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

Similar to what we did before Rockledge, Deborah and I arrived at 5:30am to begin about two hours of warm up before the official run started. We opted for the more southern/eastern half of the trail since the other half would come later. The temperature at the start of the run was nice, if even a bit warm and muggy, but made for some nice training. We were pretty much all alone for the first two hours and only met a biker towards the very end of our run. We had our headlamps from MADD to Jackson, but it was light enough to do without them about a half mile back from Jackson.

We got back to our cars in a little over two hours which wasn’t bad considering a couple of pit stops. We found that our cars were the only ones in the parking lot and everyone else had headed to Little Pete’s. After parking and mingling with club members, it was our turn to draw and head on our way. We wanted to get an early start on everyone since we’d be running slow and near the back of the pack. Heading out, we stayed with Stan and Beverly for a short while but they pulled away quickly. We drew again with Letha at the water fountain and headed up to Far Gate to draw from Mark. By this time, most everyone had passed us except for one group, but we were content. Back to Letha and on to Twin Coves for our final card and some food.

My first three draws turned out to be 10s and it would leave me with a 4th place finish. Not bad for a Sunday morning and it was a nice treat to what turned out to be an excellent day for a trail run. If the service at Little Pete’s had been quicker, it would have been nice, but it allowed us to catch up and chat with other club members, so it was all good.

The course itself consists of 2 loops and a short out-and-back in the beginning. There is some overlap and one part of the course is run 4 times. Given that it was at the end and I knew exactly how much I had left, that was actually a positive thing.

My first loop went pretty well. I wasn’t tired, I felt like I was saving enough energy, my legs weren’t sore, and the cramps weren’t there yet. With about 15 miles down, I stopped to talk for a while before heading back out on my second loop. I had been giving updates on my progress via text messaging (yeah, trail running while using a cell phone is kinda of dumb, but it helped encourage me to keep pushing). So my spectators knew pretty well when I’d be coming through the start/finish area.

By the start of the second loop, I was beginning to question why I’d entered. I was a little more encouraged when the first aid station rolled up pretty quickly. I used that little mental boost to keep me going for a good while and I was making decent time even if my jog was pretty slow. I was coming up on the 18 mile mark and I fully expected cramps to get me. I’d never run more than 20 miles before without terrible calf cramps making it really tough. But I had been taking electrolyte replacement pills all along the course at each aid station and was optimistic it’d actually work. I was also downing soda, cookies, and brownies whenever I didn’t feel too heavy. I had my hydration pack on my back for the first time in a long race. I definitely didn’t want to fill up on fluids and food and feel lethargic.

But I made it to the 20 mile mark and no cramps where to be had. I just kept going, though my feet were really tired and hurting by this point. I was already heading back in the general direction of the start/finish so I knew the worst scenario would be to walk to the finish. The runners were pretty spread out by this point so it was pretty much a solitary experience. I soon got to the point where 3 or 4 trails merged and knew I was on a section I’d run before. This was a big mental boost since I could remember how much longer I had to go. With cramps still not appearing, I was also excited that my pills were doing a good job.

I got to where I knew I had just about half a mile to go and knew I had it in the bag. I still had decent energy and didn’t feel like I was going to crash. My head was still clear and I was grateful that I didn’t injure my knees or muscles given my complete lack of training. I got to the end of the loop and was unsure of how to finish the race. A few people at the finish line waived at me as a signal that I was just supposed to run up the small incline. Finally, 5 and a half hours later, my 5th marathon was done.

Finishing up the race

My biggest accomplishment at this race was definitely conquering the cramping. I’ve been discouraged to enter longer races and now I feel like it might be something I can actually consider. Maybe I’ll get in some good training this summer and be able to pull off another 50K before too long.