narrows at 11:40pm like a panther, ready to pounce.

I had been thinking of how I would pass him if I caught him. It was going to take a little “stategery.” Tom Neilson was the answer.

I remembered a story Rod Bien told me about a veteran California ultrarunner named Tom Nielson. Tom is in his late 40s and has been in the Top 10 at Western States 100 several times. The story goes like this: At Western one year, he had overtaken a competitor at night by flipping off his headlamp and only using his handheld light pointed at the trail directly in front of his feet until he was right up on the runner and said, “on your left,” flipped on his light, passed them, and dropped them.

I knew of his wily ways from Miwok 100k last season because he pulled a similar tactic on me. I had passed Tom, but he quickly caught back up to me on a long gravel road climb in the last 10 miles. He cruised along with me for a while, and then put the hammer down for 300-400 yards to put a big gap on me. Then, settled into the same pace again. By the time I figure it out, the damage was done. By doing so, he’d broken me mentally from keeping contact with him. Smart move.

So, that was the plan…I was going to pull a Tom Neilson. It was the perfect place to pull it too. The 3.5-mile section from the Narrows to the Footbridge is a series of steep downhill and switchback descents with at least half a dozen rolling 40-100 yard uphill sections. It’s curvy, wooded and in a tight canyon of granite boulders and cliff bands. If I passed him and put the hammer down I could leave him in his little bubble of light and he would have to bring it to keep contact with me.

When I caught up with Ty, he was hiking on a flat section at the bottom of a steep descent I was coming down. I quickly flipped off my headlamp, used my momentum off the downhill to blow by him at sub-8 minute pace and casually asked him “how you doin’ man?”…he replied, “hangin’ in there” and I quickly flipped on my headlamp and left him in his little bubble of light.

I ran hard on the curvy uphill section and then immediately into rollers and down some steep switchbacks. I pushed hard to the Footbridge, running every uphill section and descending fast over the next 3 miles. He hadn’t followed.

I knew I needed to put a gap and get in and out of the Footbridge aid before he arrived. Ty later told me at the finish that when I blew by him, he said to himself, “I just had my butt handed to me.” Perfect. That’s what I wanted him to think. Thanks, Tom Neilson!

I ran into Footbridge (mile 66) at 12:17am, weighed 153, ate a whole banana, got my gel from my drop bag, water, and got hiking up “The Wall” to Bear Camp. I was really motivated now and pushed the pace. I needed to put some cushion on Ty and fast. The climb up to Bear Camp is super-steep, 2200 feet in 3.5 miles.

At one point as you come up into an upper sagebrush meadow, you can see down the steep section you just came up. Ty’s light popped out of the scrub oaks below. Still only 5 minutes back probably. Dang. I ran every section that was remotely runnable and was power hiking hard on any steeps.

I hiked into Bear Camp at 1:17am to find the same scenario as last year. Everyone in their sleeping bags. That’s okay, I just need water. I helped myself and got out of there.

The next section is 6.5 miles uphill to Cow Camp. I was going on only gels every 15 minutes from the Footbridge and they were getting old. After a quick water refill at the spring, I was soon passing Head Dunk Tank, not too far from Cow Camp aid.

I hiked up into Cow Camp, refilled water and ate 5 or 6 orange wedges. Oh man! That was good! I left there at 2:55am and hit the 4WD double track to Dry Fork.

Last year, I thought I was lost on this section and was freaking out. Not this year, I knew I just stayed on the double track up to Dry Fork. I was feeling good and running a lot with short hike breaks.

Dry Fork is up on a ridge on a gravel road on the horizon and you can see it from 3 or 4 miles out, like a space station…the white tent glowing in the night. It was a dim glow at first. But, I knew when they spotted my lights, because the place got considerably brighter. They were getting ready. One of the aid station staff at Dry Fork later told me that they normally go to a cabin and sleep. However, they kept getting radio messages that Ty and I were on record pace and I was speeding up. They had opted to stay put and wait for my arrival.

As I approached Dry Fork, I could see my Dad’s cowboy hat silhouette against the tent craning to see who was behind the light. I gave a little “yee-haw” and he let out a big yell. He yelled, “how ya feelin’?” and I replied, “I think I’m gonna go after that record!” I was smelling the barn now with less than 18 to go.

My parents weren’t supposed to come to Dry Fork in the middle of the night. I told them to go to the motel and sleep and meet me at the finish. When they went to bed at 10:30pm, my Mom said to my Dad, “If Jeff can run 100 miles through the night, we can get up at 2:30am and crew him at Dry Fork.” Aren’t Mom’s great? They never quit worrying about you, even when your 34.

My Dad’s getting the hang of the crewing thing, as this is his second time (my brother and Dad crewed me at Wasatch in ’04). Before Wasatch, my folks didn’t fathom what I was talking about when I was explaining these crazy long trail races called ultramarathons. You really have to crew for someone at a 100 miler to fully appreciate and understand what it’s about. He knows firsthand and I think he’s hooked. Being a seasoned crewer, he had heard my water only request at Porcupine Aid and had already filled my bottles with water only at Dry Fork to save me time.

I went into the heated tent to weigh-in. Oh, this is bad. You’re perfectly acclimated to the cool night air and you go into a heated tent to weigh-in and get your drop bag. It really messes with your body temperature.

I stepped on the scale…109. What?! 109? The lady started to write it down when it soaked in. I was like, “that’s not right!” She shuffled me off and quickly set the dial on the scale to “0” and I weighed 154. Better.

I grabbed some gels and water and got going at 4:17am. The sun came up on the 5-mile section to Upper Sheep Creek. I arrived Upper Sheep at 5:20am, ate some orange wedges again and took off to cross Sheep Creek and climb “The Haul”—the last climb on the course—1400 feet in less than a mile.

I was about two-thirds of my way up, had my head down taking a gel, when I heard something that made me look up. A moose blocking my path at 80 yards. A big female standing broadside in the meadow next to the trail. I quickly scouted my escape route, as moose can be extremely aggressive, especially if there are young ones around and this one was female.

I had a stand of pines 40 yards to my right, parallel to the trail. I yelled. Her hackles stood up on her back. Great, she wasn’t budging. I started thinking; “this moose is going to keep me from the record!” I picked up a rock and heaved it in her direction and yelled again. The rock bounced 20 yards in front of her. She snorted and started to trot across the trail toward the stand of pines. She came to a walk and slowly made her way to the pines and stood just inside the first layer and stared at me. I started hiking again and quickly topped out the ridge for the final descent into the Tongue River Canyon.

With the moose behind me, I started the steep descent to the trailhead and the final gravel road section to the finish. I came off the trail into the Tongue River Canyon Trailhead Aid at 6:37am.

The aid station staff had just arrived and everything was still in the truck. They were panicked. They said, “you’re going to get the record!” and I said “heck, yeah! I just need water in one bottle and any fruit you might have.” The man frantically ripped open a water jug and poured me a bottle full while the lady quickly half peeled an orange. She gave me the half-orange and I got moving again, eating while I ran.

I ran the gravel road back to Dayton, totally pumped. I hit the paved road in town and entered Scott Park with a big “Yee-haw!” and my Dad yelling back. I came across the line in a new course record time of 20 hours, 24 minutes, 28 seconds. It was awesome. First thing I did was call Jennifer to tell her she and the kids were coming to Bighorn next year!

My Support Crew. Thanks to my wife, Jennifer, and kids, Benjamin and Annie…their patience with my crazy training at all hours and their presence in spirit and prayers and happy thoughts coming to me from Seattle. I know they wanted to be there (Jennifer barely slept Friday night). The Senator (Chris), and The Colonel (Sean), my parents and the race directors, staff and volunteers at Bighorn. They put on a hometown, stellar event, Wyoming-style. And all the Central Oregon ultrarunners, who are all so supportive and great training partners. It’s an awesome community we have.

My Sponsors. A big thanks to Patagonia for the gear and Footzone of Bend for my shoes and nutritional products—Teague, Super Dave, and the Footzone crew for my crazy requests and constant brainstorming of ways to improve my racing in their shop. Or, just listening to me when I have some new crazy idea.

Note on Central Oregon. We had a great showing, Sean Meissner won the 50 miler and Chris Kraybill came in 7th in his 50-mile debut. Also, Ryan Ness got 3rd place in the 30k. Ryan, Sean, Chris and I do a lunch tempo run out of the Footzone every Wednesday. It was cool to see such a strong showing from my Central Oregon homeys. Also, Rob Cain from Ashland broke into the top 10 with a 10th place finish in the 100 miler. Oregon was representin’!

I’m so pumped to get the record! I’ve thought about it for a year. It was the best race I’ve had yet. I feel very blessed to have come out on top and still be healthy and uninjured.