Dec 2024 / Jan 2025

Crazy Mountain 100

Megan Dehaan
Dec 2024

 

Darcy Piceu makes her way to a ninth-place finish in 32:20. Photo: Howie Stern 

Another year of the Crazy Mountain 100 went off with a bang with even more athletes lining up at the start line, and a new women’s course record being set by Rachel Entrekin at 25:06:10. The men’s winner, Seth Swanson, came in at a speedy 22:08:45, just 7 minutes shy of the CR. The weather was astonishingly beautiful. Surprisingly absent was a violent storm on Conical Pass, as there has been one each year for the past two years. I often wonder how much weather plays a role in speed of the runners, but this year was stacked as always with amazing talent.

Ninth-place female finisher and veteran ultrarunner Darcy Piceu had this to say about the event, “This was my first experience running the Crazy Mountain 100 and it was all I had hoped it would be. I saw pictures online from last year and was immediately intrigued by the beauty and ruggedness. The race was such a beautiful reminder of what running ultras used to be and why I fell in love with the sport. I’m grateful to be able to support more races like this. No swarms of media to take away from the natural beauty of being in the mountains. Just the runners and nature.”

 

Erin McCracken (left) and Mira Brody (right) cross Conical Pass. Photo: Howie Stern 

Montana resident and ultrarunning legend Nikki Kimball has been heavily involved with the race since the beginning: “Megan and I were typical ultra-training buddies: sometimes racing the same race, sometimes crewing for each other and training together every chance we had. Megan, who had yet to run a 100-miler, provided me with excellent support as I raced the distance at some of the most iconic and remote hundreds in the US including Bighorn and Hardrock 100. She made mental notes at every race, without even knowing at the time that she was soon to be on a path to create her own true mountain ultra – one that was well-organized, with a wide variety of terrain and enough support to get runners to the finish line without any coddling. As her vision turned into a plan, and then action, to secure passage through private land showcasing family-run cattle ranches on either end of a course through steep, craggy mountains, I decided I wanted in. I had been the medical/safety director for Bozeman’s Bridger Ridge Run for a few years at that point, so I offered to do the same for her race.”

 

Brocade BlackEagle crosses the finish line in 35:29. She finished alongside her husband, Levi, in their third attempt at the race. Howie Stern 

Kimball continued, “I love our sport for all the varied roles one can play in it: athlete, crew, medical researcher, ham radio operator, race director, volunteer and fan. In 2018, I had a career-ending injury after 20 years of high-level competition. My inability to run distance for the next four years opened portals to nooks and crannies of ultra I had visited but not yet explored. I had time for more continuing education in running physical therapy, attending ultra-sports medicine conferences, growing my coaching abilities and creating medical/safety plans for a crazy race in a remote mountain range with exceedingly spotty cell service. Megan’s race gave me the hardest and most satisfying volunteer gig of my life. I still get to enjoy ultra challenges, connect with a community I love and study the sport in new ways from inside a new race that embodies the authenticity of an old sport.”

 

Danielle Sigman crosses the finish line in 35:12 Photo: Howie Stern 

Every year, the race seems to grow roots deeper and deeper in my soul, and the community surrounding the event continues to thrive and amaze me. New relationships were forged, old ones were strengthened and joyful faces were plentiful. As always, I left the race utterly exhausted but consumed with love and an overflowing heart.

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