Dinosaur Valley 100K: Closing the Year with a Finish

After continuous DNFs in the last 3 races, including a tough yet humbling one at Javelina Jundred, I was determined to end the year by crossing a finish line.  I was getting over a cold and cough from about a week and a half ago, but once I started feeling better, I decided to race anyway.  I chose Dinosaur Valley 100K, held at Dinosaur Valley State Park near Dallas, a place famous for its riverbed where real dinosaur tracks were discovered.

I knew very little going in, other than learning later that it’s a Western States qualifier, which explained the large field.  As a bonus, two Bay Area friends, Karen and James, were racing too.  It was also my first time doing a race screwed (no crew, no pacers), so we shared camping chairs and a stool in the solo-runners’ tent.  Perfect setup for pre-race and mid-race, but not so perfect afterward when I was cold, exhausted, and moving at a prehistoric pace.

The Course

The terrain delivered a mix of:

• Rocky and high step up/down
• Rolling hills
• Rooty single track
• Runnable flats (just enough to tempt you)

Each lap is a 10.5-mile lasso loop, done 6× for the full 100K.  Imagine Rocky Raccoon + Bandera, plus a sprinkle of runnable trickery that convinces you to push harder than planned.

Lap-by-Lap Breakdown

Lap 1:  Fresh but Frosty

• Cold morning start and used buffs as gloves (I forgot to bring gloves)
• Ran fresher, hiked steeper climbs
• Fell at mile 3 (thankfully not in the super rocky section)
• Took ~20 minutes at my drop bag area afterward to apply Deep Blue cream to keep fresh legs going

 

Lap 2:  Introducing “Turbo!”

• Sun came out, dropped jacket and buffs to dry
• Tried a pacing trick: every runnable stretch I say to myself “turbo” and surge for ~10 seconds (~11 min pace)
• Turbo intervals kept me steady and efficient
• Another quick stop. Restroom break, and more Deep Blue

Lap 3:  Food + Bathroom Plot Twist

• Warmest loop (high 60s), so switched to short sleeves
• Aid station food was too good, and I’d been grazing all day
• Required an unplanned bathroom for #2 stop at Fence Line aid station
• Still moved well and kept the turbo strategy going

Lap 4:  Roots, Drops & Screaming Quad

• Picked up night loop gear: headlamp and chocolate coffee beans (I knew exactly where I put them 🙂)
• Still flirting with a 22-hour finish (for the WSERQ)
• Rooty, narrow single track with sharp drops forced me to do careful footing
• Hiked with a small group for morale
• Quad pain hit hard afterward, I had a long stop for self-massage at the HQ, more Deep Blue, and finally Tylenol

Lap 5:  Goodbye WSERQ, Hello Buckle

• Realized a WSER qualifier time was slipping away
• Let it go, the real goal was to finish after too many DNFs this year
• Mostly solo running and hiking, occasionally passed by strong 100-milers
• Stayed steady and warm

Lap 6:  Dino-Sore Determination

• Fastest aid station drop bag turnaround of the race
• Started strong, then hit a wall after Fence Line aid
• Fatigue + cold + bathroom breaks + wrong turn earlier = slow grind
• Imagined my Javelina pacers, Kathy & Alexis, talking to me and pushing me through the night
• Turbo intervals slowed to 19 min hiking bursts… but they still worked to keep me moving

The Finish

I crossed the line in 23 hours 30 minutes, exhausted, shivering, stomach still protesting, and legs completely Dino-sore.  With no crew, no pacers, and a stubborn body, it took every bit of grit I had.

But I finished.
I got the buckle.
And after the year I’ve had, that’s the real win.