Land Run 100 - 2019 Dry and Dusty edition

The Land Run 100 has a reputation for being a tough race. This is mainly due to the mud that forms on certain sections of the course with even a hint of rain. 

LR 100 Finisher Stats
Red - Registered
Yellow - Started
Blue - Finished

2017 LR100 course 

In 2017 there was a lot of attrition due to a wet course and cold temperatures. Last year the course was mostly dry and the finishing numbers reflect this.

In my previous blog post I mentioned how I changed tyres in case the course was going to be muddy. In the end, instead of the predicted 2" of rain we only received around 1", this was followed by some strong drying winds, think 30mph or above all day. All this meant that the course was about as good as it was ever going to be.

My good friend Oscar flew down from Anchorage, AK to race/ride this event so I was super stoked that he ended up riding in such great conditions.

Pre race day

Oscar arrived on Friday afternoon and after collecting him from the airport we built his bike and headed up to Stillwater OK for packet pickup and the riders meeting. Then we drove back home so that we could finish preparing for the race and have dinner.
Oscar and I managed to get out for a short shakedown ride, there was even a little gravel.

Shorts in March = awesome!

Race Day

Saturday morning seemed to come far to quickly but a little after 06:00 we were loaded up and rolling towards Stillwater, OK.

Loaded up and ready to roll

We dropped off our drop bags, finished getting ready and headed up to the start line. 

30F is pretty chilly

All lined up and ready to go

At 08:00 the cannon was fired and we were off, well kind up due to being 10+ rows back the start was a little slow, but soon we were heading out for some Oklahoma gravel. First was a little road out of town and around 2miles in we hit the first gravel. At this point we played dodge the waterbottle, there must have been 20 bottles lying on the ground, it was crazy and we were close to the front of the field, if I had to guess I would say I was in the top 200 at this point. 

For the first hour the temperatures were definitely chilly at around 33F. It was also pretty dusty with such a big group riding together on dry gravel. 

After around 1 hour I was warm enough to swap out from the thicker gloves and put on some regular full finger gloves. 

Gravel road not dirt

Say cheese :)

The next couple of hours passed for me riding in groups and steadily trying to catch the wheels of the people who were riding faster than me. At around mile 42 I had to stop for a call of nature (longest pee stop ever at around 2 min) and lost contact with the group I was riding with. I was feeling good though and didn't stress about it. I got riding again and caught onto a group of three people, we worked together, picking up others on the way including Oscar who I hadn't seen since the start of the race. We were flying into the 1/2 way point (post race analysis - chip time of 3:02:26 and in 170th place overall out of 1078)

I refilled my bottles at the Skratch lab aid station and then found my drop bag, changed a few things around took off base layer, dropped thick gloves, buff etc and was back on the road in around 5 min.

About to get my drop bag, my bottles are already full at this point.
Photo Credit - 241 photography

Oscar and I at the 1/2 way point
Photo credit 241 photography

Rolling out of Perkins I was feeling strong, Oscar was not feeling as strong, I decided I would crack on as I was feeling good, rather than riding with him. 

Rolling out of Perkins

The second half of the course seemed to have a lot more rollers on the road and definitely more red dirt rather than gravel. There was even a section of road that had no bridge so forced us to get off our bikes to cross a stream. 

There was a second stream crossing and a few sketchy descents thrown into the mix further along the course. All in all the back half of the course had a lot of interesting features, especially with tired legs.

Red dirt and rollers up and down all the time.

After the Vittoria Oasis (unofficial aid station, which I didn't stop at) I was happily riding along in my own little world after the people I had been riding with stopped. I was trying to catch up to the people in front of me when a couple of people caught up to me and one of them passed me pretty easily. The rider who didn't pass me I had been riding with earlier was called AJ from Colorado the other rider was the man, the myth the legend, Jay Petervery! 

AJ chasing after JP

JP, dropped AJ and I pretty quickly but we managed to reel him back in slowly and have a chat with him, we even rolled into the Salsa Chaise Lounge together.

Me on the Chaise

A quick photo stop then it was back to chasing JP. I did manage to catch up with him and for a while I was able to maintain riding with him but soon afterwards he dropped me. Clint, I now know how you feel to be dropped by JP, although my feet were warm :-P 

Dropped by JP

I'm all alone :) 

I eventually caught up to another rider Michelle, she was a strong rider now residing in Portland, OR who has ridden the DK200 last year and is riding it again this year. We powered through the remaining 15miles of seemingly endless rollers and straight roads trying to catch back up to JP. And before we knew it we were back on pavement and hoping the traffic lights would turn green as we rolled through each intersection to the finish. JP finished a little over 37 seconds ahead of us.

Crossing the finish line
- Photo Credit 241 Photography

I stopped the clock at 6:15:05 taking 126th place overall and 39th/259 in my age group, that was way above where I was expecting to finish. Maybe top 100 next time?????

Post race results

My back half of the course was strong.

Post Race

I had an absolute blast riding this race and finished stronger than I have ever finished in a race. I was tired but didn't cramp at all. I think part of this may be down to the new drink mix I am using from First Endurance, It could also be all the training I have been doing too I guess. 

Once again a huge thanks must go out to my family for putting up with me whilst I train for all these long events. 

I'm also thankful that Oscar took the time to fly down from Anchorage, AK to join me on this adventure. Even though we didn't actually ride so much of the LR100 together, we at least experienced the same conditions. He rolled in at 6:44:09 and also had a blast, or so he tells me :)

Full results

All smiles at the finish

 The Strava