The Background
The only training I did between Wild Hare 50k one week prior and the Dinosaur Valley 100k was some stairs at work during breaks. Wild Hare was a pretty good training run for Dinosaur Valley. While there are no big hills there, there are some rocks and it's not flat.
Big picture, I was looking to find some redemption after DNFs at my last two long races: Mohican 100 Mile and Canal Corridor 100 Mile. Plus, I missed earning a Western States qualifier for the 2026 lottery. The Dinosaur Valley 100k offered a change to qualify for the 2027 lottery with a generous cutoff time of 22 hours.
I had reserved group camping at the Pachy/Sauropod site. Then, I would have to drive 15 minutes to the race hub. Then, I would have to take a 15 minute shuttle to the start. Such logistics make me nervous, but it all went pretty smoothly.
The Race
It was great weather: cool in the day and not too cold later that night. They started the race off by playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" sung by Whitney Houston and "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen, which is about as good as it gets.
The course would be 6 10.5 mile loops, which meant 63 miles. My GPS was measuring these as a bit long, and it ended up as 64.29 miles. You head out 2.75 miles or so to the Fenceline Aid with a couple of climbs. Then you start a 5.5 mile section with a climb up to the overlook of the Paluxy River. There is a nice relatively smooth hill that leads to some steps. At this point, you are 4 or so miles into the loop. There is some slower up and down singletrack and then a climb up. The trail smooths out a bit then for a while till you get back to the Fenceline Aid. Then you head back to the start the same way.
On loop 1, I ran a few 11- and 12-minute miles. Wanting to avoid going out too fast, I purposefully slowed a bit after mile 8. I went from 127th place to 148th place as I finished Loop 1 in 2:25.
On loop 2, I ran what was runnable to 13 miles. For some reason I decided to play music early at times when I saw that the trail was wide enough for people to pass me easily. I bombed down the hill from the top of the overlook of the river to Aerosmith's "Cryin'."
Then I mostly switched to powerhiking with a few scattered runs the rest of the way. I dropped down from 184th to 199th place, finishing Loop 2 by 5:24, a 2:59 split.
On loop 3, I felt pretty good and knocked out several 15-minute miles hiking. I progressed from 199th to 178th place, finishing Loop 3 in 8:24, a 3-hour split.
Starting loop 4, I hit a low point. It wasn't as bad as at Canal Corridor, where my vision got blurry, but I felt weak. Wanting to avoid a 20-mile stagger like at Canal Corridor, I sat down at the Fenceline Aid Station and ate 3 bacon and cheese quesadillas and drank coke. That seemed to work, and I did not hit another major low for the rest of the race. I made sure to eat a lot from that point on, burgers and quesadillas. I knocked out some 16-minute miles and moved from 178th to 172nd place. I finished loop 4 in 11:45, a 3:21 split.
Feeling strong but moving a bit slower, I hiked loop 5, the best miles being 16-minute pace. I moved from 172nd place to 149th place, finishing loop 5 in 14:57, a 3:12 split. I think at the end of that loop, everyone, including me, was singing along to the beginning of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
I had told myself that once I got to loop 6, I didn't need to worry about anything. I could tell the Western States Qualifier was in the bag if I kept moving. I debated running to get it in under 18 hours, but decided to just take care of myself, as I was very happy with 18 hours. I kept steadily hiking, then ran a bit on the last mile. I moved from 149th place to 121st place, finishing in 18:06, a 3:09 split. I was 121st of 226 finishers (bottom 53%) and 279 starters (top 43%). The average pace by my GPS was 16:54.
When I finished, a guy checked my time and said, "Yes, you are a 100k finisher and a Western States qualifier!"
Reflections
I ran this race well. I didn't go out too fast, stayed on top of my nutrition, and gave it a good effort. I could have a been a touch too conservative or weak in the last bit not to fight harder to get it in under 18 hours. But that is way better than blowing up and a DNF like at Canal Corridor 100.
My take away is that for 100k and 100 mile, I need to go out slower and eat more. This is pretty basic stuff, but easy for me to forget. On long races especially, I need to not worry so much about time goals and take care of myself through 50k.
I was so happy to earn the Western States qualifier. I felt like a made something out of the season. It actually was a pretty good year, with a Bandera 100 finish, a 4:45 Houston Marathon, and a 3rd place overall at Jackalope Jam 6 Hour. I finished 19 races marathon distance or longer, my most since 2020 and my most non-virtual races in a year.
Well, my plan is to take a 3 week mini-break, then start running after UHD's commencement. Then, I will kick off the year with Texas Marathon - Kingwood and Bandera 100k.
