Zion 100: My First 100-Mile Attempt
52 miles. A DNF. And the start of my ultra running journey.
THE STARTING LINE
Before Zion, I had run exactly two races in my life: a half marathon in April of 2025 and a marathon in October of ‘25.
And somehow, I was standing at the starting line of a 100-mile race on April 11th, 2026.
That fits my personality…I am typically a “two feet in the pool” type of person.
Zion Starting Line
My goal was simple: 100 miles. I wanted to finish the race and prove to myself that I could accomplish this far out goal.
I didn’t get there.
I made it 52 and the wheels came off—well, the wheels came off much earlier, 52 miles was just where I coasted to my stop.
But looking back, Zion taught me a ton about ultra running, how much I enjoy it, things I need to work on both physically and mentally, and despite failing to reach my goal I think it will help me succeed in the future.
THE RACE
The anticipation for the race was insane. I got to the starting line excited, confident, and anxious but not necessarily nervous. I had worked hard to get to that point and I felt prepared and ready.
For a short while, things were goin well. We started in the conga line and the pace was slow and steady as the sun was starting to come up.
I still remember getting to the first aid station, the first one I had ever gone to, not knowing what to expect. I quickly realized that aid stations are your friend…the people are amazing and are there to help you achieve your goal.
I was moving well before we came out onto a road with some gradual downhills. I was telling myself to run slow and steady, but instead I allowed the gravity of going downhill take me and I started taking long undisciplined strides which would quickly become the start of a long and slow death march to mile 52.
That is a lesson I learned at Zion, small mistakes compound…and they have 100 miles of compounding.
Coming into the first crew station at around mile 18, my quads were already on fire and my feet were blistered which were two problems that I never faced during my training.
I ran those early downhills too aggressively and I was about to pay for it for the rest of the race.
My wife worked on the blisters and I tried everything I could think of to try to get my quads back but nothing seemed to work.
As I left the aid station, I resorted to using my hiking poles even on flat sections to take some of the weight off of my legs and that helped me keep moving but at a slow pace that was taking so much work.
My legs weren’t sore, they were obliterated. Running downhill became incredibly painful, and once that happened, there wasn’t much I could do to reverse it. Even the flats would hurt on each step.
Along with my quads, my feet were also deteriorating. Blisters became another problem I was trying to manage while my legs were already falling apart.
By mile 52, my race was over.
I had covered more than two marathons.
I still had almost two marathons left.
That is one of the strangest things about a 100-miler: 52 miles can simultaneously feel like an enormous accomplishment and nowhere close to the goal.
THE DNF
I look done…and I was done. Location of the DNF
To show how naive I was entering into Zion, it never crossed my mind that failure was possible…and maybe even probable.
I think when you spend months preparing for one finish line, it’s difficult to imagine that there is a chance that you don’t ever get to see that line.
But, as I walked into my last aid station, I was confident that I had given the race everything that I had. There are always going to be thoughts going through my head fill with “ifs, ands, and buts” but I do feel like I made it as far in that race as I could have given the early mistakes that I made.
I simply reached the point where the finish line was no longer a possibility.
52 miles. DNF.
For a little while, that’s what Zion was. A DNF-Did Not Finish.
Humbling. So many people knew that I was attempting this race, and I failed. That is a hard pill to swallow.
But failure is part of running and part of life. How do you respond?
WHAT ZION TAUGHT ME
The biggest lesson was that an ultramarathon isn’t just about how fit you are.
It’s about managing problems before they become race-ending problems.
Pacing matters. Early downhills matter. Foot care plans definitely matter. Fueling and hydration matter. Aid stations matter.
Small decisions made at mile 10 can become enormous problems at mile 50 and crippling problems by mile 70.
And perhaps most importantly, I learned that you can’t approach 100 miles like a really long marathon.
It’s its own thing.
Since Zion, I’ve tried to become a much smarter runner. I’m paying more attention to pacing, heart rate, hydration, sodium, fueling, shoes, foot care, aid-station strategy, and all the small details that I probably didn’t appreciate enough before my first attempt.
I’m experimenting. I’m tracking things. I’m making mistakes in training where I can afford to make them.
Because next time I want to arrive at the starting line with more than just fitness gains.
I want a plan for miles 52-100 because I have an idea of what miles 1-52 are like in a 100 miler, but I have no idea what miles 53-100 are like and that is what excites me and makes me nervous as I prepare for the next race.
Mile 90 isn’t just another mile. The difficulty of a 100-miler isn’t linear. Staying awake for 12 hours isn’t half as difficult as staying awake for 24, and climbing halfway up a mountain doesn’t mean you’ve done half the work.
There is an entire second half of this distance that I’ve never experienced.
I am excited to meet it.
WHAT’S NEXT
On October 31, 2026, I’ll stand at another 100-mile starting line at the Javelina Hundred.
This time I’m bringing everything Zion taught me.
The goal isn’t to erase the DNF. I don’t really want to.
Zion is part of my story now. I will never be able to say that I am one of those runners who has never DNF’d a race, but I can be someone that learned from a failure and now finishes those races.
It showed me weaknesses I needed to work on. It gave me questions I didn’t know I needed to ask. And it gave me a much better appreciation for just how difficult finishing 100 miles actually is.
So Javelina isn’t about getting revenge on Zion.
It’s simply the next attempt.
Another chance to find out what I’m capable of.
And hopefully, this time, I get to find out what’s waiting between mile 52 and mile 100.
ZION 100 - APRIL 11TH, 2026
52 MILES - DNF
LESSON: KEEP GOING, KEEP LEARNING. RACE MATURE.
My crew for Zion 100: Joel and Verlina (in laws) Amanda (wife) Me, Glen (my dad) Alison and Brendan (friends)
My wife put on her running gear and planned on walking the last 50+ miles with me…maybe she knew I wasn’t going far!