The 2021 Brazos Bend 100 was the fourth time I ran the 100 mile race. It may have been the best time I had running the race. I finished Brazos Bend in 21hr 39min. My original stretch goal was to complete in under 20 hours. I realized after the second loop that under 20 hours was not likely to happen, so I adjusted my plan and pace to finish in under 24 hours.
It was very late into the race before I remembered that the bigger buckle is for finishing in under 22 hours. I had to adjust my plan and pace yet again to finish in time. I was thrilled to complete the race in 21:39 with no vision issues, which have plagued me in the past at Brazos. To top it off, I saw more alligators on the course than I had ever seen before. I even stopped to get a selfie with one.
Course & Race Description
Brazos Bend 100 is a 100 mile race that consists of 6 laps through Brazos Bend State Park in Texas. Each lap is around 16.67 miles. The trail is flat, non-technical and mainly consists of wide fire roads. The race takes place in early December and it usually starts off cold in the upper 30s or low 40s, warming up throughout the day. This year it was very warm and humid with temperatures peaking in the mid to upper 80s.
Training & Prep
Brazos Bend 100 was just 2 weeks after Texas B.M.F. – the last runner standing race I ran in. Since I completed ~75 miles at BMF, I decided to break from running and rest up between the races. I went on a short walk each day and did one short ~5k run in between the 2 races. While I was happy with my performance at BMF, the fact that I did not get to 100 miles (or 24 laps) made me doubt that I would be able to complete Brazos in under 24 hours. I decided to set myself a stretch goal of completing the race in under 20 hours. That would be a personal best.
Preparing for the race was pretty easy. I still had a lot of fuel and food left over from races all year, so I packed a set more geared towards minimal stops. Since I had issues at previous races with getting enough calories, I decided to go pretty heavy on Tailwind. I also had a lot of Tailwind packs that were close to their expiration date. I also packed a Red Bull for laps 4, 5, & 6 plus a couple more just in case.
I was used to it being cold during Brazos, so I packed a lot of layers in my race tub just in case the weather took a turn. My plan was to have a weather resistant tub filled with food and clothing, a cooler for my drinks, and a chair that I could sit down in between laps to restock on fuel, change socks, etc.
The Day Before
I arrived at Brazos Bend State Park the day before the race to pick up my pack and take a quick look around. They had changed the parking rules this year, so I was curious if anything else about the course, starting area, or parking had changed.
I checked in, picked up my packet, received my race hoodie, and bought a couple stickers. It was good to see and quickly catch up with some folks, like Marc. I then proceeded to check out the starting area where anyone can set up their own area for aid and crews. It seemed a little more full than I remembered from past years. After a quick walk around, I checked out the outlook where I saw a small alligator chilling in the water.
I decided to skip the pre-race meeting after hearing from Rob that it would be a recap of the information in the pre-race emails. I went to the hotel I had booked for the night. Made a simple dinner of grains and pasta and went to bed early.
Race Day
Brazos has a pretty early start time, 6:00am, and the hotel was about 30 minutes away. With the new parking rules, I had miscalculated how early to arrive to get a close parking spot. By the time I arrived, all the close spots were taken. I was able to drop off my gear close to the starting area before having to park about a quarter mile away.
After parking and getting back to the starting area, I was able to get a spot right off the trail squeezed between two other setups for my chair, tub, and cooler. It wasn’t too far from the aid station and near a tree which would make it easy to find in the dark.
As the race time was getting closer, I went over to the starting line to get ready. It really struck me how much warmer this year was so compared to others. In the past, I was bundled up with multiple layers, a hat, gloves, etc. This year, I was in just shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. While waiting for the start, I saw Alberto and walked over to chat with him. We had both just run the Texas BMF race about 2 weeks prior. He was doing well, but he had run into unexpected traffic on the way in and it seemed to throw off his schedule a bit.
Soon the countdown started and we were off. I took off at a good pace, very mindful of not pushing too hard but enough to set me up for a sub 20 hour finish. The course was in great condition and the temperature was pleasant for the first loop. It was pretty much the same course as previous years with a small exception – a short out-and-back was replaced with a little added loop. It was a nice change since that out-and-back was pretty boring to run. This did change the distances between aid stations. I had to adjust some of my planned fuel stops to account for the shorter distance between the start/finish and first aid station and the extra distance between the 2nd and 3rd stations. The first loop went well. I finished in 2:41:00. To hit my sub 20hr goal, my loop times had to average under 3:20:00. Only being 40 minutes under on my first loop made me a little nervous about hitting my stretch goal.
I made a quick stop to get some fuel and started the second loop. I was trying to maintain my pace, but I was struggling a little. With my recent race experiences, I knew that I had to do a better job on calorie consumption. I made myself a Tailwind drink and made sure to drink it. I also was reminding myself to eat my gel packs and other fuel I brought. Even though it was heating up, my mood was great. I began to wonder if some of my negative energy and mood at recent races was due to lack of calories.
As the day progressed, it was getting hotter and more humid. The heat and the humidity was really taking a toll on my pace in the last quarter of the second loop. I felt like I was pushing my pace more than I would like, even though I was behind the pace I wanted to be. When I crossed the finish line, the second loop took me 3 hours and 29 minutes. This loop took me longer than my minimum loop time to hit under 20 hours. I realized that taking longer than the minimum loop time on loop 2 meant it was highly unlikely to hit my original goal.
Loops 3 through 5
I made a quick stop at my camp to refill my fuel. I was debating whether loop 2 was just my slow loop and if I could pick up the pace. I started running faster but had a real hard time sustaining it. Were my legs still tired from running 75 miles in a race two weeks prior? Was the heat getting to me? It was in the mid 80s.
Not sure what exactly was the cause, I knew I had to slow down. I switched to a fast paced walk. The idea was to alternate between fast walking and running. This plan did not last very long as I was having trouble keeping the running pace I wanted and needed to hit my goal. I decided that it was time to call it on the under 20 hours goal and focus on my secondary goal, completing the race in under 24 hours. Based on where I was at in the race and my current pace, I felt completing in under 24 hours was very doable.
I switched back to my fast walking pace. The pace felt great and was under 15 min/mi. If I could keep this pace, I would be able to come in under 24 hours with aid station and bathroom breaks. With just over 50 of the miles still to go, I knew not to take anything for granted.
After multiple miles without needing to slow down or stop, I felt great. The temperature was high, the highest it had ever been for me at Brazos Bend 100. The high temps not only impacted my speed and the speed of the other runners, it also led to many alligators coming out of the water to sun themselves on the banks just off the trails.
I had only seen one alligator before at Brazos. This time I decided to stop to take a quick selfie with a particularly large one. It was pretty awesome. As I continued on the loop, I came across more alligators of differing sizes. It was cool, but I did start to wonder if any of them were going to come up on the trail and what they would do at night.
Soon enough, I was completing loop 3. The clock indicated that it took me roughly 3 hours 59 minutes. Loop 3 was the target pace for a 24 hour finish, including the aid station and bathroom breaks. My total time was around 10 hours 10 minutes. I felt good. The switch to fast walking was doing wonders.
I took another quick stop to resupply, get my handlamps, and since I hit the halfway point, it was caffeine time. I was on my way again for loop 4. I continued with the fast walk pace. The fourth loop was pretty uneventful. I was doing a great job on my calorie consumption and keeping up my fast walk pace. I finished loop 4 in about the same amount of time as loop 3.
This time I took a slightly longer break to resupply, take out my contacts, and grab my headphones in case I wanted them. I estimated that it took me about an extra 10 minutes this time for a total transition time. In the dark, I was surprised to see how many alligators were still out. This meant it was more important than ever to keep focused and not sleep walk.
Besides enjoying my RedBull and the night time alligator spotting, loop 5 was just like loop 4. When I finished, my loop 5 time was 4 hours 8 minutes. Just 10 minutes more than loop 3 and 4, due to the extra time I took resupplying and taking my contacts out.
Loops 6 or When I changed my goal once again
Starting out on the final loop, loop 6, I stayed true to my plan. Continue to fast walk and finish in under 24 hours. This time, I decided to put on my headphones and listen to some music along the way. Then about a mile and a half in, I started to think back on the Brazos Bend buckles.
“Wait a minute,” I thought to myself, “Is the bigger buckle cutoff at 24 hours or 22 hours?”
I was scanning my memory. I had done this race at least 3 times before. I remember that one time, I did not hit the bigger buckle cutoff. Was it at 24 hours or 22 hours? I continued to think that the cutoff was 22 hours. My confidence in the 22 hour cutoff grew.
My thoughts switched from whether the cutoff for the bigger buckle was 22 hours to thinking about how feasible it was finishing in under 22 hours. I started loop 6 about 18 hours 15 minutes after the start. In order to hit 22 hours, I would have to finish the loop in about 3 hours 45 minutes, cutting about 15 minutes off my current loop pace.
I started to pick my pace a bit. I stopped at the first aid station to mix my Tailwind. Marco, a friend, was volunteering there. I asked him about the buckle cut-offs. Like me, he could not remember.
When I left the aid station, I decided I would shoot for finishing under 22 hours. I did not feel fatigued and I had some jams pumping in my headphones. Pretty soon, I was running around a 9 minute/mile pace. While I was not stressing my body too much, I was extremely concerned that I might burn myself out. I decided to push this pace for the next 3 complete songs, then switch back to the fast walk. By the time I was halfway through the third song, I had sped up to a sub 9 minute pace. Once the song finished, I wanted to keep going, but I decided it was best to switch back to the fast walk.
I was able to continue the fast walk without a problem. I formulated my plan. Run for 3 songs, fast walk for 2 to 3 songs. If I could keep this up for the rest of the loop, I would have no problem finishing in time.
I was able to keep it up until I hit the next aid station and fast walked into the aid station. I was very aware how my improved calorie consumption was helping my mental and physical endurance. I decided to stop to mix another Tailwind, fill my water, and pull out a snack. The stop took longer than I would have liked. Even though I had fast walked into the aid station and the third song finished while I was there, I knew I had to consume the fuel I just picked up. So I fast walked another 3 songs. Then I was back on my running 3 songs, fast walking 3 songs.
Since I restocked at the previous aid station, I flew through the next one. I checked my time and I was doing great. Unfortunately, somewhere during the next stretch something had gotten into my show. It started by scratching up right under my ankle before working it way down into my shoe. I was forced to stop at the final aid station to deal with it. This was an unexpected stop that required taking off my shoe and sock, but I knew if I left it would make things worse. In fact, I had already waited too long to fix the situation.
After the stop, I was back running and walking my cadence. Before long, I was in the final straight away. I pushed a little harder, not stopping until I crossed the finish line. My final time was 21:39:40. I finished under 22 hours and received my “finished in under 22 hour” buckle.
Final Thoughts and Takeaways
I am really stoked with my finish time, especially when I think about loop 6. I finished loop 6 in 3 hours 22 minutes 29 seconds. It was my second fastest loop and it felt better than loop 2. It was also over 20 minutes faster than my target time.
Despite having run multiple 100 milers and running Brazos Bend 100 three times before, I have some real takeaways from this race to bring into my next ultras.
- Start consuming calories early. Drinking Tailwind and having a few gels early on in the race really elevated my mood. For my next ultra, I plan to have more of the natural flavored Tailwind, since I did get tired or all the sweet drinks and flavors. I plan to drink it right from the beginning.
- Try the Run & Fast Walk cadence much earlier in the race. This felt so easy for me to do and keep up with. Since I don’t listen to music until the final legs of an ultra, I will need to figure out a good way to track when I need to switch my pace.