Results/Photos

Date: Aug. 22, 2026 Participant: Sy Bee #109 Race: 2026 Habanero 100 Mile Distance: 100.0 miles

Steady Early Pace Gives Way to a Hard-Fought Grind to the Cutoff At the 2026 Habanero Hundred a race whose noon start and 30-hour clock are designed to hit runners with Texas heat while they're still fresh Sy Bee covered 97.79 miles in 29 hours, 48 minutes, finishing 18th overall out of 79 starters, 13th among men, and 4th in the M30-39 division. Notably, this race has produced only 198 total 100-mile finishes across its entire 2015-2025 history, underscoring how demanding the distance and conditions truly are. Bee's opening miles were remarkably consistent, clicking off six straight 14:05 min/mile splits and holding 12th in the men's field and 4th in division through the first 10K loop. That division ranking proved durable Bee sat in 4th place M30-39 for the vast majority of the race, a testament to steady effort even as overall pace slowed from the mid-14:00s to the 16:00-17:00 range by the race's midpoint and eventually into the high 17:00s and 18:00s over the final loops. Split times grew more variable late, with several laps stretching past 20-25 minutes as fatigue and heat accumulated a common pattern in an event explicitly built around extreme conditions and deep sand. Bee's overall placement fluctuated significantly late in the race, briefly touching the top of the leaderboard (1st overall at the 68-mile mark, 3rd overall near mile 81-87) before settling into 18th at the finish, reflecting the heavy attrition typical of ultras run in this heat rather than a late fade. Finishing with just 12 minutes to spare before the 30-hour cutoff highlights the grit required to close out this course. For future efforts, working on maintaining tighter, more consistent lap splits in the back half rather than the wide swings between 15 and 25+ minute loops could help stabilize position and shave meaningful time off the overall finish.