The event
Bar-H ranch is located about 5 miles outside St. Jo, Texas. To get there from Dallas, it’s a simple drive up I-35 to Gainesville, then west on Highway 82 to St. Jo. Just before the Dairy Queen, take the FM 2382 north about 5 miles. A gravel County Road 433 will appear on the left. Winding down the gravel road about a mile will bring you to the entrance to the ranch on the left. Upon entering the property, a small shack with restrooms also serves as a pay station ($6/person per day). Continuing up and over the small hill will dump you out into a field which served as the race headquarters.
There are sign and markers throughout the ranch and generally the trails are very easy to follow. Much of it is single track with particularly rocky sections along Horseshoe. A jeep road connects Horseshoe to The Oaks, which is a more gentle section of trail. Closer into race headquarters, along the second half of The Oaks, the trail winds through a forest with very soft trail under foot.
Overall this makes a great place to get in a hilly workout. The two trails combined were about 5 miles in total and it was easy to stay on course. Flour was put out before the race at all the intersections and it was very easy to follow. It was nice that half way through the loop you were dumped back to headquarters so grabbing aid was easy and particularly helpful on a hot and muggy day.
This year the race started at 5pm and continued until 11pm. Runners were allowed to start their last loop before 11 and could continue to the finish. The temperature was in the low 80s and the humidity felt like it was above 90%! We were advised to stock up on electrolytes and carry enough fluids on the course. In the past, I heard that the race went from 8pm-8am.
My race
I decided to head up to Bar-H around lunch time on Saturday. I’ve been waivering on whether or not to go through with my FANS entry since my training has been very lacking. But since the Boondoggle was a 6-hour race, I figured I could do as much as I wanted and just cut out when I felt like it.
Driving down CR 433, I noticed a lot of sky on the left. That’s because the ranch has a rather large canyon in the middle of it. I didn’t realize it would be so hilly out here and was quite surprised. I was trying to scope out the trail as I entered the ranch and from what I saw, I figured I was in for a wild ride!
Before the race started, we all gathered around Antje, race director, to listen to her pre-race briefing. With little fanfare, we started off on our first loop. I settled in with a group which included Jay Norman, who was still recovering from rotator cuff surgery, Elisabeth (who I met for the first time), Shelly (I’d seen before, somewhere), and Laurie. We stayed pretty close together throughout the whole loop and would continue at roughly the same pace through the second loop. It was good to have NTTR friends on the trail and it made me much less worried about getting lost, which didn’t happen thanks to the great course markings.
We headed up the gravel road from the open field and turned right underneath an old western style sign onto the Horseshoe trail. It quickly got rocky and hilly as we alternated from slow jog to powerwalk to hike. The day was still hot and muggy even though it was already past 5pm. With the recent rains, the wildflowers were still in good supply and there were sprinklings of them throughout.
At the end of most of the climbs, the trail takes an abrupt left, but not before dumping you in front of an amazing canyon view. Green pastures and patches of trees were visible for miles but the humidity and low clouds made for an eerie looking day. I imagine on a clear day this view is fantastic.
Continuing on Horseshoe I started to get into my rhythm. I had adjusted to the heat and humidity and was drinking my Clip2 at regular intervals. I’ve just recently started trying this instead of my usual Succeed. The light raspberry flavor is tasty though I found if not mixed well, there can be a nasty artificial taste. With enough shaking of the amphipod bottles I use, it usually mixes itself just fine. Though it’s not particularly sweet, that’s probably a good thing as I hear too much of the wrong type of sugar sours the stomach.
Along the edge of the ranch, there are old bikes tied to the barb wire fence. The trail heads back to the right towards the canyon and there are signs with 3 down arrows signaling a steep decline. It was a bit too steep for me to comfortably run down so I leaned back a bit and gave my quads a workout. Shelly seemed comfortable (just as she had on the rocky sections) and motored right on down!
Before I knew it, we were at a trail juncture where Copperhead went off to the left and we followed the jeep road on a slight uphill to the right. This would lead us back to the headquarters and onto The Oaks. Jay had fallen back a bit and I was with Elisabeth, Shelly, and Laurie. Another guy was up ahead a bit.
The Oaks starts just behind the barn and goes out into more of an open field. It winds around on itself before turning back towards the ranch entrance. At the farthest section, Lynn Ballard had placed the aid station which consisted of a couple jugs of water. They were in just the right spot even though I didn’t need them. The trail on these sections can be a narrow V-shape which made footing a bit tricky. The recent rains surely had eroded the soil and made it more this way.
About half a mile after the aid station, the trail take a quick down and up dip which Jay Norman said was impossible to navigate when it was raining on race day. It must require the crawling on all 4s method to escape! The rain was holding off at this point though I was hoping it would come a light shower so it would cool me down. Around here, the trail starts a slow and gentle yet constant ascent as you make up the elevation from having dropped down the canyon. I was really liking the trail here with a lot of shade from the trees. In the distance I could hear some sort of mower so knew I was getting near the ranch entrance.
I passed a parked trailer to my right shortly before coming to another old western sign which had a cow skull hanging from it. I was a bit disoriented and didn’t realize where I was at but soon figured out that I was at the restroom/pay shack. After a steep uphill climb on the gravel road and over the hill, it was time to cruise down the road back to the field. Right at the top of the hill you pass the entrance to the Horseshoe trail and it then makes sense how the trails are laid out.
My second loop was much like the first, but with more walking than I’d have liked. I realized I probably once again went out too quickly, particularly with the uphill sections. I was powering up them from the get go and my muscles were already sore. On the uphills, I went around Jay and Laurie, but Elisabeth and Shelly were still a ways ahead. I saw them at the top of the jeep road just after the turnoff to Copperhead and the guy was right with them. But they kept going steady while I alternated with walking. Somehow in the forest area, the guy and I got ahead of the girls because as I came into the headquarters area, Elisabeth and Shelly came jogging down the road. I decided they must have put in extra miles because I didn’t remember taking a different course. The guy also ended up in front of them, too.
After that second loop, I went and sat down in my camp chair and cracked open an iced down Dr Pepper. Bad move. I got comfortable and decided the hot and muggy conditions were more than I wanted to deal with on Saturday at 7:30pm. With darkness less than an hour away, I knew the third loop would be slow. So I called it a day and headed back home figuring a 10-mile training run was better than nothing. FANS is gonna be killer tough!
I emailed with Elisabeth after the race and they ended up doing 4 loops. She wanted to do a fifth but couldn’t convince anyone to carry on. She also mentioned that shortly into the third loop, they spotted a “10 foot” snake! I knew there was a good reason that two loops was enough.
Results
5 laps
- Jeff Snyder
- Lynn Ballard (but finished after Jeff)
4 laps
- Charles Chen
- Ryan Lauck
- Elisabeth Will
- Shelly Turner
- Laurie Underwood
3 laps
- Drew Meyer
- Jay Norman
- Ron Alvey
- Marless Clark
2 laps
- Danny Davis
- Brad Garrison
- Kim Monson
- Cody Cassity
- Mike Padilla
1 lap
- Audry Kwyk
- Porial Monson
- Sandy Monson
- Theresa McCoul
- John McCoul
- Mark Blenden
