The USATF 100 Mile Trail Championship Is Back This Weekend

Tomorrow, Saturday, December 4th the final race of the 2021 USATF Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) National Championship series kicks-off in Needville, Texas. Organized by Trail Racing Over Texas, the Brazos Bend 100 hosts the 2021 USATF 100 Mile Trail Championships; billed as “the fastest trail in the United States.” The 100 Mile starts at 6:00 am with competitors running 6 times around a 16.74 mile loop.

The Brazos Bend course is the fastest trail in Texas trail running with the following notable performances:

  • 2019 Patrick Reagan ran the fastest 100 mile on a real trail in 12:21:43
  • 2019 Calum Neff ran the fastest 50k on trail in that year in 2:59:00
  • 2016 Caroline Boller ran a 50 mile woman’s trail record in 5:48:01
  • 2016 Maggie Guterl ran the 3rd fastest 100 mile run in the United States in 14:47:02

The Brazos Bend course is 99.9% flat, and the only hill is 10 feet. Competitors will be running on flat surfaces that move from hard crushed rock, soft trail under canopy, and easy horse trails. The 50 mile will top out at 300 feet of gain total, and the 100 miler will have 600 feet of gain total.

Brazos Bend 100 Mile – the fastest 100 miler in Texas.

After being cancelled in 2020, Brazos Bend is back in a big way with a number of top ultra distance trail runners competing in the national championships including:

Southern California based Kalie Demejerian is a favorite in the open women’s category having finished 2nd at the 2020 Javelina Jundred in 16:10.

Texas’ own Liza Howard is competitive is a masters runner who is also competitive in the open categories having multiple wins at the Bandera 100k and Leadville 100 as well as wins at the Javelina Jundred and Mad City 100k.

Shandra Moore, also from Texas, has won several races this year, included a 100k in Paris, TX, in a time of 9:30.

60 year old Mandy Miller looks to be a contender for the 60-64 age group championship. 65 year old Melissa Uchitelle-Rogers is a favorite to win the women’s 65-69 age group.

In the men’s national championship, Mark Hammond is a favorite having won Jackpot 100 mile in 2019 and 2020. In addition, he was 5th at the 2021 Run Rabbit Run and 5th at the 2019 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run.

James Scanlan (San Francisco, CA) looks to be the top masters competitor in the national championship having placed 5th overall at the 2021 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile and 2nd at the Jed Smith 50 mile.

Jim Sweeney also looks good in the masters field with 2nd place finishes at the Tunnel Hill 100 mile and Umstead 100 mile in the past 2 years.

Not to be outdone by the young guns, 70 year old Robert Tyson (Sugar Land, TX) is looking for his first 100 mile finish and the 70-74 age group win. Currently his longest race finish is 50k.

Julie Kheyfets.

There are 35 runners registered for the USATF 100 Mile Trail Championship coming from 10 US states. Ages range from 29 to 70. Patrick Reagan and Julie Kheyfets won the last USATF 100 Mile Trail Championship contested in 2019.

LIVE 2021 Brazos Bend Race Results will be available here: http://edsresults.com/brazosbend21/

Patrick Reagan.

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