Otto and Burlington men experience challenges in 100-mile trail run

For the 23rd year, the Big Horn Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run was held in the Bighorn National Forest. The race crosses over parts of the Little Bighorn and Tongue River areas. Runners have 35 hours to finish the 100-mile race and Coulter Neves from Otto and Ryan Olson from Burlington joined the other 259 participants who started the race and were in the 207 racers who completed the entire 100 miles. 

This is Neves’ third time competing in the grueling race and he changed up his training approach this year. “I knew I was going to be running with the legendary Ryan Olson, so I felt like I needed to be extra prepared. This year, I put in more running hours than I have in the past. In prior years, I focused more on hiking uphill and ‘rucking’ to be ready for the prolonged uphills in the race. While this was useful training, I felt like I wasn’t ready for the sections that were actually runnable. The training paid off because I found myself running more comfortable in all parts of the race,” said Neves. 

Neves’ journey was not all smooth sailing, however.

“At around 25 miles into the race, I began to have some pretty significant nausea,” he said. “Nausea is one of my least favorite feelings, so I was not excited about it. At first, I would only feel the nausea when I would push pretty hard, so I just slowed down and tried to take it easy for about an hour. At 30 miles, I stopped at an aid station and got to see my crew and picked up Eric McNiven as a pacer.” 

After getting in some calories, Neves felt better for the next hour or so but then the nausea came back with a vengeance for the next 16 miles. 

“I was unable to eat or drink anything. During that time, anytime I exerted myself more than a slow walk, the nausea would come back so badly that I would just have to stop and lean over on my hiking poles,” Neves said. “I even laid down on the ground for a few minutes by the trail, which didn’t seem to help. Eventually, we got to an aid station that was about 8 miles from the halfway point and I just laid on the ground, planning to stay there until the nausea went away, but it never did. My morale was pretty shot at that point because I could hardly walk, I hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink in hours and we’d been passed by dozens of people… a lot of them elderly… and they looked like they were having a great time.” 

Neves was ready to drop out of the race, but with some encouragement from other racers and from his pacer, a little anti-nausea medication and about an hour of a break at the halfway point aid station, he was ready to hit the trail. 

“It really was a miracle, it was like a switch had flipped because I felt great from that point on. I had almost no nausea from that point and my legs felt pretty great,” he said. 

With an official time of 29:19:37, Neves finished 64 overall and 29th in the 30-39 year old age group and despite the difficulties, Neves is already planning and preparing for next year. 

“I have a few different things that I want to test out, so that I can hopefully avoid some of the problems I encountered this year. The preparation for the race is half the fun. It is a good way to try to stay in shape and stay healthy. I like trying new things in my training, gear and diet. We’ll see if anything pays off next year. The race has always been a fun way to get out in the mountains and appreciate God’s creations, both nature and the human body,” he said. 

Neves also wanted to shout out the rest of his crew: “They are the unsung heroes of these races. David and Claudia Loveland spent most of the weekend driving around looking for me, setting up a sweet campsite for me to stay at, delivering pacers to the correct locations, giving me words of encouragement while I was training and while I was racing and basically making sure everyone had a good time up there. Eric and Whitney (Neves) were my pacers. Both of them suffered in different ways during their sections. I hope Eric doesn’t think less of me after seeing me at such a low point. And I hope Whitney’s quads recover someday after running downhill for so many miles. Katy brought the kids up on the mountain for the whole weekend which is an extra impressive feat. It was really fun to see them and have them run with me for a bit. It was also fun to race with Ryan, we got to run together for a few miles and it felt like the “good old days” since he has been my pacer in the two previous years.”

Olson completed his first 100-mile race a couple of years ago in South Dakota. 

“It was hard, but I finished in just over 20 hours and like most distance runners, after the muscles healed and the toenails grew back, I began to look for a new challenge,” Olson said. “The Big Horn Trail 100-mile run is a pretty famous race and it’s right in our backyard. I had paced Coulter the last couple of years so I thought I would give the entire 100-mile distance a try. I knew the biggest challenge would be the hills. I decided to increase my mileage each week and do extra strength training.”
It wasn’t long into the race that Olson started his own struggles. “It was a hot day, and I knew dehydration might be an issue, but I tried to stay positive and push forward. Eating and drinking enough became a challenge,” he said.  

Olson finished the race, with a final time of 30:51:15, finishing 81st overall and 5th in the 50-59 year old age group. Sore muscles and blisters would not be his biggest issues though. 

“Dizziness and nausea continued, and my friends and family thought a visit to the hospital would be a good idea. I was quickly diagnosed with a condition called Rhabdo, where damaged muscle cells gather in the bloodstream and begin to overload the kidneys,” Olson said. 

Olson was treated with IVs and fluid and released after three days. “I’m feeling a lot better now and I’ve learned a lot of lessons,” he said. “I want to continue to run, but maybe take it a little easier on the distances. Maybe I’ll stick to the fun little 26-mile marathons from now on!

“I do want to thank the race organizers, volunteers and my friends who helped me through the race and afterwards. It’s a beautiful course and a wonderful event.”