Results/Photos

Date: Aug. 22, 2026 Participant: Ryan Burks #270 Race: 2026 Habanero 50K Distance: 31.0 miles

Fast Start Gives Way to Steady Grind Through Texas Heat Ryan Burks completed the 50K at the 2026 Habanero Hundred in 7:53:39, an average pace of 15:26 min/mile, finishing 17th overall out of 71 finishers, 15th among men, and 6th in the M30-39 division. The race is run entirely on a single 10km loop designed so no runner is ever more than three miles from aid Burks' 50K required five full laps of that loop at the 7IL Ranch. Burks opened aggressively, holding a 10:51 min/mile pace through the first 5 miles and sitting 15th overall at that point. The pace steadily eased as the day wore on, slipping to 12:56 min/mile by mile 12 and 13:55 min/mile by mile 17. Several individual splits ballooned into the 20-22 minute range (notably miles 7, 13, 19, 20, 25, and 26), a pattern consistent with aid-station stops on a course built around Texas' notoriously brutal August heat. Overall position drifted accordingly, falling to 22nd-23rd through the middle third of the race before working back into the teens. The most notable move came late: between miles 26 and 27, Burks jumped from 19th to 12th overall on a 15:10 min/mile split, the fastest relative surge of the back half. That effort couldn't quite be sustained through the final laps, and the placement settled to 17th overall by the finish. Across the full 30.69 miles, the split data shows a runner who banked significant time early and then managed the heat-driven slowdown well enough to still produce a late charge a pacing profile worth revisiting for future hot-weather ultras, where a more even early effort could preserve more of that late-race strength for the closing miles.