In my never-ending search to run all the cool races, I planned to add No Business 100 to my schedule in late 2025. With the 200s I had planned for earlier in the year, it was a somewhat risky move to wait to find a race that I WANTED to run that was also a Western States qualifier. I entered the lottery opening day, in February, and got in.
I had slept like complete garbage. Even planning to go to bed early and having it really quiet in the bunkhouse I was still wide-awake HOURS after lights out. I finally had gone to use the bathroom around 11:30 and I think I fell asleep at some point after that, but still tossed and turned for hours until people started moving around just before 6 am.
I had laid out all my gear and got dressed and braided my hair. Had plans to meet Tyler for breakfast around 6:45. It was pretty good with eggs, bacon and potatoes, plus biscuits and COFFEE. Had to go back to grab my drop bags to leave them in the respective piles and pack up everything that was not going with me for the run. Used the bathroom a few times before meeting up with Tyler and Michelle at the start line.
I planned to start in the very back, like I always do. Michelle and I had made loose plans to run together at breakfast. I planned to set the pace. Easy jog on anything flat or downhill and hike the uphills, like most races.
We started on the road out of the campground area. Within a few minutes we came up behind friend Angie, who I quickly said hello to. We then moved onto a section of crushed gravel trail. It was not technical at all and we were able to easily run most of this.
It wasn't long before we moved onto the first section of single track of the race. It was absolutely gorgeous - and VERY runnable. Leapfrogged with multiple runners in this section but was very careful to stick with my pacing plans.
The course began to showcase the giant rocks that would line many areas of the race. It was so cool looking! Very early in the race and we were leapfrogging with runners. Especially early in a race I can be quite chatty, so I was typically asking people if they had run this race before. Really surprising was the number of people that were running this one fort heir first 100 miler!
Honestly, most of my pictures were taken in these first few sections - some are kind of blurry since I was still running.
Finally came to the first aid station. My bottles were still pretty full and I didn't need any calories, but I think I grabbed some grapes. I asked if there was a bathroom and they said it was the other direction, so I decided to wait as we were somehow within an hour of cutoff pace (already). We lucked out and after crossing a street there was a small construction site and a port-o-potty that was unlocked. Score!! Continued on.
Ended up in a conga line of runners. I was listening to a couple talking about how fast people had started the race and... the conversation seemed so familar to me. I kept listening and then sped up a tiny bit so I could encroach and asked... "did you happen to run Copper Kings in June?" Turns out they had. Ben and I had been running near them around 10 miles into the race and I swear we had the exact same conversation then.
I realized at some point that Michelle wasn't right behind me anymore, which was a bummer. I planned to still do my thing and hoped that I would see her again.
Hit the second aid station, which was Sawmill. I just added some LMNT and topped off one of my flasks. I think I did a shot of pickle juice and maybe grabbed something else but was out again pretty quickly. I think I did see Michelle and I yelled out that I was leaving and unfortunately, I did not see her again the rest of the race :(
This was again a stop that was VERY fast, I would guess less than two minutes, probably closer to 90 seconds. I pretty much stayed behind the couple from Georgia for miles, and again, a group of us just chatted and the miles seemingly flew by.
This section was so neat as we ran under a giant natural bridge. The experts that had run the race previously said that there was one year that the race actually ran across that!!
We also ran across a suspension bridge that was super bouncy - I am not sure so many of us should have been on it at one time!
Probably got to the Charit aid station at some point but I remember exactly ZERO things about it other than it was another very fast stop for me. (Was this the one where I had a half a hot dog??)
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| The first actual "hill" I felt like we had, not sure what mile this was |
Finally, we were coming to the first crewed aid station, Bandy Creek, at mile 23.7. Obviously I didn't have a crew, but this was still a milestone at approximately 1/4 into the course and the first "busy" aid station. They had fun signage coming into and out of the aid station.
Not sure what I did here or what I ate, but I definitely had an uncomfortable conversation with a volunteer. She came up and told me she loved my shorts and asked if I was a black cat mom. I said that I used to be, but that she had just died a few weeks ago. Poor volunteer had no idea what to say back. Sorry about being awkward, it's just what came out of my mouth...
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| Photo: Misty Davis |
We had our first water crossing of the race (that I didn't know was coming). I remember screaming something like "I'm gonna fuck this up and fall in" and the photographer was laughing and said it would make for a great picture. Looking at this would you ever believe that I was a gymnast for over a decade and was VERY good at the beam???
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| Photo: Nick Morgan |
Up until this point the course had been SO runnable. I was still not using my poles. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was really enjoying myself. I came up to the Grand Gap aid station and was treated to the best aid station food!
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| Kid at aid station: we found an air fryer in the woods! |
I was super happy leaving this aid station. I was still within about an hour of cutoffs, but I was feeling good and I was still running quite a bit. I was heading towards my first drop bag, Duncan Hollow. But before that we had more time in the woods. This may have been the point of the race where I had phone service - very briefly - and I called Ben and talked to him for a few minutes. It would be the only time of the whole race I had any service whatsoever - so if you are running this race, keep that in mind!
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| Photo: Misty Davis |
At some point I came up behind a female runner wearing a pair of sloth chickn leg shorts - I of course had to comment that I really liked them and we got to talking for a bit. I think we did at least a few miles together - this was also her first 100 mile!
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| The giant leaves looked like bits of crumpled up paper from a distance |
Probably within 15 minutes of sunset, I arrived at the Duncan Hollow aid station. It was PURE CHAOS. There were tons of people spread all over the place and I was overwhelmed and couldn't really find a good place to deal with my drop bag. I was really worried about it being very cold overnight and i had my pants and some other cold weather gear - my beanie, etc, as well as my lights. I finally had to just sort of put my drop bag down in the dirt and got all my things ready, grabbing a nutella wrap (?) and heading out in the darkness. This was a longer stop, but I still believe it was in the 5-7 minute range total, and probably one of my longest stops.
Duncan Hollow 36.30 to Blue Heron x2 65.40
I'll admit that I was a little stressed at this point. I was still in the 60-90 minute under cutoff range and I *really* had not been goofing off or wasting time anywhere. So off I went. Leaving the aid station was a really steep downhill. I almost want to say that this is where Allison passed me. Or maybe we ran together for a small period of time? I can't remember. The course got a bit more crazy here and we went down for a bit until we leveled out, came across some mud and then started climbing a bit more. I probably pulled my poles out around mile 40ish.
I was with a guy for a few miles and we talked a lot. I remember it was his first 100 and he was telling me how excited his son was going to be to wear his "medal" after he finished. I wish I could remember what his name was. We got separated when I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman and I don't think I saw him again.
So the older guy was probably one of the oldest finishers of the race at 65 (I looked him up after) - he had run this race twice before. Finished once and it was the race that got him into Western States for this year, which he was a DNF. And then last year I guess he was a DNF at the LAST AID STATION. He did mention that they really do want you to finish and the cutoff is a soft one and to keep going.
At this point, I was still within an hour or so of cutoffs - and yes, still running when I could, even in the dark.
Next aid station was Laurel Hill - probably the best one of the race! Lots of fun food, including homemade chicken noodle soup, delicious cookies, AND they gave out buttons!
I did leave by myself and was alone for most of this section. Do not remember anything about the Ledbetter aid station either.
From there it was time to head to Blue Heron aid station. I kind of remember running with a husband and wife who were going for their double buckles. The descent down to the river was one of the worst parts of the course in my opinion. It seemed to be very slow going and more technical than expected. And then I got to the river.
Ever since I almost drowned at Fat Dog I have had a somewhat crippling fear of water. I knew coming into this race (sort of) that there would be a pretty major water crossing. At the pre-race dinner a gal said that it was basically mid shin. Well, I tell you that I came down the sandy bank to the river, saw the rope and all the lights from the aid station and my heart started racing. I got about halfway across and somehow I let go of the rope. THANKFULLY, there was a rock that I was able to put my hand on and I screamed something like, "I let go of the rope" and there was a volunteer on the other side of the water that calmly was telling me "just slow down, take your time, you are ok."
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| Photo: Misty Davis |
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| Photo: Misty Davis |
I was able to get my balance and get across. Heartrate seemingly though the roof, but I made it. This aid station was HUGE. There was an actual bathroom, so I went to use that first - there were people just hanging out in there because it felt warm. Grabbed some mashed potatoes and scarfed them down before heading out for the loop. I opted to skip getting into my drop bag and figured I would do it when I returned in 6ish miles.
The initial mile or so of the loop was a wide road that seemed pretty runnable, which I did a bit of - it was a gradual uphill, so not much. Then things got weird. I know I ended up in a group of people here, and it seemed like everything was just... confusing. Even though I had the gpx on my watch, people who had run previously said it was annoying to run it because of all the tree coverage you would constantly get off course alerts. Well in one section all of a sudden we all were off course and ended up in a overgrown area behind a giant rock that did not seem right. Able to get back on course after checking Gaia - and we weren't far off - but it was a good reminder to not blindly follow people and stay on course. I did somehow end up behind probably a half dozen people I had been ahead of previously.
There were ladders in this section that were NOT a lot of fun to go down - especially while holding poles. I was relieved when I was done with them. The only "fall" I had of the race was after got off the last ladder and I was going down the trail immediately after and my feet slid out from under me.
A couple guys were behind me and apparently one of them had the last rung give out on him! I could hear him fall from quite a distance away.
Zero other recollection of this area, although I think I was relatively close to other people for the remainder of the loop.
Back at the aid station, now mile 65.40 (although my watch measured nearly 2 miles more than that), I used the bathroom one more time and then grabbed food. They were out of mashed potatoes, but they did have pierogis - which were AMAZING and gave me a bag of them to go. I actually adjusted my laces - which I never do - as it seemed like my feet were sliding when going downhill. Grabbed the food and spare battery out of my bag and then off I went.
Blue Heron (65.40) to Peters Mountain 85.90
First thing I had to do was cross that river again!!! I took a deep breath, moved slowly and made it across without issue. I thought - SO HAPPY to be done with water crossings!!
The climb up out of the river wasn't nearly as bad as the descent and I was feeling good. We moved onto a flatter section and I actually was doing more running here. It was still going to be a little while before the sun was going to come up, but I was still doing ok in what I had started the race in (clothing-wise) and was a little sad that I had opted to NOT leave my last drop bag at mile 74.4, which was going to be the next aid station.
I think I did a large portion of this section with Wade? Miles tended to go by a lot faster when I had someone to chat with. I dont' remember the actual aid station at 74.4, but I think I was in and out pretty quick and onto Spring Branch. That might have been the one I showed up at and there wasn't really anything of substance ready. I saw them grilling sandwiches and I said I didn't need it to be fully cooked and the volunteer was a tad rude when I asked. I did tell her that I didn't mean to be difficult, I just didn't have a lot of time as I was STILL within an hour of cutoffs and I had heard the next few sections were very tough. Finally I got a cup of what I'd basically call cowboy coffee and half done grilled cheese. I believe Wade and I did more miles from until Peters Mountain at 85.9.
Peters Mountain 85.9 to Finish!
I grabbed a chair at the aid station, took out my fuel and basically dropped 90% of what was in my pack into the drop bag. SO happy!! I had been lugging around so much gear that I didn't end up needing/using and was happy to ditch my lights and layers - although I did keep my headlamp, just in case.
I briefly got phone service but didn't think it was enough to call Ben, just enough to let me know I has some messages. One of the messages I saw was from Tyler - he had dropped due to some medical issues at the mile 46 aid station.
As I was leaving, the volunteer said it was 4 to the next aid station or 10 if I didn't want to cross the river. I was very confused when she said this and said something like "oooooookkk" and left.
Getting closer!!!!
So at this point, my watch is reading more than two miles over, which was frustrating since my pace chart, which was based on their mileage, was on 100.4 miles or something, so even though I was still running a bit, I was never making up any time on cutoffs.
At some point I realized that I had not taken any pictures on course since about mile 36 (basically when I got to the Duncan Hollow aid station.
I probably could have gotten some better shots that showed more of what I would consider to be “east coast” rocky trails, but this will have to do.
Also, during the pre-race briefing, I recall people saying they didn’t like this section. I literally did not understand what they were saying. Until I realized that in normal water year, we would have absolutely been getting our feet wet. It was slow going because we were literally traversing the creek. Up, down and around big, slick rocks. Again, I was very grateful for this to be a dry year as a lot of this section. Would have been a slippery nightmare.
I came across a gal lying on the side of the trail and heard people across the water yelling “are you going to cross or do you not need anything?” I was like OH. Now it makes sense, this was an optional aid station, and I figured I absolutely did NOT need to cross the river as my flasks were relatively full and I had plenty of calories on me to go another six miles.
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| At this point in the race these looked like flying saucers |
I guess it has been a long time since I did a slower ten miles without aid, but this section took a long time. I got passed by a lady in a ghost skirt (only one I saw who wore anything even somewhat Halloween-y) and her pacer. I caught up to a gal that I tried to talk to, but she seemed uninterested in conversation. She WAS also from Colorado, and I would later find out that we had the same last name - haha!! At some point I was just dragging. Getting tired of being out here and I took a second 5 hour energy, hoping it would perk me up. With this now being a 10 mile section without aid, it went on FOREVER. I was still doing a little bit of running, just wanting to be done. I know there were TWO more river crossings with ropes, I just don't recall if they were before or after the last aid station. Either way, I wasn't expecting them and wasn't looking forward to crossing. They were thankfully much shorter and no issues crossing, although there were flat rocks on the other side of the water that were definitely slick!
I think I finally caught up to some runners in this section and the goal became to move a bit faster than someone - if I could. FINALLY got to the last aid station - Blevins Cemetery. It looked like we would have a bit of a climb back out of the river area. More cool cave areas.
Thanks to our pre-race walk the day before the race, I knew that the last mile would be really tame. I had been leapfrogging with a few runners and when things started to look familiar, I really kicked in the running intervals.
Getting to the power line and I knew it was about 2/3 of a mile to the finish. I kept looking at my watch and was really trying to go under 33 hours.
Garmin time - 32:54:54
Official time - 32:55:29 (even being in very back, only 35ish seconds to cross the line)
Garmin distance - 102.67 miles
Elevation gain - 13,515 (lower than I expected)
Overall place - 140/268! (40ish people crossed after me in the last hour - cutoff of 34 hours)
Gender place - 33/50
Miles 1-10 - 13:15, 13:18, 13:37, 13:14, 13:38, 17:28, 14:40, 17:05, 13:49, 13:50
Miles 11-20 - 16:49, 16:19, 16:41, 13:58, 15:55, 15:49, 18:23, 18:59, 15:48, 23:32
Miles 21-30 - 13:42, 18:50, 14:46, 14:58, 16:12, 17:01, 15:25, 16:16, 14:37, 19:05
Miles 31-40 - 16:40, 16:06, 16:16, 17:06, 15:41, 15:57, 16:51, 26:46, 17:20, 18:18
Miles 41-50 - 17:48, 17:53, 19:55, 18:05, 19:12, 25:12, 20:54, 20:59, 20:41, 18:26
Miles 51-60 - 20:12, 20:08, 17:52, 21:27, 22:44, 19:38, 17:51, 17:59, 18:01, 23:27
Miles 61-70 - 23:08, 25:28, 20:09, 22:30, 18:42, 18:07, 21:52, 33:06, 24:45, 20:11
Miles 71-80 - 21:15, 23:30, 20:46, 21:52, 19:47, 21:34, 20:28, 20:08, 19:24, 18:16
Miles 81-90 - 22:25, 19:42, 21:57, 17:32, 18:35, 17:27, 17:36, 18:08, 27:15, 24:50
Miles 91-100 - 20:53, 20:40, 21:32, 23:41, 22:48, 23:15, 23:25, 22:06, 21:54, 25:30
Miles 101-finish - 25:45, 21:03, 14:16 (pace)
Gear:
- One pair of Mount to Coast H1s, wore the whole race (same pair I wore for Copper Kings), one pair of rabbit trail socks, Dirty Girl gaiters. ZERO BLISTERS, again.
- CVG shorts, Zensah high neck sports bra (this has been my favorite for like 6 years - it was a brand new one and for the first time EVER with a new bra I got some chafing - I will mildly blame not using as much lube as usual, I guess), rabbit EZ tee over one of my Javelina UPF rabbit deflector shirts. Did not add or change layers the whole race.
- UltrAspire Zygos 5.0 and two 800 ml flasks. I only ran out of fluids once, once. Maybe from mile 12-20? Leki poles for 50ish total miles of the race, fingerless rabbit UPF sun gloves. My older Zygos didn't have Quiver capabilities, so I just had them stored in the bottom bungees - a bit of adjusting, but they stayed there fine.
- Petzl headlamp, Kogalla (until I figure out the UltrAspire waist light settings better). One small Skullcandy battery that I used for phone charging (the Race Joy app KILLS the phone battery), and two larger Skullcandy batteries. One was for the Kogalla, but that probably used only 10-15% total battery. If I had to do it again, I would not run the Race Joy app, but Ben wanted it for tracking.
- Personal fuel - LMNT raspberry, Hi-Chew, Nerd Clusters, Reese's pretzels.
- Carried but never used - Patagonia R1 (from the start, never used once), REI rain pants, extra socks, Bula beanie.
Thoughts:
