Results/Photos

Date: Aug. 22, 2026 Participant: Edward Montana #355 Race: 2026 Habanero Marathon Distance: 26.2 miles

Early Speed Gives Way to a Long, Steady Fade At the 2026 Habanero Hundred Texas' notoriously brutal August trail race, born from a summer training run gone wrong and run in triple-digit real-feel heat on a single 10km loop Edward Montana completed the marathon distance, covering 25.9 miles in 6:58:23. That effort placed him 11th overall out of 39 finishers and 3rd in the Male Masters division, in a cupless race that requires runners to carry their own hydration throughout. Montana opened fast, clocking a 10:31 min/mile opening split good for 4th overall and 1st in the Masters division at the one-mile mark. He held that position through the early loops, sitting inside the top 10 overall through mile 8 with splits mostly in the 1116 min/mile range. From there, the Texas heat took its toll: his pace steadily climbed, with splits stretching past 18, then 20, and eventually 21:59 by mile 21. His overall elapsed pace drifted from an early 10:31 min/mile to a final 16:09 min/mile, and he settled into 11th overall for the back two-thirds of the race. The early-race pace was aggressive relative to what he could sustain across nearly seven hours on course, and the data shows a clear inflection point around mile 78, where lap times jumped from the 1416 minute range into the low-to-mid 20s before stabilizing again. Working on a more conservative and even opening pace banking less speed early to preserve output in the heat-soaked middle and late miles could help smooth out that fade in future long efforts on courses like this one. Still, holding onto a podium spot in the Masters division after that kind of early pace is a strong indicator of grit over the distance.