JAVELINA JUNDRED – Fountain Hills, AZ (October 29-30, 2022)

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/8044430399

I signed up for Javelina Jundred as soon as registration opened on January 1, 2022. I had first heard about this “ultra Jalloween party” in the desert from my 2019 Ragnar Trail Michigan relay race teammate Jens Lundy. At that time I had run a marathon and was registered for Tunnel Hill 50 but hadn’t yet run an ultra. But the way he described it (as a lot of fun) stuck in my mind and this event had been on my radar since.

I don’t have a coach, but I read Jason Koop’s Training Essentials for Ultrarunning Ed. 2 and I do follow some rules of thumb that I have improved upon over the last few years, including:

• Run a lot of miles, typically 40-60 miles per week, with approximately 80% easy trail miles and 20% faster speed work, typically on road or rail trail. Relatively lower mileage about every fourth week.
• Ease up at the first sign of anything that could become an injury, and prioritize rest and recovery. The “better to start a race undertrained than injured” has been good advice. I did back-to-back long days, but never three in a row. I also prioritized eating sufficient calories and a balanced diet. I believe that adequate sleep is one of the best things you can do to stay healthy and perform better. I’ve improved over past years, but feel this is an area I can continue to improve with.
• Keep the training fun. I did a great job keeping my training miles fun and enjoyable in their own right. Many of my long runs were part of my multi-year secondary quest to run all of the 1,161 miles of the Michigan segment of the North Country Trail, chunk by chunk, with some of my favorite people. Picking away at the Colorado 14ers (I summited four of them in September) was a such an amazing way to get vert training, too! Finally, nature photography while running always keeps it fun.
• To prepare for the desert heat and lack of shade at Javelina Javelina, while training in northern Michigan in the fall, I took four 30-minute hot baths the penultimate week before traveling to AZ.
• My longest training runs were in the 31-36 mile range, and my biggest weekend was a 52 section of the North Country Trail through beautiful Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (34 miles Saturday, and 18 on Sunday).

Months ago, I had asked my Michigan friends Matt and Amie to help pace and crew at Javelina Jundred. But then I signed up for Cocodona 250, and I told them both that asking them to travel to two races was a lot and that I could use their help more at Cocodona. Therefore, I had been planning to do Javelina on my own, which is doable with the looped course and ample aid stations. Fortunately I didn’t have to. My Michigan friend Kara has friends and family in Phoenix and graciously offered to pace me. She also rented a car, drove me around, and found us a place to stay (at a literal mansion) at her friend’s house. Thank you so much, Kara, for all of your help. It took the stress of logistics away and also helped financially.

I had also made a friend, Stephanie @desertrunnergurl, from Tucson, Arizona, through Instagram and she offered to help pace me as well. She also connected me to her friend Jamie, who crewed me and several other runners. It was so helpful to have a space and friends in Tent City every lap, so thank you both!

This was my third consecutive year of attempting a 100 miler in October. In October 2020, Amie and I took on the Mohican 100, but it was on a revised course that was 100% different from the normal route due to Covid and permitting issues. Consequently, we went out too fast on the twenty miles of road to start and I ended up with a knee injury. After walking most of miles 31-65 (including taking a wrong turn in the dark, which cost me 3 miles), we both DNF’d at the mile 62 aid station at around the 17 hour mark.

Last October, I tackled the Indiana Trail 100 and successfully completed my first 100 miler. I feel like I peaked early, though, in June/July, and coasted into the race struggling to maintain high mileage training weeks. I was able to get it done, though, in 26 hours 22 minutes 52 seconds.

I may have also peaked earlier this summer but I managed to stay injury-free and was able to go into this one feeling pretty strong and better prepared than the previous two attempts. Running in the desert heat and sun (and in a Jalloween costume, for the first loop), were unknowns. And of course anything can come up in an event of this length. But I went into Javelina Jundred with two primary goals: 1) just finish, and come away with that belt buckle and 2) secure my qualifier for the Western States Endurance Run, granting me another ticket in the WSER 2023 lottery. My strategy was to run it conservatively, to avoid “going out to fast” and to swat away the temptations/distractions of pushing for a sub-24 hour finish or a 100 miler PR (although I would end up getting the PR anyway). I also made the decision that I would finish no matter what, (barring a serious medical emergency), removing DNF (Did Not Finish) as an option in my mind while out on the course. Finally, I’m currently registered for Black Canyon 100K and Cocodona 250. While Javelina Jundred was definitely my A-race for 2022, I simultaneously approached it as a training and tune-up run for these upcoming desert races. Ultimately, I wanted to finish, without injuring myself, and I succeeded!

Overall, I’m very happy with how the race went. I finished in 25 hours, 58 minutes, 56 seconds. A new PR for the 100-mile distance by almost 24 minutes. Stephanie and Kara – I’m stubborn enough that I would have finished on my own, but I am 100% certain that having you both pacing me is what got me the sub-26 hour finish and PR. You both helped keep me pushing a little harder, and your company absolutely made laps 4 and 5 a ton more enjoyable that they would have been had I been out there on my own.

Javelina Jundred, which falls on the final weekend of October, bills itself as an Ultra Jalloween Party and I wanted to be festive and wear a costume (with the caveat that it wouldn’t interfere with my ability to run). I settled on a phoenix theme, for a handful of reasons:

• Orange is my favorite color, and the red-orange-yellow outfit theme was fun and fitting for the desert heat and sun exposure. I almost always run in board shorts, and I found a fun pair that fit the themed phoenix shirt, ice sleeves, and hat. I found a masquerade mask with a plume of fitting red feathers, and matched it all up with red compression calf sleeves, yellow Javelina Jundred gaiters, and red/orange Hoka Speedgoat 5 shoes. I also bought some dyed rooster and emu feathers on Etsy and glued them to an orange neck drape that fit over my hat and shielded my ears and neck from the sun. (Fun side note: I got away with using ZERO sunscreen at Javelina Jundred (with no regrets)).
• I like the symbology of the mythological phoenix. On a five-loop course, I imagined I would “rise from the ashes” of the previous lap to do it again (given that my race went so smoothly, that ended up being an overly dramatic mental image).
• The race is near Phoenix, Arizona (technically Fountain Hills). So phoenix in Phoenix. Why not?

Kara and I flew out of different Michigan airports on Thursday before the race and met at the Hertz car rental center at the Phoenix airport that morning. We grabbed a delicious lunch at Arcadia Farms Cafe in Old Town Scottsdale and did a grocery store run for race snacks and supplies. And candy corn. LOTS of candy corn. Then we went for an “easy” two-mile out-and-back hike that was probably more technical than what I should have been doing two days prior to running 100 miles, but it was fun and scenic. We took the Echo Canyon Trail up to the summit of Camelback Mountain. The photos below are from there.

I joined Kara and some of her family members for dinner and got a good night’s sleep. Friday was a chill day. Aside from packet pickup I mostly lounged around in bed and binge-watched the Book of Boba Fett (Star Wars universe) on Disney+.

Kara and I bought some merch and I got to chat with Camille Herron for a minute. We caught the race briefing and then returned to Kara’s friend Brooke’s house to rest. I was asleep by 8pm and grateful for a relatively restful night before the 4am alarm woke me up. That didn’t feel too harsh since my body clock was still on Eastern time and so it was more like a 7am wake-up.

It was race day. I had gotten through a training season in good shape for this event. I had dodged COVID and other illness in the days leading up to the race, and I made it to Phoenix without flight cancellations or delays. One thing we’ve learned in the past few years is these things can’t be taken for granted, and I was full of gratitude to be able to toe the line, regardless of how the run would unfold.

Kara and I rolled up to McDowell Mountain Regional Park in the dark, about an hour before my starting wave. Elite runners and sub-24 aspirants started in Wave 1, at 6:00am, and I got to cheer them on as they started in the dark. I had signed up for Wave 2, so my race kicked off at 6:30am. All 100 miler runners get 30 hours to finish, so I had to cross that finish line for the last time before 12:30pm Sunday. I also had to start my fifth and final lap by 6:30am Sunday, which was the only other hard cutoff for this race.

I got to meet Jamie and Stephanie, briefly, before my start. Kara and I also bumped into Jason Green of Yeti Trail Runners! The sun was rising and with the later start I didn’t need a headlamp to kick things off.

I found it helpful at Indiana Trail 100, which was also a looped course (four 25-mile laps), to incentivize each loop with a little reward to look forward to. I used the strategy again at Javelina and it was helpful. Lap 1 was taking in the course and scenery for the first time and chatting with other runners. Lap 2 reward was taking off that mask and feathered headdress, which were becoming heat traps as the sun rose. Lap 3 was my music round; I put my earbuds in and cranked up my favorite playlist. Lap 4 was getting to know my new friend and pacer Stephanie. Lap 5 was picking up my friend and pacer Kara, and checking off each section of the course for the last time, knowing a finish was imminent even if I was slowing down by then. Trekking poles are not permitted at Javelina Jundred or else I would have utilized them (Javelina Jundred is consequently now my new distance PR without the use of trekking poles).

Lap 1 – Miles 0 – 22

From the start line, the course runs a horseshoe through Tent City, with all the crew and spectators cheering you on. Then, you leave Javelina Jeadquarters and set off on the trail into the desert and it quiets down. There was some congestion with all the runners filing onto the trail, which starts off with a gradual climb over rolling terrain. I was content with following the pack and snapping a few photos as my muscles warmed up for the long haul. My mantra for the day was “settle in”.

I also started a little game with myself to try and complete every mile in 18 minutes or less, which is a pretty easy pace. (18 min/miles x 100 miles equates to 30 hours, which is the race cutoff). So, as long as my miles were faster than 18 min/miles I was ahead of cutoff pace. I failed to finish every single mile of the event at that pace, but I did complete the vast majority of the individual miles at an 18 pace or better, allowing me to build up and finish with a 4-hour buffer before the cutoff.

The phoenix mask was surprisingly comfortable (before it got too warm out). I was even able to wear my glasses over top of it. Getting comments on the outfit gave me a boost. I thought maybe I’d keep it on the whole race, but in hindsight ditching it after the first lap was a wise choice. It was a heat trap and besides, I don’t know how it would have worked with a headlamp during the night portion of the run. But I don’t regret completing the first loop with it.

After walking much of the first couple miles, the third and fourth miles were pretty flat and runnable until we reached the Coyote Camp aid station.

The most difficult section of the trail, and my least favorite especially on the final couple laps, was the next few miles after Coyote Camp. The trail is littered in loose, baseball-sized rocks that take careful attention to traverse, and it also rises up a long gradual uphill that is deceptively wearing on tired legs. Eventually, the trail dips down a bit, and then follows a roller coaster of small ups and downs on the way to Jackass Junction, which sits at the approximate halfway mark of each loop.

On the first loop only, we took a hard left just past the Rattlesnake Ranch aid station to follow the Escondido Trail, which was winding and littered with rocks. It also had some extra climbs that we wouldn’t see laps two through five. I met Sabrina “The Dragon” Huelga (congratulations on your finish!!!) on this section, and we kept leap-frogging each other through the end of that lap.

The masquerade mask fit comfortably and didn’t jostle while running, but as the temperature increased I could tell the mask, trucker hat, and feathered neck drape were trapping heat. I decided I would ditch it at Jeadquarters. I was happy to complete the Escondido Trail bit for the one and only time of the race. I came through Tent City at Javelina Jeadquarters and crossed the timing mat at 04:36:26, about 54 minutes faster than I had planned to complete the first 22 miles. But I didn’t feel like I was going too hard. I figured I would eventually slow down some, but felt like I was keeping my pace and heart rate in an acceptable range for the first go-around. I met Sara Jean in person, finally, as I ran through tent city.

Lap 2 – Miles 22 – 41.5

On my way out of Tent City to begin Lap 2 I picked up my wide brim hat (a great decision) and ate a pickle spear while Jamie shoved ice cubes into my arm sleeves. Stephanie and Kara cheered my on. Once I was back out on the trails Kara left to spend some time with her family and get a nap in, since she would be pacing me through the late hours of the night into early morning.

The strategy for Lap 2 was to keep moving while managing heat. I knew coming from a cold climate (I had been training in snow just two weeks before the race) that a potential issue at this race could be heat exhaustion and related issues (i.e., failure to keep food down, etc.). Keeping the phoenix ice sleeves on throughout the day paid off, as it allowed me to shove fresh ice cubes into them, keeping a slow release of ice water around my biceps and forearms that lasted for a good twenty or thirty minutes and really helped manage the heat. I heard it got up to about 82 degrees during the middle of the day, but I faired well. I also soaked my shirt with ice water at each aid station to help keep my core temperature down. Even so, my running pace slowed down compared to the first lap.

After passing the Coyote Camp aid station a second time, I noticed two women stopped on the trail, hunched over working on something. I had a suspicion, which was confirmed when I got closer and saw that one of them had a chunk of cholla cactus stuck in the back of her hand. Fortunately, I had bought a plastic comb just in case, and we were able to use it to get the cactus spines out. I made a mental note to be extra cautious in that spot, which had a lot of cholla looming close to the edges of the trail.

The path back to Javelina Jeadquarters was shorter on lap two since the remaining laps followed a more direct and easier trail back. I completed Lap 2 in 04:35:21, for a cumulative race time of 09:11:47. On pace for a sub-24 at that point but I didn’t worry about it. I was alternating between running and hiking and the hike breaks were starting to get longer. I expected to slow down overnight, but was happy with how I felt so far. No hint of knee pain, which is often the first problem I have in longer runs, and no hot spots or blisters. I actually didn’t need to take my shoes off once the entire 100 miles. The gaiters kept debris out, and the Wright Socks Coolmesh II socks I was wearing kept my feet surprisingly happy throughout.

Lap 3 – Miles 41.5 – 61

I checked in with Stephanie and Jamie before starting my third lap (and also got to briefly meet Kylie Aldaz and Matt Halverson). I had my headlamp with me, as the sun would set midway through my third lap. My reward for Lap 3 was music. I jammed to my pre-downloaded ultra playlist and that gave me a huge boost of new energy as I made my way through the now-familiar course for the third time. The sun was lower in the sky and the temperature was noticeably cooling. I had been able to eat and hydrate well so far, and with the worst of the heat behind me, I had a surge of confidence that I would be finishing this race. As long as I continued to take in calories and stay on top of hydration. And I did.

I’m typically an evening runner, and I felt rejuvenated once the sun set. I still walked the uphills, but I was happy to be moving well on the downs. I finally pulled out my headlamp about a mile before Jackass Junction. Coyotes were yipping all over. It was cool. I topped off my water and ate some watermelon and other food at Jackass Junction and then, with a good series of high-energy songs to push me, ran most of the section down to Rattlesnake Ranch. I maybe went a little too fast on the section, with more than 40 miles still ahead, but I took the momentum when I had it. I needed a porta potty break and a bit of a reset at Rattlesnake, before finishing off the third loop. My lap three time was 05:00:20; cumulative race time of 14:12:08 through 61 miles. Slower. But that late in the race I had built up enough of a buffer to know that I could walk 39 miles and still finish in thirty hours. Not that I wanted to. My main motivation for pushing myself to continue to run was to limit my time on the course so I could go eat a real meal and sleep in a bed, and to wrap this race up before the Sunday sun could rise too high in the sky and warm things up again. Of course, it would be more fun for my pacers to get to do some real running and finish sooner, too, rather than spending extra time out there shuffling through the dark desert.

Lap 4 – Miles 61 – 80.5

Kara was resting off-site, but Jamie was there to hand me some hot broth and noodles and Stephanie was ready to join me for a run through the first half of the night.

Stephanie had a Kogalla light, which was super bright and helpful. While it lasted. It got us through about two hours before it died. Fortunately, my headlamp was still shining bright and she was prepared with a backup headlamp.

I walked a substantial portion of the first half of Lap 4, knowing I could make up time on the back half. I kicked a few rocks in the dark, and expected to have some black toenails after this race (but I didn’t!). We chatted almost the whole time and that helped the distance seem so much shorter. I was able to run for longer spurts on the back half, as expected, and the temperature was just right for running in a t-shirt.

Stephanie kept me moving and we reached the start/finish line with a lap time of 05:42:48, putting my cumulative time at 19:54:56.

Lap 5 – Miles 80.5 – 100

Kara was ready to see me through to the end. Jamie snapped a quick photo of the three of us before Kara and I headed out on the fifth and final lap.

We started off hiking, and again I tried to run a little of every mile but walked the majority of the section up to Jackass Junction. This was noticeably slower, as I was getting sleepy and my legs fought back more when I asked them to run. I ate salted potatoes cubes and drank Coca Cola for the sugar and caffeine at each aid station on Lap 5. That gave me enough of a boost to keep moving through the night. Sorry Kara, for not being the most conversational partner at this time in the race, but your company and conversation did help so much. Getting to Jackass Junction for the last time was a huge mental win. The toughest of the course was behind me. And as we set off for the final ten miles the sky began to lighten. The sun was rising. I tried to appreciate the beauty of the fiery desert morning sky as much as Kara was, but through the exhaustion it was a surreal experience. Thanks Kara for taking photos to capture these moments!

Kara did a fantastic job coaxing me to kick it into run mode anytime the trail sloped downhill. Without a doubt, her fantastic job as a pacer at the end is what got me in under the 26 hour mark.

When we finally reached the 99.5-ish mile mark and Javelina Jeadquarters came into view, I was able to run up the final little hill and run that final victory lap through Tent City at a continuous and almost easy 12 minute/mile. I came crossed the finish line strong and content, but also happy to be done running. 26 hours is a long time to be on one’s feet, as I was reminded by Javelina Jundred! It took me 06:03:59 to complete Lap 5, but that was plenty quick enough to finish the event. My official time was 25:58:56.

I was pretty stiff and sore the afternoon after running, but a Chipotle burrito (thanks Kara!), chocolate (thanks Stephanie!), and solid night of sleep helped, and I was able to walk well enough to get around in the airports on my trip home on Monday. For the second consecutive year, I threw my name in the hat for the Western States Endurance Run lottery and I’m feeling a lot better now (writing this one week later and I’ve already done a five-mile shakeout run that felt pretty good!). My sights are on Cocodona 250, now!

I’ll end with some things I’ve learned after three attempts and two finishes at the 100-mile distance. You can’t extrapolate pain or exhaustion. Some of the miles I struggled with most on this run were miles 24-28. A few years ago, I might have stressed out about that, thinking that I’d be twice as sore at mile 50, and at least three times as sore and exhausted at mile 75. That’s rubbish. Catching second, third, fourth winds during a long ultra is a real thing, as long as you keep putting calories in your body, keeping on top of hydration, and caring for your feet/small potential injuries early so they don’t become major problems. I’m amazed at how it’s possible to feel absolutely spent at one point in a race, but then be flying with spring in my step forty miles later. Feed your muscles, so they don’t feed you (literally, you’re body will eventually break down muscle for energy if you don’t give it enough food as fuel) and be smart about water and electrolytes, and your body will do amazing things with that. A little well-timed caffeine can be an amazing pick-me-up too. And for me, at Javelina, salty noodle broth, watermelon, and salted potato were particularly helpful aid station items. On Lap 4 I said something to Stephanie to the effect of “you only feel pain in the present“. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been tired and hurting for 20 hours straight, at any particular moment you only feel the pain in that moment and the rest of it has evaporated into the past. That thought just makes pain so much more manageable at any given time. Step-by-step, moment-by-moment, is the process. At least for me.