Lottery Season

Lottery Season Is Upon Us

The Countdown(s) Begin…

The average American shopper is running around today for Black Friday, whether it being in stores or online, I am sitting here looking up data for the upcoming ultramarathon lotteries. Whether it is to see how many high the entry count has become, or just to confirm which dates I need to tune in for results, I find myself starring on my computer for a different reason than the typical Black Friday enthusiast out there.

I have been a passive ultra lottery participant to this point typically. I started my venture into the Western States (WSER) lottery a few years back – luckily – because I knew one day I would like to challenge the course. Other than this my lottery participation has been spare or somewhat random until the past 2 years where I am now starting to “target” which ultras I eventually want to do since it often requires sequential lottery entries in order to be successful.

 

Anyway, so where do I stack up for my 2023 season? Well let’s take a closer look:

RACE	Race Month	My Entry	Total Entries	Lottery Spots	% Chance	Result	Comment
HURT 100	Jan	2nd	99	26	26.3	NO	Year2= 3 kukui nuts in lottery
Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge	Jan	1st	unknown	10-30 invites	invite by RD choice	YES	Sent in my application/intentions back in Feb-2022. Got an email in Sep. to confirm entry!
The Barkley Fall Classic	Sep	3rd	unknown	~500	unknown	not yet	This process in an unknown procedure. I did not get drawn in the initial pull for 2023, but people regularly get in all the way up to race date itself.
Western States	Jun	4th	7,169	271	~7.8%	Dec-03	Year4= 8 tickets in lottery.
Hardrock	Jul	1st	1,727	55	~0.4%	Dec-03	Year 1= 1 ticket in "NEVER" lottery.
The Divide 200	Sep	1st	250	101	~40.4%	Dec-05	Inaugural year of race. Had to submit application for lottery which was accepted. Applicaitons open until Dec-04.
Angeles Crest 100	Jul	1st		230		Dec-19	I may enter if no WSER luck. Lottery opens Dec-05 to Dec- ??
Tahoe Rim Trail 100	Jul	1st		unknown		Jan-01	I may enter if no WSER luck. Lottery opens Dec-04 to Dec-18.
Leadville 100	Aug	2nd		unknown		Jan-09	Slim chance via open lottery, but will put in again.
Cascade Crest 100	Jul	1st		unknown		Jan-22	May decide to enter, t.b.d. Lottery opens Jan-01 to Jan-17.
Wasatch Front 100	Sep	1st		unknown		Jan-29	If no luck at Divide 200 lottery, I may enter this. Lottery opens Dec-01 to Jan-04.

One day I’d love to get in and run Western (WSER) and have come to realize this is a long process of persistence of simply accumulating and participating in the lottery for 5-7 years (if you happen to get in before that, consider yourself lucky). In fact I see it trending longer as the popularity of ultrarunning continues and the fact an individual can take a bye year now without losing their current ticket count. Looking at the numbers this year I still have a only a 7.7% chance and this is my 4^th year in the lottery process.

Secondly, I love mountains running and exploring the new areas that come along with mountain ultras. I finally got myself an official Hardrock qualifier done this year (2022 High Lonesome 100 finisher), and so now I can start my endurance process of the HR100 lottery. Most likely this one as well will be closer to a decade long process, but at least the qualifiers are good for 2 seasons. You don’t have a chance unless you are in the lottery and so I began the process this lottery season.

One wild card is of course the infamous Barkley Fall Classic (BFC) as I did not get in on the initial drawing of participants. This leaves me somewhere on the unknown process of still being in the remaining lottery/waitlist. It has been known that people get into BFC all the way right up until race day, being pulled in late October does not matter much – except for the comfort in planning far ahead. This first year I ran it (2021) I didn’t get an invite until June. My second year (2022) I did get pulled initially in October and so I had an entire year of the race being planned on my calendar. So when do I get my invite from Laz for 2023…?...well that remains to be seen, but I am aware that it may come anytime until next September.

Couple of other lotteries that are on my bucket list but have no place in my 2023 plans or schedule would be the UTMB® (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc) and TOR330 (Tor des Géants®). With my overseas travel to Hong Kong already booked in January there is no way to justify another big trip in 2023. I also need to collect some running stones to continue my entry process for UTMB. These bucket list destination races will remain on my to-do list for the future.

 

Results

The lottery season is exciting and full of anticipation as my season will begin to take shape starting essentially next weekend as December arrives and the results start to occur.

One big focus goal for the season has already been defined by an initial invite selection I got back in September. I was honored to be given an invite into Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC). This is a very small niche event that occurs around Chinese New Year every year in the Hong Kong region by linking together the 4 main hiking trails in the region. I am humbled in learning more and more about this challenge and everything it entails, logistically and physically. Due to the COVID travel restrictions this is the first time in three years international runners have been allowed to participate in the event again, which makes me even more humbled to have been selected from whatever pool of applications the RD received.

Besides my January plans (noted above), I am hoping to notch a race slot for either June or July (or both). Since Texas is stupid hot during that time period, I hope to escape somewhere a little more moderate where we could make a family trip out of it.

 

What lotteries have you put in for? What ultra events excite you? Tis the season to brush up the bucket list and hope you get a slot in one of the lotteries as this sport continues to grow in popularity.

 

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New Year, New Decade, Let's Roll!

2019 Year in Review

Its that time of year again. 2019 was a solid year for myself as an ultrarunning dad. Thank my sponsors & supporters (see my Friends) as without their support I would not be able to do as much as I did in this sport. I am proud to represent Team TROT, rabbitELITEtrail, Team Victory, & Team Nathan. The biggest thanks goes to my family whom without this wound definitely not be possible at all. I love it when they are able to be there in person and cheer me on and crew & support me at ultras (Thank you to all 5 of my women in my life).

2020 Here I Come!

Well, honestly it's probably been solidified a few weeks or even months ago for most people, including myself. But the "lottery season" (i.e. December) was just upon us and probably currently underway for the last few like UTMB. Now that I have not been drawn for Western States I have my first 7 months lined up more or less. Here it is, my current 2020 race schedule thus far:

January

• Bandera 100 km (Bandera, TX)
• Since I didn't get into Western States I require another qualifier for 2020 season and what better way than getting it out of the way early.
• GOAL: Destroy my 2018 time of 13:36:21, hopefully sub-11 hrs in reality.

• Running the Rose 108 km (Tyler, TX)
• headed back to defend my victory from last year and because these trails are epic. 
• GOAL: of breaking the 11 hour mark. I was just over this last year.
• Love this course in the pine trees and cool January weather

February

• The Franklins 200 mi (El Paso, TX)
• headed back to El Paso because I have come to love this place to run here in Texas. I've run the Franklin Mountain race twice now and the Franklins 200 last year as well. I've put in ~300 miles so far on these Mountains....why not add another 203 or so?!
• GOAL: sub-60 hour. I have no idea if this is possible. If you read my race recap from last year everything basically went pretty dang good. So I have no idea if I can repeat last years time (64h & change) or effort. This is part of the exploration of the unknown.
• 2020 is the last year for this event. It is being replaced by something bigger (mileage wise) in 2021-Feb. Check out the TROT website for more details. Rob Goyen has already dropped hints of this on his monthly FB live updates and it now appears on the schedule (all the details are not fully finalized yet - but it is in the line up).

March

• Chattanooga 100 mi (Rising Fawn, GA)
• This will be my first Run Bum Tours (Sean Blanton) event, I've heard nothing but good things and can't wait for a race in another new state and area for me.
• GOAL: I have not researched into this too much, but my initial goal will be a top-10. I may revise my goal as I get closer and dive into the race stats & profile more.

April

• The Game - Backyard Ultra (Columbus, TX)
• I ran this last year and won this event in a weather filled day in Dale, TX. I made it 23 loops/hours before my assist dropped out. I anticipate more like 150 mi (36 hours) to even have a shot at the victory this time. Great event put on by Spectrum Trail Racing.
• GOAL: Win this event. Obtain the "golden coin" which gets an invite to Big's Backyard Ultra "Last Human Standing" in 2020-Oct.

July

• California Untamed 330 mi (Arcata, CA to Mt.Shasta, CA)
• Yes you read that correctly....330 miles of point-to-point.
• California Untamed is an extreme Ultra Marathon, stretching 330 miles from Arcata (the ocean) to Mt. Shasta in beautiful Northern California.  It is the longest, most extreme endurance foot race in the Continental United States.
• GOAL: Finish & be as competitive as I can be.
• This will be my A-race of the year. Everything prior to this will be building towards this, so I may even throw in extra training or racing efforts among the above mentioned races.
• Watch the preview film of the course HERE of race director Ryan Spitz forming the course.

Along with these I aim to get in some more volunteer hours in my running community:

• I help out at my local run club, Sugar Land Running Club (SLRC), since its inception in 2019-Aug and I definitely want to continue this each week when I can.
• Goal of getting more trail work hours logged for 2020 (not just the minimum for race entries).
• Help build the Trail Racing Over Texas (TROT) trail community by giving back more.

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Let the training begin!