Races
Javelina Jundred
Five loops in McDowell Mountain park. Costume optional. Heat is not. Thirty hours to close the last lap.
The mountain
Four Peaks Staging Area, called Javelina Jeadquarters. Loop one is twenty-two point three miles on Shallmo, Pemberton, and Escondido. Loops two through five are nineteen point four on Cinch, Scenic, Pemberton, and Shallmo. Rolling single-track. Saguaro, granite, wash beds. Each loop climbs about six hundred feet toward the McDowells, then comes home. High two thousand four hundred eighty-six. Low one thousand six hundred twenty-three. No shade.
The work
Heat training. Sand in the washes. A stomach that still works at noon in the Sonoran. Six thousand feet of gain is not the test. Repeating the same loop when the sun is still up is. Thirty hours is also the Western States qualifier line.
Race morning
Park gate at four. Drop bags at five-thirty. Waves from six. Halloween weekend. Crew lives at Jeadquarters. Aid on each loop at Coyote Camp, Jackass Junction, and Rattlesnake Ranch. Top two men and top two women take a Golden Ticket. Cupless.
Watch outs
The runner guide lists an average high around eighty-two and a record ninety-eight. Nights can drop to the forties. Ice in the bandana by ten. A long sleeve after three. People blow up on loop three because the course looked friendly on paper.
PR athletes
Who has raced this.
Alex Daniels