Black Hills 100M | 100K | 50M

Lodging for the 2013 Black Hills 100

chris — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:15:49 +0000

We’ve fielded a few questions about lodging options for the 2013 event. As it turns out, this year’s race falls on the same weekend as the Camaro Rally in Sturgis. On a side note, if you thought Sturgis was only known for the motorcycle rally in August, you’re wrong. Camaros, Mustangs, Harleys….you name it, somebody will start a rally for it. Back to the point, it turns out that many of the Sturgis hotels are booked for the race weekend. The Best Western in Sturgis (605-347-3604) has set aside a block of rooms for the event, but these are likely to fill up fairly quickly (if they haven’t already). In anticipation of this, we have also worked out an arrangement with the Holiday Inn in Spearfish (605-642-4683), which is about 20 miles west of Sturgis along I-90. We would encourage you to contact one of these hotels first since they were willing to work with us to secure some rooms for runners.

If you are unable to secure a room at either of those locations, you can try the other options in Sturgis (a quick Kayak search will give you the full list of options) and there are several other major chain hotel options in Spearfish, as well as in Deadwood (13 miles from Sturgis). Another option is the Ramada Inn in Summerset, about 16 miles east of Sturgis or, if things are really getting desperate (which they shouldn’t), there’s a plethora of hotels in Rapid City, about 25 miles from Sturgis.

Rest assured, we’re already working on host hotel options for 2014 in an attempt to beat the Camaro ralliers to the punch. Stay tuned for more information. And, hey, if you happen to be an ultra runner who drives a Camaro, then the Black Hills 100 is obviously the race for you!

Early Bird Registration Ends April 1st!

chris — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:10:05 +0000

If you haven’t registered for one of the 2013 Black Hills 100 events yet, you only have until April 1st to take advantage of our early bird rates. After that, registration for each event bumps up $25, so get over to Ultrasignup now and save a few bucks. Remember, we have entry limits this year and the 100 mile race is currently at 2/3 capacity. If we get our typical rush of entries just before the early bird deadline, we could be near capacity for the 100 mile. Your best bet is to register now and secure your spot!

Gnarly Bandit Ultra Series

chris — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:04:07 +0000

For the second consecutive year, the Black Hills 100 is part of the Gnarly Bandit Ultra Series, which highlights some of the toughest ultras the upper midwest has to offer (or, the country, for that matter).

The series kicks off on April 12th with the Zumbro 100 in Zumbro Falls, MN. Next up is the Kettle Moraine 100 in La Grange, WI on June 1st followed by the Black Hills 100 on June 29th, the Superior Sawtooth 100 in Lutsen, MN on September 6th and, finally, the Wild Duluth 100K in Duluth, MN on October 19th (that’s a tentative date for Wild Duluth, all other dates are confirmed). All you have to do is complete all five races in the series to go down in history as a Gnarly Bandit. All finishers of the series will evenly split the prize money purse provided by Wilderness Athlete and will also receive some Wilderness Athlete gear for future use as official Wilderness Athlete Trail Runners.

A couple of notes….First, be aware that the Black Hills 100K is no longer counted toward the series as it was last year, only the 100M counts. The only 100K in the series for 2013 is Wild Duluth. Second, in order to be eligible for the series you must join the Upper Midwest Trail Runners (UMTR) and register for the Gnarly Bandit BEFORE the Zumbro 100. You can not decide you’re officially going for the series once the races have already started. There is no fee to enter the series (other than the $20 membership to UMTR), but you are responsible for the registration fees for each of the five events. And, remember that some of these events have entrant limits (including Black Hills), so be sure to plan ahead.

For more information and links to all 5 races in the series, check out the Gnarly Bandit web page at: http://www.umtr.net/trail-series/gnarly-bandit-ultra-series/

Registration for the 3rd Annual Black Hills 100 is Now Open!

chris — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:36:40 +0000

Time to start planning for next year! Registration for the 2013 Black Hills 100 events is now open. Head over to Ultrasignup and register for the 100M, 100K or 50M and start psycho-analyzing that training plan all winter long. Keep in mind that the earlier you register, the more money you’ll save. Also, be aware that in order to ensure that we can provide the best race experience possible, we’ll be putting a cap on entries this year (150 for the 100M and 75 each for the 100K and 50M), so be sure to get your name in the hat before your distance of choice fills up!

If you have any questions at all, drop us a line at blackhillsultra@gmail.com.

2012 Black Hills 100 Wrap-up

chris — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:15:22 +0000

First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in some way, shape or form with the Black Hills 100 this year. We are the faces of the operation, but it goes without saying that we couldn’t do it without any help. We have some of the best volunteers in the world and they are really the lynch pin of the whole thing. And, of course, we wouldn’t have a race if we didn’t have runners, so thank you to everyone who made the trek to Sturgis to join us this year!

In any event such as this, there are bound to be a few hiccups. Whether it’s fire flagging tempting runners off course, gates being wired shut that shouldn’t be wired shut or course signage being tampered with, certain things happen that you just don’t plan for. Thank you to everyone who ran for rolling with the punches. We tried to alleviate any problems as quickly as possible and, as usual, we learned a few new lessons that will help next year’s event be even better. Maybe after we’ve been doing this for 15-20 years, we will have seen it all (but probably not).

And then there’s the weather. After the epic storm we had last year, we were so excited when we saw the forecast and the chance of thunderstorms was near zero. The heat this year definitely took its toll, but we still saw some impressive and gritty performances. As expected with a modified 100M course, new course records were set for both the men and women. The heat put the kaibash on any 50M or 100K course records, but there were still some impressive times for those courses in those conditions. Full results for all three events are now posted on Ultrasignup.

We always welcome comments on the event. Obviously, we can’t be everywhere and see everything from the perspective of the participant, so if you saw something that you think we can improve on, please let us know. We want to make the Black Hills 100 as great as it possibly can be. It will never be absolutely perfect, but that doesn’t mean we won’t make every effort to get it there! Drop us a line at blackhillsultra@gmail.com with any feedback you have.

It may be a little early to mention this is as you’re still nursing sore legs and blistered feet, but the 3rd annual Black Hills 100 will be held on June 29-30, 2013. Registration opens October 1, 2012. We hope to see you all again in Sturgis next year!

Thanks again for coming and recover well!

Ryan and Chris