Beaverhead 100K

Sometimes I'm not exactly sure what goes through my head! Last year I ran a 50 mile race, which is something I wasn't sure I would actually be able to accomplish. I did accomplish it, and it didn't even destroy me; not by a long shot. But, I was happy with that being the longest distance I would ever attempt. Then Amanda messaged me and asked if I would ever consider running the Beaverhead 100k. She attempted it a couple years earlier and didn't finish. She was out for redemption, and she wanted someone to run it with. I looked it up, saw that it had a RIDICULOUS amount of elevation (11,500 ft), and was run mostly at between 9000-10,000 ft. 😳 Apparently it doesn't take much to talk me into stupid stuff, because I registered for it.

I trained really hard, and when the race came around, I knew that I had done everything I could to get ready for it. I knew I was mentally tough enough for it, but I wasn't totally sure how my body would hold out. There was a lot of stress leading up to the race, but once it got underway, like usual, I calmed down and just enjoyed the day. 

Packet pick up and the pre-race meeting the night before. Mark bought us all cute Beaverhead hats.

It was a 4:00AM start time, so we camped at the start line the night before. Mark and I slept in the back of my x-terra, and Steph slept in her truck.

These guys were AWESOME! They got up at 3:30 in the morning and helped me get ready for the start.

Tricia & Amanda
Ready to get started!

The first couple hours of the race was in the dark, which I loved. There was just a long line of runners and their headlamps in front of us and behind us. 

The race ran along the Continental Divide Trail.

The smoke was horrible because of all the fires. Amanda and I had sore throats and a smoker's cough when we woke up the next morning. The only good thing about all the smoke, was that it made for a beautiful sunrise and sunset that day.

Mark, Steph, and Larissa crewed for us. They were so great! We got to see them at 3 aid stations during the race. They had everything ready for us, and I'm not sure we would have made the cut off times if it wasn't for them. This was our first time seeing them at mile 27. 

The wildflowers along the course were amazing!

Amanda in a field of yellow flowers.

This was about the half way point. Thirty miles down, thirty to go!

Running into an aid station.

It was really sad to run through the burned areas.

When the tree went down from the fire, it took this rock with it. 

We went along this whole ridge, up that mountain, and did several more just like it!

Starting along one of the long ridges.

On our way to the final aid station that had a cut off time. We stopped for a second to cool off in a small snow patch.

I was pretty confident at this point that we were going to make the last cut off time. It was a little stressful for a while, but we were almost there at this point.

Documenting the point where I reached the farthest I had ever run before.

We made it through the final cut off point. We only had ten miles to go; little did we know how long that ten miles was going to take us.

I was in pretty good spirits at this point. This was the most beautiful part of the whole course. We took our time through here and just enjoyed the views.

Even with the crazy smoke, the views were amazing!

I was in two places at once! I was straddling the Idaho/Montana border.

On top of the world!

It was VERY slow going through the scree field, but at least we had a beautiful sunset to watch as we picked our way through.

The scree field was long, brutal, and took us about 45 minutes per mile. I thought it was never going to end. This was about the point in the race when I just wanted to be done. I knew we still had the crazy downhill that I had heard so much about, and I knew we would probably be doing it in the dark. 

My feet took a beating! The downhill was just as bad as we had heard, but my back handled it like a champ. My toes didn't do as well. Every step was so painful.

When I saw this sign, I just wanted to cry happy tears. I was emotionally drained at this point!

When we saw this sign, I'm pretty sure Amanda did cry. 😂 The smoothies were the BEST! Just what we needed to get us the last few never ending miles!

We started in the dark at 4:00 in the morning. Over twenty hours later, we finished in the dark, after midnight. We crossed the finish line, I saw Mark (and Bailey on facetime), burst into tears, and said, "I just want to go to sleep." Physically I was still okay (except my poor feet were trashed), but emotionally I was drained. I don't even think it was the distance that got me. I actually handled that pretty well. It was just the amount of time out there. I wanted my pack off, and I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep.

We slept in the car at the finish line that night, and headed home in the morning.

I feel really proud of what Amanda and I accomplished. We were a great team and worked really well together. Not only did we finish a 100k, but we finished one of the hardest ones out there. There is something I love about pushing my body and mind past what I thought they were capable of. There is also something so rewarding about seeing things that you can only get to on foot, with a lot of effort. The views on this course were incredible!

I cracked up when my Garmin app told me that I had made 853% of my step goal. 😂

I've already had people ask me if I would do it again. Now that I have a bit of distance from the race, I can honestly say I would. Not this race, because this one just takes forever, and being out there for that long was the hardest part for me. But my body handled the distance pretty well. I'm going to give myself a stress free year of not a lot of races, and then I have a plan for 2023. I would like to sign up for a 24 hour race, and just see what I can do. That way there is no pressure of not finishing something, and I can just see what my body is capable of. If my back continues to hold out the way it has been, I really feel like I'm capable of going over 70 miles. We shall see!