There’s a lot you can’t change in running and in life, but you can change your shorts. At least that's what I told myself when I discovered I had pooped my pants – for the first time ever that I can remember – while running the Crazy Mountain 100, Montana’s only 100 mile ultramarathon and my first 100 mile race. If there’s ever a good day to run 100 miles with 23,000 feet of elevation gain over rugged terrain, the Friday of the race was it: the temperature had dropped despite a statewide heatwave, smoke was minimal though wildfire season was in full swing, and it was a bluebird day in the mountains where afternoon thunderstorms featuring hail are the norm.
This stroke of luck meant nothing to my stomach, which was cramping and making increasingly sinister noises. This was the third year of the Crazy Mountain 100, organized by Montana ultrarunner and rancher Megan DeHaan. The race starts in Wilsall and ends in Lennep after climbing 23,000 feet up, over and through the island mountain range in south-central Montana.
The field is limited to 200 runners. To qualify for the race, runners must have completed one ultramarathon of at least 50 miles with at least 6,500 feet of vertical gain. The top times in this year’s race went to Seth Swanson, of Missoula, in 22 hours, eight minutes, and 45 seconds for the men and Rachel Entrekin, of Los Angeles, in 25 hours, six minutes and 10 seconds for the women.
I kept moving. I wasn’t going to let a tummy ache get in the way o.