Another Reason For REDEMPTION : DNFing the Bighorn 100
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Running 100 miles through the mountains is hard. Running 100 miles through the mountains with the flu was something I thought my experience and will to finish would carry me through, but I was sorely mistaken.
I got into Sheridan on Thursday, the day before the run, and picked up my bib and all the fun Bighorn swag. The 8 hour drive from Utah wasn't that bad compared to some drives I've done in the past before races. I left my drop bags in the proper trailers to be taken to the 3 major aid stations.
Now it was time to meet up with Anthony, my good friend from Boulder who would go on to win the Bighorn 100, but we'll get to all that. We hit the grocery store for some last minute things, ate at Pony Boy and then we went to the pre-race meeting. For dinner we got pizza at MrJims. After MrJims I went back to my hotel room and laid out my gear for the next day.
After a decent night of sleep I woke up for continental breakfast and ate some eggs and bacon before heading into Dayton to catch the shuttle to the start line. I chatted with my buddy Rob who I met up in Canada last year while I was running Fat Dog. We picked up our trackers at the start line and began the wait for 9am.
The race started a little late, maybe 5 minutes, and then we were off. 300 runners all with the same goal headed out to Jaws. The first section is about 13 miles and is nearly all climbing. 4-5k feet of gain later you drop down into Dry Fork AS where I had my first drop bag. On the way to Dry Fork my heart rate was sky rocketing into the high 160s and I still felt really sick. I was coughing and blowing my nose constantly. Honestly, it had me pretty worried that the heat plus the flu that just wouldn't let go of me were going to be a quick end to my day.
Around mile 20 some clouds rolled in and the temps dropped to a nice 70 degrees or so. Now I was moving. My heartrate went down to a normal zone and all my walking turned into mostly running. In the 17 miles from Dry Fork to Sally's I passed what felt like 100 people. The rolling trails and steep downhill into Sally's all felt great. I had another drop bag at Sally's with more maple syrup and all my night time/cold weather gear. At mile 39 who do I see? None other than Anthony cruising down in first place and a whopping 20 miles or so in front of me. He looked happy to be leading and calm and collected even though 2nd and 3rd were close behind. The sun was setting now and it was time to layer up and get the head lamp out.
About 5 miles out from Jaws is when the real mud that I heard so much about made it's appearance. Each step was ankle deep mud and water as I climbed the last few miles up to the turn-around. When I got to sit and eat some hot food at Jaws I thought "This is it. I'm going to make it if I don't drop here." "All I have to do is get out of here. There is plenty of time and I don't feel totally destroyed yet." I put even more layers on, changed batteries in my camera and headlamp, refilled water and got out of there.
After leaving Jaw I was averaging 15-20 minute miles. Within 5 miles of heading back to Dayton my body just shut down and went into limp mode. "Fuck." My pace was now between 30-40 minute miles and my feet were in bad shape. All the mud that had gotten into my shoes during the 10 miles of mud slinging fun had now caused trench foot and a few blisters, one that was under a toenail. I tried putting more calories down and drinking water, but nothing was seeming to bring my body back to life.
At this point I had 13 miles to Sally's where I could drop from the race. I did some shitty runners math and the numbers weren't looking good. Those 13 miles took me about 10 hours to complete. I made it to Sally's an hour before cutoffs and handed in my tracker and bib. I was done.
A huge shoutout to all the volunteers and race directors that made this run possible and have been hosting Bighorn for 31 years now.
I'm sorry you didn't get the result you want. Thank you for keeping it real. I appreciate seeing the downs and not just the ups. Loved seeing the baby, too!
Thank you for watching! I’m definitely not opposed to keeping it real. I had a hard day out there and I think it helps for people to see that even someone who’s finished a bunch of these still has many downs along the way. Now I’m just that much more driven to get it done next time 💪🏻
keep on grinding. its never a bad call to dnf. no need to kill yourself or have such a terrible experience you don't want to go back. love your channel, btw!
Thank you for the kind words. Live to fight another day!
@@psillyrunner8650 i should have also mentioned, i was in SLC 1 year ago and made it down to Kyhv Peak completely based off watching your vlogs. it was my first mountain trail experience (and a great one!). prior to this, all my runs were on road, marathons, and eastern trails, which are an awesome green tunnel experience but not the same as those mountains. thanks for the vlog!
Woohoo! I made it in the movie!!!
Good effort out there! Bummer about the DNF... and good luck at tushar, it's a great race!
Thank you sir!! I’ll get the next one when I don’t have the flu haha. Was funny leap frogging each other for a while out there
I saw you In the video in your iconic jet as well! Looking forward to your video also.
Simon!! Love your Vids too bro, I knew I saw you, your super funny and enjoy the content.
@@wetwoodchuck@seechadrun thanks y’all!
Frickity Frick! Not easy to get these big dogs done with less than perfect health. But look at the that beautiful Baby, you are a blessed man! Hope to see you at Champman or somewhere in the Hardrock arena soon bro.
Truly blessed! I’m placed out at Sherman this year so I’ll be a little out of the way but I’ll be in Silverton Thursday night and Friday day. Let’s meet up if we can for sure!
Love the honesty, being sick is the worst. Hope you recover well and enjoy the next one!
Thank you 🙏🏻 feeling much better now and looking forward to training for Tushars!
@@psillyrunner8650 Glad to hear it, myself and a buddy are doing the 100km Fatdog and I found your full 120M video! Hoping it goes well! It looks stunning!
You are amazing!!!! I’m so proud of you, regardless of a total finish 🩷🩷
Thank you, beautiful! I love you ❤️❤️
Love the vids man. The narrating isa vibe homie
Haha thank you!! I’ll keep the vibes coming 💪🏻💪🏻
Great seeing you down there man. Was a tough day in there. Great video and you’ll be back stronger
Great seeing you too Rob! Hoping we’ll be at the same race again soon! Good luck on your big year this year and congrats on the Bighorn finish 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
Sorry to hear about the dnf. I dnf'd the hundo twice. The heat was killer for me. Gotta be one of the most beautiful races in the U.S. I'll definitely be back to give it another go.
So beautiful out there. It’s on my list of “need to go back” now! And yeah that heat is tough for me too
It's not an adventure if you know how it ends. Kudos on the effort.
Think I should change the title? Gimme a suggestion if so.
@@psillyrunner8650 The title is perfect as it. The quickest way to never succeed is to never try. Well done.
Keep it on !!!
It was a beatdown. it was my first ultra and I also dropped at Sally's. Just learned a ton along the way. At mile 55, my energy fell off a cliff and my feet were equally destroyed. That stretch back to Sally's was incredibly painful on the feet. Live and learn.
It’s a tough sport! Live and learn 💪🏻
From your Point of View the race was started quite at the wrong moment. So don’t be disapointed that much… in this special case and with some understanding and looking back it was a great job you have made out there. You will come back stronger. Leaving the flu/deamons behind… anyway thx for sharing my friend.
Yeah it was tough not to be disappointed in the moment with how I was still sick, but now I’m just excited to go back one day. I’m sure I’ll feel great for Tushars at the end of July and looking forward to that!
🔥 🔥 🔥
Great video my friend! Beautiful trails. Parts of it looked quite exposed. Can only imagine how hot it can get without cloud coverage. Still, this is a race that I've got my eye on. Thanks for sharing!
Definitely out in the sun for a while in certain sections. But the vibes are great and the course is so beautiful. Definitely will be going back to this one eventually.
You can do Ouray 100.
I’d like to try one day! Just hard because it’s so close to Hardrock and I don’t have infinite PTO haha
@@psillyrunner8650 I meant to get your qualifier for next year. Want to come out and pace me for Silverheels 100? Get that mileage in for Europe. I can recommend some race for you in Europe.
Sorry you had to drop but awesome effort pushing though as far as you did, not feeling well and with messed up feet. Now you have a reason to go back! Glad you have your qualifier from Fatdog, good luck in the HR lottery!
Thank you Mo! I watched your video a lot before the race. One of the best BH100 vids out there 👌🏻👌🏻
@@psillyrunner8650 Thanks! Maybe we'll meet at Hardrock next year, fingers crossed!
It was a day! I need to go back as well, I missed cut off at Dry Fork inbound. Your anger at the mud and water in your last in race clip... I felt that. Ha! Better luck next try! It is a gorgeous course.
Haha yeah my feet were driving my emotions for a while there 😂😂 I’ll be going back in the next few years for sure. And at least you left Sally’s. That was way too daunting for me at the time.
@@psillyrunner8650 The wall out was not fun! I'm hoping for revenge in '26, Maybe I'll see you out there!
Thanks for the shoutout, BROSKI!! Proud of you for giving it a go after the sickness. Glad we got to hang and catch up! You're going to bounce back! Recover well, bud!
Glad we got to catch up too, brother! Congrats again on a phenomenal performance up there! Proud as hell of you dude!
2:33 There's a nice collection of hydration vests and quivers...... and response to the reliably / better quivers ??
Great video! My one friend says, DNF means do not forget. I find there is so much to be learned in these events. They don’t always go as planned and you can take all the learnings and come back even stronger. Keep at it! Love your videos.
Thank you Holly and I hope you’re doing well!! Hopefully I won’t get the flu before Tushars in a few weeks! I’m ready to comeback much stronger 💪🏻💪🏻
That timing of getting sucks but oh well. Shit happens. I’m running the 70k at Tushars. I’ll look out for you on trail!
I’ll see you out there! Have you seen the course changes??
Just saw the email about the course changes. Looks pretty significant. I’ve never run it anyway, so I won’t know the difference. Delano peak sounded awesome though. Maybe I’ll try to hike it on my time while I’m there. If I survive the high altitude.
what camera are you using
The Insta360 Ace Pro