Bandera 50K Race Report, January 8, 2023

The Bandera 100K is one of those big ultramarathons that you hear about fairly early on in the sport. As one of only 7 races offering golden tickets to Western States, and an early season 100K, it is easy to see why this event draws a competitive field. 

A quick look at their website tells you straight up what to expect in Texas: "No whiners, wimps, or wusses. A trail of rugged and brutal beauty where everything cuts, stings, or bites". The 100K is two loops of a 50K course. This year, I elected to race the 50K to get a nice taste of the Bandera ethos while having time to recover and switch to a cycling focus in time for the Midsouth Double in March.

Race website: https://www.tejastrails.com/bandera

Registration: Run signup

Location:  ★★★★☆

Bandera is a small 1,000 person town in the Texas Hill Country. It is located about 45 minutes northwest of San Antonio. Bandera markets itself as the "Cowboy Capital" of the world. The town itself has a nice old-timey western feel. The brunch we had at the Hen's Nest was great down-to-earth homestyle breakfast. 

The race itself is actually another 15 minutes west of Bandera, out in the Hill Country State Natural Area. The minute you turn into the natural area, say goodbye to cell service. In Michigan, especially in the UP, I'm used to spotty coverage at events. However, this was more than spotty. Even crew members sitting still in the parking areas had absolutely no cellular signal. It's not a huge safety issue given that the course is completely contained in the park, with dirt road crossings every couple of miles, but if you break your femur tripping over rocks, be prepared to wait a while for help. 

The natural area does have plenty of space for tent camping/van camping. Since we flew in and didn't have the van, we stayed in an air bnb instead. There are minimal water and electric hookups present at the camp, so if you do want to camp, plan ahead.

Note that the group camping area is typically used by equestrians. There is lots of horse manure. If you bring your city-slickin dog, be prepared for them to scarf that up and vomit it in your car on the way home. 

The park does have a $10/per person CASH ONLY fee for access during the event. Make sure you have cash!

Organization: ★★★★★

Tejas Trails organizes a large race series in Texas, and they are a well-oiled machine. There was really no stone left unturned. We received three pre-race emails. Each was well organized and gave participants basically everything they needed to know. 

The course was extremely well marked. You would have to be trying to go off course. Not only were there reflectors every couple hundred yards or so, but at every trail intersection there were either "Wrong way" signs or caution tape on the ground that you would literally have to step over to go off course. 

The 100k pre-race briefing was Friday evening, and it was recorded and then posted to Facebook Saturday. So, if you were in the 100k and didn't make the briefing, you wouldn't have time to watch the recording. However, the briefing was fairly redundent given the informative pre-race emails. Missing it wouldn't ruin your race by any stretch. 

My only complaint was that we did have ankle chips for timing. I don't love having that additional item on the ankle as it can lead to another area of chafing. Honestly, it was a very comfortable band and I forgot it was there, but I haven't always been so lucky. 

Course:★★★★☆

The course itself was technical and challenging, but beautiful! As mentioned above, it was hands-down the best marked course I have experienced in over a decade of competing in endurance sports. 

The 100K is two loops of the 50K course. The course can be summarized as: 8 technical miles with rocky climbs and steep loose descents. 19 miles of rolling, but very runable terrain, followed by another 4 miles of rocky climbs and technical descents. Being a midwesterner, I'm not necessarily well adapted to technical bomber descents. I lost a lot of time in the first 8 miles but had a ton of fun! The first 8 miles are the worst as far as the sotol plants go. Everyone gets fairly cut up in this segment. 

There are 6 aid stations along the way in the 50k loop, in addition to the start/finish area (a 7th aid station for the 100K loop). The 100k can leave 2 drop bags in addition to the one at the start/finish. No drop bags for the 50k. Most were 4-5 miles apart. The farthest distance between two stations was 7 miles. 

The reason I can't give this course a 5 star rating is because of the weird little lollipop around mile 6. Basically, they have you do a lollipop up to a nice scenic summit, then back down. This is the only area where the course is bidirectional. This is a weird spot to be bidirectional, as it is during a technical climb/descent. You have runners climbing while others are sescending. The rocks are loose and there is quite a bit of sotol in the area so you really don't want to go off course. I think there is enough real estate in the park that you could have a similar climb without having the congestion of two-way traffic. 

Food: . ★★★★☆

Typical ultra fare: cookies, chips, fruit, tailwind, water, coke. The ginger ale saved my life at that 5th aid station. For the 100K there is also some hot food options: breakfast burrito makings, mashed potatoes, etc. The aid station volunteers are what makes this beyond average, everyone acted like they were stoked to be there. Volunteers spend two days out on course and were still so encouraging and attentive to everyone's needs.

My race:

This was my first "big" ultra with a competitive pro field. Obviously most of the pros are in the 100k looking towards those golden tickets, but Lucy Bartholemew and Lotti Brinks lined up just in front of me for the 50K. Initially, Alexi Pappas had been registered for the 50K but she switched to the 100K Friday night (who does that?!). This was also my first time racing in the southwest. I knew I was in for a treat when I was tripping my way down the rocky descents apologizing to the guy behind me, and he just chuckled and said "welcome to Tejas."  

You know that old adage about "don't do anything new on race day?" While spectating the 100K on Saturday, I was struck by how warm 68 degrees in Texas is. It's sunny and humid. Prepping for a start of 44 degrees with a high of 65 on Sunday, I had packed tights. Only tights. I had one pair of loose shorts with me, and they didn't have a liner. Certainly not something I could spend 5 hours running in. I typically race in tight crossfit shorts, or occasionally a baggy short with a nice liner. So, we had a Saturday afternoon dash to San Antonio to buy a pair of shorts and hope that they didn't chafe.

The first mile was really just loosening up, and I got the chance to chat with a few other runners. Around 1 mile in as the climbing ratched up, the pack thinned out significantly. At that point I was basically focused on controlling the chaos of me, a Michigan girl, trying to descend without falling. I did feel a little bit better when the guy I ran about 6 miles with told me that everyone wrecked their ankles. It's not just me! 

After the first 8 miles of challenging terrain, we were on to the rolling runnable middle segment. The extra challenge was that the clay was pitted out by horse hoofprints, so the ankle mobility drills continued. This is where the day really started to heat up. Something I wasn't prepared for as a midwestern trail runner: when I hear a course is 100% trail, I translate that to mean that it's protected. Not true in the southwest! We had about 1.5 miles of tree cover, and that was quite early in the day. The vast majority of the trail was exposed. Shorts were definitely the right call!

The early-season heat really got to my GI tract, as well as the gels I ingested. I don't know why I still think one day gels will do right by me. It's been 11 years and it hasn't happened yet. Fortunately, by the time my stomach lit up I was within 90 minutes of the finish. 

The last 4 miles were a real struggle with some very steep climbs and descents, but the flat run in to the finish gave me enough time to get my run form back together to look pretty for the finish.

 

Gear: I ran with a full 2L Nathan hydration pack. The aid stations were close enough I probably could have gotten away with handhelds, but I hat having things in my hand and prefer the weight on my back or chest. This race did encourage me to start looking at the packs with small chest holsters for handhelds. I ran in Hoka Speedgoats and had no complaints with them. Started out with airwarmers and gloves but ditched them by mile 8. 

The day finished with me in 4th for the women, 19th OA in the 50K. I'll be back someday for the 100k!

As always, my supercrew of one, my husband, made the whole dang thing possible!

Big thanks to Team Athletic Mentors/coach Erin Young for the support as well.

Race Report: Marji Gesick 50 Mile; Sept 17, 2022

The Marji Gesick was definitely the highlight of my 2022 season, and quite honestly, this race will be hard to top. An event that started as a very indirect mountain bike 100 mile race from Forestville to Marquette, Marji is "The toughest race you've never heard of" per their website. If you want to get an idea of the culture surrounding the race, just hop over to their website: marjigesick.com. Warnings immediately jump off the page: "Self-supported ethos." "You're on your own -- in an emergency call 911." "This course is designed to break you." "Blame Danny and Todd." "80% of folks will never see the finish line." The race is one of those events that your crazy endurance mountain bike friend probably did once, but with relatively few slots between the 50 and 100 mile bike and run events, it's tough to register and lives on shrouded in mystery for most of the Marji-curious. 

I was scrolling through facebook last October and saw the alert that registration would be opening, and 666 slots would be up for grabs. On a whim, I hopped over the ultrasignup and entered my credit card number. I was in for the 50! I had read exactly 0 race reports. 

The race report search came in January. I train in the west side of Michigan on trails the likes of Merrell, Cannonsburg, Luton, and occasionally Saugatuck Dunes or Yankee Springs. I quickly realized that Marquette trails were going to be a challenge. Not only is there much more elevation gain and loss, but the trails are quite rocky and technical. What I somehow missed in the excitement of trying to figure out how to optimize my training, was that the 50 wasn't 50 miles. 

During Ode to the Hoff, I overheard some of the guys talking about running Marji the year prior. As I started to ask them their experience, one mentioned that the 50 was 63 miles. Naturally, I assumed he missed a turn and added some distance. I was very wrong. 

My race stats: Finish time: 14:01:15. Distance: 64.1 miles. Elevation gain: 8,205 ft. Average heart rate: 151 bpm.

Let's look at the breakdown:

Race website: https://marjigesick.com/

Registration: Ultra Signup

Location:  ★★★★★
Marquette (or Forestville for the 100) to Ishpeming, Upper Peninsula of Michigan
I'm incredibly biased when it comes to the UP. I am absolutely in awe of the rugged beauty of the trails here. I loved starting in downtown Marquette. We camped just a few miles from the start line at the Marquette tourist park, and were absolutely thrilled to find a youth mountain bike skills park attached to the campground itself. Shakeout runs were so convenient along the north country trail. Packet pickup at Blackrocks Brewery Friday night afforded an opportunity to experience downtown Marquette. The finish in Ishpeming was so much fun. It felt like the entire downtown stayed open late to see us finish. Although the race is point-to-point, which can be tough logistically, the driving distance between Marquette and Ishpeming is really only about 15 miles/20 minutes. 

Organization: ★★★★☆
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LHU_tuXrbQ

The race is organized by 906 adventure team. Their philosphy: " 906 Adventure Team is a 501c3 Non-Profit based in Marquette, Michigan. Since 2014 we have been creating outdoor adventure experiences for youth through Adventure Bike Club and events like Polar Roll, The Crusher, and Marji Gesick. Our take on life is pretty simple - it’s an adventure. In life (and adventure) stuff doesn't always go to plan. Things go wrong. Bad things happen to good people and you don’t overcome it by complaining or pointing fingers. The truth is adversity brings out the best of us - by taking us down unknown paths to find it. 
906 Adventure Team uses revenue from the events to support trail organizations and create more youth Adventure Teams. The Marji Gesick will donate $27,000 to local trails this year, bringing total trail donations since 2015 to $216,000." 

Please watch the above video for an idea of what is going through the race organizer's minds in the creation of this event. Overall the race can feel rather disorganized (see notes regarding course below). However, I honestly think it's all part of the ethos. My one complaint is the timing of the race starts. The 100 mile run starts Friday at noon in Forestville. Saturday morning the 50 mile runners start at 7 am in Marquette. At 7:30 am, 100 mile cyclists and duathletes start in Forestville. Then, the 50 mile bikes start at 8:00 in Marquette. This is problematic because then the bikes are catching almost all of the 50 mile runners while we are still on singletrack. Giving another hour or so would allow the majority of the runners to hit rail trail before the cyclists catch up, making passing much easier. Of course, the daylight is limited even in the summer in the UP, so my thought for a happy medium would be to get the runners out at 6 am. 

Parking in downtown Marquette does look like it could be limited, but being in the first crew to shuffle through the start line, we had no issues getting our monster of a van situated. 

Course: ★★★★★
This is such a subjective scale. This course is five stars for achieving its goal: to break you, mentally and physically. First of all, the "50 mile" is actually 63+ miles depending on the year (I missed a turn and added about 0.5 mile) and the "100 mile" is really around 112. The course is well marked, but you have been warned time and again not to depend on course markings. GPS is required. However, the GPS file was not made available until WEDNESDAY before the race! Then, there was an issue with that file so I wasn't able to download the true GPS file until Friday morning. The race cue sheet indicated 8 miles between downtown Ishpeming and Jackson Mine park round 2, where you would get to see your crew again -- but in reality it was more like 13 miles. The GPS file indicated that the course would be 60 miles with 4000 ft of elevation -- and you see my stats above. All of this could add up to make a 1 star course, but, given the race ethos, this course is exactly what it should be. 

The course itself is also absolutely terrible in the best way possible. We started at the docks in downtown Marquette. It was still dark at 7 am. The initial 2 miles is pavement and sidewalk heading south before the course jogs west towards Marquette Mountain. The first climb is about 3 miles in, still on the road. Then there is a fairly staightforward trail section before you hit the rail trail for the fastest 6 miles of the race. However, that's about the last fast section as the course then meanders for 40 miles through RAMBA mountain bike trails. The trail is rocky and technical, with loose downhills and steep climbs. There aren't really words for the level of torment that last 8 miles of RAMBA is. The best I can provide is this video from Bike Life with Rob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5lwKVCoa4

Food: N/A
I can't technically grade the food, as the race is very clear about not organizing aid stations. However, "trail angels" are out en mass to support the race. All race support is neutral, meaning that while you may have crew supporting you, they must also offer the same assitance to all competitors. At every road crossing, both major and seasonal, there was at least someone there who would offer water or snacks. Jackson Mine park was essentially a city of support tents with plenty of food to go around. Since all food is offered on a volunteer basis, I did not want to depend on it and stuck to the food I had stocked in the van. 

The afterparty goes on all night in downtown Ishpeming, and there are multiple food trucks and a beer garden available for competitors and support crew. Important note is that these are at an additional cost, so don't forget your credit card. 

My race:

The morning of Marji Gesick was perfect: 63 degrees with the sun not yet up. It had rained for the past 2 days, and while the mud we were likely to encounter was on everyone's minds, it was a clear morning. The race started at the docks in downtown Marquette. It was a very quiet start, just a quick pre-race briefing before the horn sounded and we were off. No unicorns or LeBike starts, they save that nonsense for Forestville!

The first two miles of the race were paved. I quickly settled into a pack of about 8 folks and we chatted as we loosened up.  At the first climb, I reminded myself to powehike ever climb in the first half and then think about running more uphills if I had it in me during RAMBA. I felt like I was taking the pace pretty chill through the pavement and first chunks of singletrack, then finally pushed the pace a bit on the rail trail from miles 14-19. I knew this was likely to be the most runable section and wanted to capitalize on that. Plus, the sun was getting more intense and I was anxious to get back into the shaded singletrack.

After Jackson Mine Park, it was time to start the roughly 45 miles of looping through RAMBA. My pace was held back quite a bit in RAMBA by the cyclists actually. They would pass me on flats and descents, but then would have to unclip and hike-a-bike on ascents and technical terrain. Initially I could feel myself stressing about lost time. I made the mindful choice to use this time to stop and eat. Throughout the day, the same group of cyclists and me were leapfrogging and the banter with those people kept my spirits high. I honestly think that having that time and comiseration with those cyclists was a big part of me having such a good day!  I was priveledged to have runner company for the first 11 miles, then miles 20-26 but after that it was just me and my new cycling friends.  In the first 20 miles of RAMBA, I took care not to overrun the downhills and my IT bands thanked me later. However, miles 30-45 were so incredibly hot and supringly unsheltered by forest. This became a race of attrition. Having some cyclists around encouraged me to stay upbeat.

I was able to see my support crew of my husband and dogs six times during the race. He tracked my location throughout the day and at each meeting point, he would have a camp chair ready for me and all of my snacks spread out so I could decide what I needed. My training partner Desi was very upset that dogs are not allowed in the race, and she attempted to sneak her way into the event anyway!

One of the fun little quirks of Marji is that you have to collect tokens at undisclosed checkpoints on the route. I was in the dark for about two hours through the roughest portion of RAMBA. I was falling at least once every 2 miles. And, instead of being upset about falling, my biggest worry was that I was going to lose one of those frickin tokens and be turned around at the finish line to go collect another. I'm not really much of a finish line crier, but when I finally made that left hand turn into Ishpeming and started down the chute, I just started to sob. That's the power of da Marji.

Gear:
I wore road shoes for the whole thing. (Hoka Cliftons, wore two seperate pairs). I brought trekking poles but did not use them and left them in the van. 

Nutrition:
I stuck to mostly savory stuff: goldfish about an hour in. After the first bit, they were hard to get down but forced me to drink water which wasn't a bad thing at all. I was really feeling Pringles, and ate a few rice cakes along the way too. Good and Plenty's were the sweet of choice. Some oreos felt good towards the end. I ate about 3 larabars and 2 kind bars spread throughout the day as well. I prepackaged everything into small portions in plastic baggies which were stashed in my hydration pack. I had a little tummy trouble around 2-4 pm just as it was pretty hot, but I took a couple short walk breaks and it chilled out. I shockingly experienced no vomiting throughout the day! Drank water in the hydration pack and had a handheld with liquid IV electrolytes -- drank 4 of these throughout the day. This wasn't enough hydration as I only urinated 3 times during the day, but it was enough that I didn't end up with the crippling headache I've suffered after many events. 

    

At the end of the day, I finished 2nd overall in the 50 mile race behind Alisan Barrett. It was so incredible to have two women atop that podium! The Marji broke me physically and mentally, but rebuilt me to be so much stronger. While I won't return for 2023, I know Marji hasn't seen the last of me yet! 

Remember that I am recapping my experiences. Any inaccuracies regarding the course are likely secondary to me blocking out the trauma I endured in RAMBA!