My Upcoming "Mini"-Slam

I am starting to wind down on my training this summer (if I can REALLY call it that) and entering ‘taper mode’ for my own little version of my summer/fall Slam: Lean Horse 100, Heartland 100, Motherroad II, and Javelina Jundred. For the super observant, you’ll notice that there aren’t any mountain 100 milers in my list this year. Yep. I'm taking a break from the mountain climbing 100’s of the past and focusing on more low-key, mellower 100’s. A 100 is still a 100, regardless whether it’s at high altitude, tons of climbing, or flat and straight. They are still tough and a long way to go.

My reasons for this list of four are varied, and oddly enough there is some logic and reasoning to it:


I have been intrigued by Lean Horse since it started a few years ago, but it conflicted with the Leadville 100. It is held the week after Leadville, Aug 23-24. Well, I’m not doing Leadville this year, and decided to say “Yeah”! I also saw the finishing belt buckle award from my friend Nattu and what a kick-ass buckle it is. I gotta have one of those. I originally had visions of a sub-24 hour there (which is very doable), but realistically, with my lack of proper training, I think that is a lofty goal. Right now I want to finish under 26 hours. The course is mostly on the Mickelson Trail in SD, a “trails-to-rails” project that is a gradual up to the 50 mile turnaround and back to the start in Hot Springs, SD. Lorraine and I plan on going out a few days early and do some sightseeing.


Heartland, Oct 11-12, is an old favorite. This will be my third time there, and I always love the support and venue. Having grown up in the area as a lad also brings to me a special appeal. I ran it 2 years ago in memory of my mom and dad, who both passed away earlier in that year due to complications with pneumonia. It was probably one of my more emotional finishes in memory. Both of them grew up and lived the bulk of their lives in that area of Kansas. I’ve heard people ask me if it is an easy 100. Well it is, and it isn’t. It ain’t flat by any means, but the climbs are short but they are many. I always struggle to finish the last 10 miles or so. I always get a kick when I run into a herd of cattle blocking the road, and the prairie chickens scare the shit out of me at night, as they tend to roost near the ground at night and will fly up and make a commotion as you run by them, sight unseen at night. I’ve also seen the glowing eyes of cows staring at me at night as well. I also like the non-traditional pre- and post-race feeds: no pasta in Kansas, please! Meat and potatoes! And lots of it!


Motherroad II, Nov 8-9, is a race that originally didn’t offer up much appeal: 100 miles of asphalt running on an old highway along I-40 in Oklahoma. Having down a fair amount of storm chasing in this area while at the University of Oklahoma (working on my B.S. degree in Meteorology), I figured I might want to revisit the area. Like Heartland, it ain’t flat, but rolling. Two years ago the race ran on the eastern route of Route 66 from Arcadia to Sapulpa. This year, it takes the western part of old Highway 66: Elk City to El Reno. An odd connection there is my brother, who currently lives in El Reno, used to live in Elk City. The other nice thing about this route is that this part of 66 is basically a frontage road to I-40, so not a lot of semi-truck traffic will be an issue, unlike the run two years ago which was crawling with semis and a lot of scared runners. I also want to try my hand at running 100 miles on asphalt, as Badwater is a run I want to try but not sure of the asphalt aspect of that race. Why not try it out and see?


Last but not least is Javelina, Nov 15-16. You’ll notice it is the following weekend after Motherroad. Is this logical? Dunno. We’ll see if I can muster it up to do it. I won’t know until after Motherroad is over if I can. My race plan for these two are simple: run easy, run slow, and have fun. So, no PR’s or visions of great times are in my strategy here. If I can finish Motherroad under the 30 hour time limit and feel like I didn’t kill myself in the process (meaning, going slow and easy and limiting injuries) then I can do the same for Javelina. I have to put blame on this last run on my running fiend, er, friend Vince Gerber. We both have 5 finishes there. In fact, we are the only ones who have completed all 5 runs of Javelina. Well, much to my chagrin Vince decided to sign up for number 6. I can’t let him get the best of me, so I did the same too. But the only way I can finish it is I HAVE to go easy on MR II AND Javelina. I’ll let Vince go ahead and kick my ass there this year (he's been mega-dosing with Viagra in prep for this race), but at least he won’t have the bragging rights of finishing Javelina a week after a 100 mile run in Oklahoma, or four 100's the previous 3 months! I guess the gauntlet has been thrown. Ker-plunk!