Results/Photos

Date: Aug. 22, 2026 Participant: Matt's Minions #717 Race: 2026 Habanero 100 Mile Relay Distance: 100.0 miles

Team Rallies From Mid-Race Slump to Secure Podium Finish Matt's Minions covered 97.79 miles in 16:30:40 (10:07/mile pace) at the 2026 Habanero Hundred, good for 3rd overall and 3rd in the men's relay division among 25 total participants. Held on TROT's 10km loop course at the 7IL Ranch a race so notoriously brutal that only 198 finishers have completed the 100-mile distance in its first decade the team opened strong, holding 3rd-4th overall through the first five laps with remarkably consistent 9:56-9:57/mile splits. The middle stretch of the race proved the most volatile. Splits ballooned from 11:19 (lap 6) to a race-worst 17:20 (lap 12), during which the team slipped to 6th overall. But the squad answered immediately, ripping off sub-9:00 splits across laps 20-27 (including an 8:25 at lap 27) to climb from 6th back into 2nd place by lap 24 one of the sharpest positional swings of the day. From there, Matt's Minions settled into a steady 3rd-place rhythm for the back half of the event, holding that position from roughly lap 33 through the finish. The closing laps were the team's strongest of the race: splits of 7:39 (lap 48), 7:45 (laps 87-88), and 7:51 (lap 91) show a squad that found another gear late rather than fading. Elapsed pace steadily tightened from 10:51/mile at the halfway mark to 10:07/mile by the finish, reflecting sustained improvement rather than a one-off surge. Given the early mid-race dip, the team's ability to consistently negative-split the closing 60+ laps stands out as the defining strength of this performance a pattern worth building on for pacing strategy across future relay legs.