Jackpot 100 Race Report

The Jackpot 100 was my first loop race. Needless to say, it was a very different experience compared to the mountain 100’s I am used to. But after a fun month competing in the Boulder Burrito League, I was inspired to try something new – run 85 loops at Cornerstone Park, Nevada. I thought it would be a fun experience and be similar to Burrito League, where I made many new friends. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to see how fast I could run 100 miles on flat terrain, considering I have only run mountain 100’s. Lastly, it was exciting to be new at something. Though I was not new to the 100-mile distance when I lined up for Jackpot, the idea of everything on course being “runnable” presented a new type of challenge.

Running at the Jackpot 100 with Andy Glaze and new friend, Chris Burkholder

The Course

The Jackpot 100 course consisted of eighty-five 1.17078-mile loops. 95% of each loop asphalt and concrete but there was some dirt/gravel road dispersed between on the south side of the park. The race began near a parking lot, to add about 0.5 miles (since 1.17078x85=95.5163 miles). The specifics matter since this is a USATF-certified course, meaning world records can be set here. After the additional 0.5-miles was run, runners ran through the starting line arch which signified the beginning of all 85-loops. Each loop began on the western side of the park, under a starting line banner with a chip reader that would be counting our loops for the day. After running through the arch, the course ran north along a concrete path that was like a 200-meter straightaway. On both sides of the path, drop bags, tents, spectators and crews sprawled out and cheered on runners. It was inspiring to have so much support along this section of the course as the race progressed. While continuing to run north, the course took runners slightly downhill and then across a bridge over Railroad Lake. After crossing the lake, the course turned clockwise, southeast and slightly downhill, before going uphill again. Overall, each loop contained 36 feet of gain and 36 feet of loss per loop. Not a lot, but enough to make you feel a difference when you are deep into an ultramarathon. Once the course finished sloping uphill/southeast, it began rounding the east side of the lake with a large “U-turn” that began with another small descent and then rolling patch of gravel, before spitting you out onto another 400-meter straightaway that fed you back through the starting line chute. Of course, the 100-feet into finish line chute were the steepest uphill of the course, so most of the times I came through, I was walking.

Strategy

Before the Jackpot 100, I had multiple friends tell me to prepare a strategy for the event. First, was my friend Joel who had run a 19:51 on the longer version of this course by running for 4-minutes and then walking 20-seconds, for 4:20 intervals. He said he did it for the meme, but that it worked well. Similarly, my friend Anastasia, who has run a 17-hour 100-miler told me to run for 8-minutes and walk for 2-minutes, totaling 10-minute intervals. She said that was how she ran such a fast 100. On top of this, I knew from my Burrito League Participation that there was a short section of the Boulder segment that my fellow-segmenters would walk each loop. It seemed the consensus was to go into Jackpot with a run/walk strategy. I did not.

Instead of going into Jackpot with a specific strategy based around time, I decided to run by feel and see where the best places on the course to walk might be. Eventually, after the first 15 – 20 miles, I did develop a strategy that worked for me. Early in the race, I noticed that constant running on a “flat” course was going to tire my legs quicker than normal. The race being on mostly concrete/asphalt did not help. So, I decided to start walking the small ascents on the course. There were two of them plus one rolling section that I sometimes walked. Each was an easy gradient I could have run, but it felt good to change the pace and muscles I was using to propel myself forward. At one point, Andy Glaze passed me on one of the small hills and joked about me walking the uphill. I countered that I would walk all 3,000 accumulated feet of gain during this race. Considering how slight the gradient was, it was funny to think about, but the strategy worked for me. I also thought I would be annoyed if I set a watch timer for 20-hours that I would be a slave to. I don’t like being told what to do I guess, even by a timer.

Mental Toughness

One of the hard parts of the strategy I followed was that as the race progressed (particularly miles 70/onward, it became very mentally difficult to motivate myself to run, walk, run, walk and then run again. The amount of times I had to motivate myself to start running again took a big mental toll out of my energy levels. In a mountain ultra, usually I am trying to “run to the next tree” or “walk until the next rock.” The scenery you pass by changes. But at Jackpot, I was running/walking the same segments over and over again.

At one point, I started compartmentalizing how much I had to run by saying to myself, “There’s 20 laps left and if I am running 3 segments of the loop and walking 3 segments of each loop, that means I need to run this current segment 20 times. Can I run this segment 20 more times? Yes. Alright.” So then I do it and think to myself, “Now I’m walking and I have to run that last segment 19 more times. But I have a running segment coming up. Once again, can I run this next little segment 20 more times? Yes. Alright. Time to summon the energy to run again...” When this cycle repeats itself so many times, it kind of feels like you’re on a hamster wheel with no end in sight. Mentally, it’s very taxing and was one of the harder parts of the race.

Self-Care

I ran the Jackpot 100 solo and without a crew. Doing so at a loop race is much easier than at a mountain hundred, but still requires you to be extra in-tune with how you are feeling and what your needs are. At Jackpot, my fueling strategy was pretty simple. I consumed maple syrup out of a soft flask I carried and alternated between plain water and my 630mg of Sodium Tailwind packets for most of the race. Taking care of myself until about sunset (mile 70’ish) was easy.

After the sun set, I began adding ramen to my diet. For some reason, the aid station didn’t have ramen ready for me; instead, I needed to order it and pick it up the following lap. But when I’d pick it up, it was to hot to eat. So, I would leave it near my drop bag for a lap before consumption. This meant, it would take me 3 laps to consume my ramen. On the first lap, I would take time to place my order, on the second lap, I would pick up my order and on the third lap I would actually eat said ramen. I did it this way, because it was important to me that I stay consistent during the race.

During the race, I made a rule that I would try to not complete more than one non-running task per lap in order to stay consistent. This meant that on a given lap, I had the option to: order ramen, move ramen to my drop bag, eat ramen, use the restroom or pick up/drop off any other fueling or gear piece at my little drop bag aid station. It is interesting how creative we can be and what rules we create for ourselves when we are striving for something.

My strategy worked well and forced me to be very intentional about my decisions late in the race. Going forward, I think I might carry this rule with me into other ultramarathons. After all, an 18-minute lap where you complete multiple tasks, followed by a 12-minute lap is still slower than two 14-minute laps. That’s how I viewed it at least.

Surface Texture

Everyone who has run an ultramarathon knows how unforgiving concrete/asphalt are as surfaces to run on. In just my experiences, I ran remember the feeling of hitting concrete in the parking lot of my first 100k at Never Summer, I remember hitting the bike path at the end of the Moab 240, I remember hitting the road at Bighorn, the road at Mogollon Monster, and so on. Each memory is a reminder of the same thing: concrete hurts much more to run on than trail. And late in all trail races when you hit concrete, you are reminded of this truth.

I knew running on concrete for 100-miles at Jackpot was going to present a new challenge. But after logging 250< concrete miles during Burrito League in January, I expected the pain to start in the second half of the race; not at mile 30, which is what happened to me.

Miles 30-45’ish was the lowest low of my Jackpot 100 experience. Much of those feelings of desperation came from the fact that my feet, ankles and knees could feel the pummeling force of each footstep on the concrete surface. I wondered, “if this is how I feel now, how will it feel at mile 90?” If this race were in Colorado, I might’ve dropped out at mile 40, but because I was already in Nevada with a flight home scheduled for the next day, I kept on running, because what else was I going to do? Be bored in my tent?

Surprisingly, I started to feel much better around mile 47 when I began a 2-hour long phone call with my friend Joel. It helped pass the time, which felt like it was moving slowly. During that phone call, I logged almost 10 miles and felt much more motivated. Miles 50-60 consistent of an intense runner’s high and my legs seemed to feel better than they did at mile 30, which is always a weird phenomenon when you experience it. Jackpot was another good reminder that the lows never last.

With that said, I will not be running a concrete race in Lone Peaks again. I will be smarter and choose something with a bit more cushion. That probably didn’t help how my feet were feeling early in the race. I also ended up with a blister underneath my big right foot toenail after the race. I think I naturally run with my toes pointed up and the lack of variety of terrain meant my big toenail was under pressure more than usual during the race. I am not sure how to fix that for next time yet.

Socializing

There were a lot of amazing people on the Jackpot course. I ran with Andy Glaze for most of the first 7-8 miles. Considering we’ve not met at races in California, Utah, Colorado and now Nevada, it was cool to finally share some miles instead of our previously, super brief conversations at the starting-line. We chatted about mental health, since he has been posting online about his recent bouts of PTSD, we talked about crewing/pacing/running Badwater, we talked a little about the events we’re doing later this year together, and I did ask him to be on my podcast. He said yes, but we don’t have a date scheduled yet. It will happen in due time. Somehow, I only saw Andy one other time during Jackpot despite him finishing only 30-minutes or so behind me. We must’ve been running the same exact pace; just at opposite ends of the park for most of the event.

Next up was Jim Ingalls. Jim started chatting with me because I was wearing a Bear 100 shirt. Our conversation was brief because he is 81-years old and was walking more than he was running, but I enjoyed our convo and wish we could’ve talked more. Jim told me about running an ultra in every state and being one of five people who has done so. At one point during our conversation, he stopped and pointed to an elderly man and said, “That guy has run over 2,000 singular marathons.” It was quite the statistic. That’s a minimum of one marathon per day for about 6-years.

I also met Ed “The Jester” Ettinghausen, who was of course running in a Jester costume as always. I was excited to speak with him for about half of a lap and took the time to walk with him so that I could have that conversation. It was worth it. He said he was running his 307th 100+ miler that day which is the kind of statistic from a tall tale you read as a kid. He talked to me about starting his ultrarunning career when he was 46 and now being 63; I think he was trying to tell me, I could go after his record. But that’s not a goal of mine. I would; however, like to join the 100 100-milers club by the time I retire from ultrarunning, many many years from now. Ed also told me about running Badwater in a white version of his jester costume and introduced me to his pacer who he met during a timed event the previous year. He was a really nice and cool guy. I appreciated him taking a photo with me as well.

Meeting Ed "The Jester" Ettinghausen! He was running his 307th 100+ Miler!

There were a few people on course who I unfortunately did not get to speak with but who also inspired me.

The first was Ann Trason, who was participating in the 48-hour event with a pimped-out walker. My understanding is Ann has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, so she is not the runner she was when she won Western States 14 times and the Leadville 4-times. She also held the LT100 record for 31-years (until Ann Flower broke her record there last year). Still, it was inspiring seeing her on course doing what she could. She logged 71-miles during he 48-hour event, which was incredible considering – once again – that she was using a walker. What I loved about seeing Ann on course was that every lap she was either on the phone socializing with friends or cheering on surrounding runners. She sported different hats, including a jester hat, I assume Ed had given her, and at night her walker lit up in a variety of colors. She seemed to be smiling the whole race. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a good time to stop and walk with her. The 48-hour course was on the long-course, meaning we weren’t running exactly the same route and considering I was trying to run a descent time, her pace was significantly slower than I wanted to move at. I felt bad not taking the time to talk to her, but hopefully I will see her again sometime.

Of course, I should also mention Rajpau Pannu and Ashley Paulsen who were on course running world records and course records. One of them passed me pretty much every lap of the race. We did not run together because they were moving too fast but they were incredible out there and seemed to never slow down. As the race progressed, I grew more and more impressed by them. Raj finished in 11:38, setting a course record while Ashley finished in 12:19, setting a world (and course) record.

I should also mention that Ruairi Mynihan, otherwise known as TrailGangstAZ was on course. He was pacing Raj for the first 40’ish miles of his 11:38 100 miler before dropping out of the event altogether. Pacing at a USATF event is not legal unless the pacer is also a participant in the event. I am a big fan of Ruairi’s TrailGangstAZ account and love his content, humor and dedication to the sport. It brings me joy when I see his posts. I also appreciated getting a selfie with him.

Ruairi Moynihan aka TrailGangstAZ!

Music

I don’t typically love listening to music during ultras. If this gives you an idea by what I mean by that, I listened to 2-hours of music during my entire 2021 Moab 240. As a comparison, I listened to about 9 or 10-hours of music at Jackpot. I went through a 4-hour playlist I curated for the event twice plus partially for a third time.

The reason I listened to music a lot during Jackpot was frankly because I got bored on course kind of quickly. Despite the large crowd of runners at the start, there were only a few people running the same pace I wanted to maintain. Not that I was very numbers oriented; I was just running by feel. The loop also required a lot of mental fortitude, which I wrote about above, and because of that focus. I found that music helped me stay motivated and focused when I was struggling to on my own. I also thought the music helped me cope with many of the emotions I am feeling about life and society today. The first few months of 2026 brought about a lot of stress and anger, and I am unhappy about a lot of things happening in our country (and around the world). My playlist reflected this and consisted of music mostly from: Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit, Tool, Rise Against, Lincoln Park, Green Day, the Smashing Pumpkins, The Foo Fighters and (although not in line with the genre of the other bands), The Blue Stones who I’d been listening to a lot of lately. I used the music and my frustration with society to turn my anger into performance. Take that as you will. I felt like it was a good thing that I could channel my anger into something positive.

Mostly, I listened to music from about miles 20-45 when I was struggling and then again from miles 60-90 when I was vibing.

Performance

Going into Jackpot, my main goals were to:

1)    Run a sub-20 hour 100 miler.

2)    Qualify (again) for the Spartathlon Ultramarathon with a sub-21 hour time

3)    Run a 100-mile PR of faster than 23:17 (which I ran at Western States)

4)    My ridiculous goal for the day was to try and run sub-17 hours because Anastasia told me I could, but I was skeptical of this. A 16:45 would automatically birth me an entry into the Spartathlon in 2027 too.

When I started the race, I purposefully began at a 4-hour 25-mile pace. I thought running an 8-hour 50-mile was feasible and could propel me to my ridiculous sub-17 hour goal. Not that I cared deeply about this goal; I knew it was a long shot. I mainly wanted to see what was possible. Considering I’ve never run a flat, concrete or loop course like this before, I knew running my best possible race was unlikely. Also, not to make excuses, but I signed up for this event 4 weeks prior. I did not structured training other than participating in Burrito League. My volume was up, but not for more than the month of January. And I only did two speedwork sessions leading up to Jackpot. So, I knew that no matter how I did, I could do better in the future.

Anyways, I did complete the first 25 miles in 4:04. Almost on the dot for my initial plan. After this, I knew running sub-17 was not going to be possible. The harsh concrete was hurting my feet/legs and I began walking the short ascents on course more frequently. It was fine with me that my ridiculous goal would likely not be in reach. I still thought I could run a sub-19 hour time which became my next goal. Something about finishing in a time that began with “18” sounded like a good number.

As the race progressed and I struggled from miles 30-47, my focus became consistency and trying my best to make the most out of what felt like bad miles. You cannot win an ultra in any one mile, but you can lose it in one. I did a good job remaining focused, trying to remain optimistic and turn what felt like bad miles into a 4:36, 25-mile split. I came through the halfway mark (mile 49.9 per the tracker) in 8:40. This gave me confidence to run at least sub-20 hours because I ran the second half of Western States (which was much harder) in 12:57. I felt like I could certainly run an 11:20, 50-mile on this flat course that did not contain the last two canyons, a river crossing, 100< degree heat or as much vertical gain as Western States had.

I began to groove in miles 50-75, which were spent half on the phone with Joel and half experiencing a runners high from miles 60-70’ish. I completed that quarter of the race in 5:23. Despite slowing down, it wasn’t by too much. My time at mile 75.2 was 14:03. I felt confident I could run the last 25-miles in at least 6-hours and finish sub-20, but Joel’s time of 19:51 was also on my mind to beat as well.

The last quarter of the race was a little slower. I had more responsibilities taking care of myself. I had to order/consume ramen multiple times to stay energized, drank two Redbulls, had to poop twice, urinate more frequently at night and also stop to put on a jacket since the temperatures dipped into the high 30’s. I did a great job taking care of myself, but these items took time to complete and slowed me down a little more. My last 25-mile split was a 5:34, which I was happy with. Despite the added responsibilities and colder temperatures, I maintained a similar pace to miles 50-75 and finished in a total time of 19:37. It was a 100-mile PR for me by 3:40 which was a huge accomplishment. I was also very happy and satisfied with my consistency throughout the race. It is expected you slow down in the second half of a 100-miler and I thought running a 10:57 to close out the race was impressive.

The Future

Will I do another concrete, looped race again? I told myself no after the race, because I did not enjoy the scenery, concrete or frankly have a lot of fun during Jackpot. I grew bored quickly, which played a part in my reliance on music. In the future, I am open to the idea of doing a flat course again, but I would prefer it be on trail or gravel road. Something like Tunnel Hill or Prairie Spirit as opposed to Jackpot again. With that said, I always lie to myself and realistically will find myself at Jackpot or another Jackpot-like event again.

Finish Line of the Jackpot 100 Mile. 19:37!