Tortoise or Hare?

Tortoise or the Hare?

53rd 100-Miler(+) | 135th Ultramarathon

I just arrived at the finish line on race morning, and the shuttle van was there to provide me a ride back to the start line. YES!! Another point-to-point adventure lie ahead of me where I'd have basically no choice but to run my way back to my vehicle. This adventure has brought me to the Ozark Highlands Trail in N.W. Arkansas. I was excited based on some of the prior website pictures to experience this area and get to run through this rugged landscape. It was just prior to sunrise when about 9 of us loaded up on the van shuttle (Ford Transit XL 12-seater) and we settled in for about 90-minute drive back East towards Hagarville, AR where the start line was.

Shuttle van ride pre-race (finish --> start line)

We arrived in this small campground with a small tent-like shelter area set up where the race bib and GPS trackers were being distributed from. The whole entire 100 Mile field was only 12 runners (plus a runner sweep who was going to follow the entire course - so 13 people total). I came over to the campsite picknick table and got checked in with my nice Hare 100 sun hoodie and some stickers along with my bib and assigned GPS tracker that I placed onto my hydration vest. The morning was crisp and chilly there as the area was covered and shaded by very tall trees and the surrounding hills blocking any direct light. After ensuring my pack was all set and placing my one drop bag into the pile I retreated back into the van with a few other of my peers who were also taking advantage of the warmth as we waited for the start time. 

The Race | Running the Ozark Highlands Trail

Now being 10:00 am we all lined up in this small campground and under the homemade wooden arch. After a literal few last-minute instructions from Race Director Stephanie it was a quick thanks for being here and "go"! The runners were off and the adventure had begun.

Hare Mountain 100 start line.

The course instantly left the campground and headed directly into the woods and started climbing. The Ozark Highlands Trail is marked and so our instructions were essentially to follow the blazes on the trees and the signs along the way. As stated in the runner's manual this is an unmarked run. 

We DO NOT mark the trail with plastic ribbons or anything extra. You will use the GPX file with waypoints to guide you along (virtual confidence markers) and the numerous trail markers and wooden signs.

This is exactly the type of small grassroots race that I like. No extra fluff, and down-to-Earth trail running out in the woods and mountains. The trail was rocky and leaf covered as expected for a fall time race in the South region. The weather was warm to start on the first day, but luckily the tall trees basically kept the sun away directly for almost everything. I don't recall much of any full-on direct exposure, except the couple of road crossings.

I started off running with the lead runners for maybe 10 Miles or so before the pace was just slightly too upbeat for me. So, I settled into my own rhythm and continued on my own race-feel pace as I normally do. The first third of the race went quite well as I was on a decent pace (for me on a mountain 100Miler). Looking back, in fact, I was fairly close to a 24-hour or just over that in terms of on-pace. I thought thus might be a little fast as this race has been historically slow in terms of finishing times, all be it a smaller sample size of total runners in the past couple years. Around this point in the race a made a small navigation error (i.e. took a turn I should not have) and climbed up for about 0.25Mi before noticing and looking at my watch and the GPS track. I turned back around and ran back down to where I had deviated. In the end it was maybe half a Mile at most of extra mileage, however it was all up & down, steep at that! I did make a couple of tiny navigation later on, but nothing where I went off course for any extra measurable mileage.

The climbs on the Ozark Highlands Trail maybe short, but steep and punchy! This one pictured even had stairs (sort of).

The second third of the race is where my race really started to slow in pace. The terrain was rocky and quite awkward in terms of acquiring and getting settled into any sort of flow for the majority of it. Now the sun was setting and it was darkness time. Since the trees were tall and provided shade in the day time it also covered and prevented the moonlight in the night and thus was very dark out there in the woods. I spent a lot of the night power hiking and moving slowly forward. 

Coming into the wee hours of the second day and approaching sunrise I was in the one out & back "loop" section down to the Redding Aid Station and returning back up to the main trail. I personally often persevere through the early morning hours and then get smacked by the first light and this is exactly what happened this time. Wave of tiredness just washed over me and I was moving very slow for a many Miles before finally snapping back into the reality of the second day. (Perhaps a short 10-15 minute nap might have help me reset, but it was chilly in the woods and not sure how well a dirt nap would of functionally worked in that regards). I had exhausted a bunch of queued up podcasts to get me through this low point in my race and take my mind off things.

The last third of the race was now about getting it done at just pushing through. My poor watch has been slowly dying, especially using the navigation feature. I recall reaching for my backup battery back and noticed it was gone - boooo! - it must have bounced out of my hip pouch without me noticing. Combined with this fact and my watch battery performance I started to take 15 minute plus break at each aid station just sitting down and charging my watch while I got some fuel in. I was for sure taking a lot longer non-running time that I normally would, but I just wanted my watch to last along with the fact my first goal is always just to finish. That may seem obvious, but it is truly my first goal thus even if I slow down significantly, my goal is still there to chase and focus on. This was one of those runs. The few aid stations I was running around a similar paced runner, Jeff McMahon and his pacer. This company gave me a little break to help keep the momentum going toward the end goal. 

My overall pace had kept me from finishing in the daylight of the second day as my time was creeping well over 30 hours. I knew that my small battery pack had only limited juice left to power my waistlamp, but I still had my backup headlamp if needed. I just always get nervous with only 1 source of light out on mountain courses (I always have 3 sources at least 2 lights combined with various power sources/backups). I had passed the final aid station and was only 7 Miles to go. I got some late run adrenaline going and ran/jogged in a lot of that last segment as I just wanted to get it over with. I finally came off the trail and emerged near the campground and ran towards the finish line, only half mile to go. Then I realized after glancing at my watch, I had missed the campground loop, and so I ran back about quarter mile and completed that paved loop around the campground, where Jeff and his pacer also missed that turn (but they continued onto the finish). I came in as the 5th overall finisher and ended up running in right behind them with an official time 1 minute behind Jeff. 

fin.

In the end was I the Tortoise or the Hare? Just remember kids, the tortoise finished (and won) the race against the hare. So, when things seem bad and your goal time(s) are slipping away, just go with want the day is giving you and push on and get that buckle! That is the #UltraRunningDad spirit I want to embody in my adventures.

Course Summary

The race high point is Hare Mountain at ~2400 feet. (This was around ~73 Miles in).

The Hare Mountain 100 is a point-to-point, graduate level run on singletrack, through some of the most isolated, rugged terrain in Arkansas. -from HareMountain100.com website

There are also several creek/river crossings that *usually* have very low levels around race time. This is very true. Lucky for us that this year there was no actual water crossing that required to get your feet wet. However, if there was rain in the days prior, or a real wet season year, I could see that your feet would be soaked for most of this race (which would just add more complex variables into the race equation).

The course is beautiful and the point-to-point route is great. Highly recommend for anyone wanting an adventure in an area you probably have not seen before. 

my STRAVA HM100 elevation profile.

Results & Stats

• 36:12:03 | 106.01 Mi (170.61 km) | 18,970 ft+ (5,782 m+)
• [STRAVA] Moving Time: 30:21:27 (83.86% of total)
• 5th overall (M5)
• STRAVA: Hare Mountain 100 (5th overall), Hagarville, AR | Run | Strava
• UltraSignUp: 2026 Hare Mountain 100 100 Miler - Results
• My 135th ultramarathon run and my 5th ultramarathon YTD in 2026.
• My 53rd 100Mi(+) completed

my poor swollen post-race feet.

Gear Used

• [mandatory gear] Lighting setup - kogalla RA Adventure Light (waistlamp) & a Micro-Mark BRYTE Band LED Headband Light
• [mandatory gear] Jacket- rabbit Treeline rain jacket (rabbitELITEtrail team edition)
• [mandatory gear] LS Shirt - rabbit Layer One (rabbitELITEtrail team kit)
• SS Shirt - High Country rabbit trail
• Shorts - rabbit 5" Shredders 2-in-1 trail
• [mandatory gear] Pants - rabbit Runners (rabbitELITEtrail team edition)
• Headwear - rabbit (Boco) RADrabbit team kit
• Eyewear - Tifosi Optics
• Shoes - Altra Olympus 6.0
• Socks - injinji (2 pairs)
• Hydration - UltraSpire Traverse Hydration Pack 20L with x2 20oz soft flasks & Katadyn BeFree™ Water Filteration System™ (0.6L soft flask).
• Watch (with GPX track of course) - Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition
• [mandatory gear] Cell Phone - apple iPhone 16e (also with Gaia GPS app)
• [mandatory gear] GPS Tracker - SPOT Gen3 (rented via race org)
• [mandatory gear] Headwear - rabbit beanie
• [mandatory gear] Gloves- rabbit (Boco)
• [mandatory gear] Emergency Bivy - SOL emergency bivy
• Post Race- rabbit RADrabbit hoodie & rabbit EZ slides

My HM100 buckle (with display collection in background). This was buckle #53 of 100Mi or more. A huge thanks to my family as always for being my biggest supporters!

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Thanks for reading and following my race report blog.

What is Next? Loup Garou 100 (Dec-04th), but I might have one beforehand: not yet signed up!