Results/Photos

Date: Aug. 21, 2026 Participant: Fernando Lopez #41 Race: 2026 Habanero Habanero 135 Distance: 0.0 miles

Fast Start, Steady Grind, Masters Crown at a Brutal New Distance Fernando Lopez, 53, of Houston, tackled the inaugural Habanero 135 the race's new 2026 offering built for veteran ultrarunners who found 100 miles no longer enough and covered 132.6 of the course's 135 miles in 39:42:50. Out of 39 starters, he finished 7th overall, 6th among men, and claimed 1st in the Masters division, a strong result on a course whose average real-feel temperatures push past 100 degrees in deep Texas sand. His race began with real intent: the first six miles clicked off between 8:55 and 9:23 per mile, good enough for the overall race lead through mile 15 (3:48:14 elapsed). As the loops accumulated, pace naturally settled into ultra-distance management, drifting into the 1215 minute range by the marathon mark and the high-teens to low-20s per mile by the century mark an expected and well-managed decay over nearly 40 hours on course. Notably, miles 7983 saw a burst of five straight 8:28 splits, a strong mid-race surge that coincided with the point pacers become eligible on this course, suggesting fresh energy was well timed. Looking ahead, the stretch from miles 16