Results/Photos

Date: Aug. 22, 2026 Participant: Run Thing 1 #782 Race: 2026 Habanero 100K Relay Distance: 62.0 miles

Fast Start, Late Surge Bookend a Grinding Midday Slump Racing the 100K Relay distance at the 2026 Habanero Hundred a race built on a single 10km loop repeated ten times, run under a brutal High Noon start with real-feel temperatures above 100 degrees this leg produced a 7th-place overall finish (5th in gender category) out of 15 entrants, covering 61.19 miles in 13:15:56 for a 13:00/mile average pace. The opening miles were the strongest of the effort: miles 15 clicked off at a locked-in 10:4110:42/mile pace, good enough for 2nd place overall at that point. A gradual fade followed through miles 69, with pace slipping into the 12:3514:21/mile range as the field settled into the heat. The most difficult stretch came at miles 1619, where splits ballooned to 16:49, 17:21, 17:36, and 15:52/mile almost certainly the price of the sun-soaked conditions the race is designed around. From there, a notable recovery took hold: miles 4448 and again miles 5760 saw a return to sub-11:30/mile splits, including a 10:09 at mile 60, pushing back up to 7th overall by the finish after dipping as low as 9th for a long middle stretch. The overall arc strong out of the gate, a sustained slowdown through the race's hottest, most exposed miles, then a hard closing push suggests the pacing strategy could be adjusted to better protect against the midday heat window rather than absorbing its full impact through miles 1619. Given how well the closing 15+ miles were run relative to the middle section, building in more conservative effort or additional cooling management during that early-to-mid stretch could help convert the fast start and strong finish into a more consistent overall average pace next time out.