The Bighorn 100 is one of 3 race distances along with a 52 miler and an 18 miler during the Bighorn Trail Races weekend in Dayton, Wyoming, a small town at the base of the Bighorn mountain range. While much of the pre race activities take place at the city of Sheridan simply for infrastructure reasons 25 miles away, the race itself starts just 4 miles outside Dayton and finishes in a park in Dayton itself. The entire local community rallies behind this event and it can be felt by anyone taking part in the event. Volunteers and race staff are amazing and there even is a huge finish line party. All runners are treated to some amazing pre and post race swag as well.
I made the trip to finally start the Bighorn 100 after having signed up and never attempted it the previous 2 years. This time, I was determined to at least give it a shot. Late last year, I decided to create a new personal challenge, to attempt to complete a 100+ mile ultra marathon in every US state. I had completed multiple 100s in the same states over the years, so now I would focus on trying to visit a new state with every 100+ race mile I would sign up for. Bighorn was an easy choice. It had been on my bucket list from the beginning nearly 15 years ago and it was in a state I had never raced in. On top of that it also happens to be both a Western States 100 and, more importantly, a Hardrock 100 qualifying event. While I had previously earned my silver buckle at States 5 years earlier, I had yet to get a spot in the Hardrock 100 in 10 years of trying.
So here I was, attempting my fourth 100 or 200+ mile event in just over 8 weeks. I knew it would be gnarly, I knew it would be beautiful and I knew it would be difficult for me to complete this event on tired legs. However, I never expected it to be so challenging in fact that I would be bumping against the cutoffs for the final 25 miles of the race. It was the most stressful I've ever felt in an event and I do not envy those of us who often have to contend with race cutoffs.