What will these loops feel like, and what is left to settle before Saturday?
That is the question a Javelina Jundred bib holder is typing about now. The weekend pulls two ways at once. It is Jalloween at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona, with costumes everywhere and a start in the dark. It is also a desert 100 miles, and the party does not change that.
Most of the answer is already in the runs you have logged. The rest fits in three days.
What is already settled¶
Race week is for settling decisions. Fitness is built by now, and nothing you do this week adds to it. Here is what the race itself has fixed, so you can stop wondering about it:
- The start is 6:00 AM on October 31. That is before sunrise.
- Loop 1 is 22.3 miles. Later loops are about 19.4 miles (one listing says 19.45).
- Crew access is only at Javelina Jeadquarters.
Check the organizer's race page and the current forecast for anything newer than this post. I am not going to guess at the weather. For lap splits and the heat window at different finish goals, the Javelina Jundred race strategy post already has the math, so I will not repeat it here.
Read your own loops first¶
Your history is the best source you have, and it is better than anything written about the course. Before you read another race report, open your own runs and ask three questions.
- How did my hottest long days go? Not how fast. How did they feel, how long did you stay on your feet, and what did you do when it got hot? If you finished a hot long day, that is evidence. If it was slow, a long slow day is a big day, and it counts the same.
- What happened to my effort in the back half of a long day? Look at the last third of your longest efforts. Some runners drift, some hold steady. Either way, you now know which one you are, and you can plan around it without drama.
- How did I handle the hours around dawn? The early part of this race is in the dark, and the light comes up while you are still moving. If you have run through a night or an early start before, you have already met these hours.
The heat is part of the course, and a desert course is outlasted, never beaten. Your record shows how you outlast it. If you want more depth, the heat acclimation post and the 100-mile readiness checklist go further than I will here.
This works whether it is your first hundred or your fifth. A first-timer's record shows a long build. A veteran's shows what has worked before. Both are proof.
The 6:00 AM dark start¶
The first miles are in the dark, with a crowd around you, and a good share of that crowd is in costume. That is part of the weekend and worth enjoying for a few minutes.
It also means a few things will not be easy to decide at 5:55 AM with a headlamp strapped on and a hundred people around you. Which light you wear, what you carry for the first stretch, and what you will want in your hands when you pass Jeadquarters the first time are all decisions that cost nothing on Thursday. At the start line they cost attention.
Your crew sheet, for a crew that meets you at one place¶
Because crew access is only at Jeadquarters, your crew sees you in one place, over and over. That makes the crew sheet simple to build, because everything on it happens at the same spot. Decide now what is waiting there each time you come through.
Put these on the sheet:
- What you want handed over on each pass. Name the actual items, in the order you want them.
- What is ready for the dark hours, and what is ready for heat. Both should be at hand before the weather decides which you need.
- What your crew does if you go quiet. Some runners go silent when they are struggling. Say what you want: leave me alone for a minute, push fluids, or sit me down.
- How you signal "I need something different." A word or a phrase, so your crew does not have to guess.
Write it down and hand it over. Your crew has been up early too, and a sheet they can read in the dark lets them stay with you without asking questions you do not have the energy to answer. The race notes post shows what crews read word for word.
Decide these now, not at mile 60¶
Here is the order I would work through, with the clock counting down to the start.
- 72 hours out: Read your own history, as above. Write down what you find in a line or two.
- 48 hours out: Finish the crew sheet and hand it to your crew. Let them ask questions while you are still fresh.
- 24 hours out: Lay out your kit and settle the start-line plan: light, what you carry, what you wear.
- Race morning: Nothing new.
One more thing, about the clock. Your goal time is yours. The cutoff is there for comfort, so that nobody has to do arithmetic at 3 AM in the middle of a loop, and the runner who arrives last gets the loudest cheer. A long slow day on this course is a big day.
Where your history lives¶
If your runs are not in one place yet, connect Strava, or Apple Health on the iPhone app, at navrun.app. Connecting pulls in the whole history, so the look back above is a few minutes of reading instead of a hunt through old files. Activity tracking, the analytics, and training plans are free. Race-Day Strategy, which covers pacing and conditions, comes with the Crew membership, and you do not need it to run or to finish.
FAQ¶
What time does the Javelina Jundred start?
6:00 AM on October 31, in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
Can my crew meet me out on the course?
No. Crew access is only at Javelina Jeadquarters.
How long are the loops?
Loop 1 is 22.3 miles. Later loops are about 19.4 miles.