Your 2023 Javelina Jundred Party Preview
This article originally appeared on Trail Runner
Grab your trail running shoes, your hydration vest, and your weirdest costume--it's party time in the desert!
The Javelina Jundred, held on October 28-29 at McDowell Mountain Regional Park about an hour northwest of Phoenix, is going to be a rager. The 21st annual trail running Halloween party in the desert is the signature event of Aravaipa Running, and it's perhaps best described by what you get if you mix legitimate trail running races with a full-on rave.
Imagine hordes of runners dancing under a full moon wearing silly costumes and dusty trail running shoes as music blasts from speakers and colorful blinking lights flash all around. This gives you an idea of what Javelina is all about. Throw in a wide range of aid station delicacies--and perhaps some adult beverages and a handful of other medicinals--and you have the biggest trail running party of the year. Don't worry, though. Aside from the party, there's loads of trail running action, too.
In addition to stacked fields in the 100K and 100-mile races on Saturday, there will also be group runs, a Halloween costume contest, Thursday evening happy hour, Friday morning scavenger hunt, Friday night kid's run and family movie event, Saturday morning yoga sessions, a Saturday evening fashion show, and Saturday's 31K Jackass Night Trail Run.
While some might see it as a freak show in the desert--OK, sure, it is!--in essence it's just a more robust cavalcade of trail running curiosities that tend to happen at most ultrarunning events.
The Javelina 100-mile and 100K races begin Saturday at 6 A.M. MST. They will send runners out on a mostly flat-ish and fast multiple- loop course through the dirt-and-rock desert terrain of McDowell Mountain Regional Park.
100-Mile Races
With Golden Ticket entries for the 2024 Western States 100 being awarded to the top two finishers in the men's and women's divisions of the 100-miler, the 857-runner field is bursting at the seams with fast runners.
Because the five-loop course has a moderately rolling profile (about 800 feet of vertical gain per 20-mile lap) and the elevation is relatively low (between 1,800 and 2,400 feet above sea level), it typically attracts runners from all over North America, as well as from a few overseas destinations.
The top returning runner entered in the women's division is Riley Brady, from Boulder, Colorado, a non-binary runner who finished second at Javelina last year (14:45) and went on to place 14th among women (and first among non-binary runners entered in the women's division) at the Western States 100. Also returning from last year's top 20 are Heather Jackson (fifth last year, Bend, Oregon), Lauren Puretz (eighth, Colorado Springs), and Sundak Kim (13th, Orinda, California), while Tara Dower (Virginia Beach, Virginia), Ragna Debats (Spain), Shea Aquilano (Carmel, Indiana), Sarah Biehl (Columbus, Ohio), and Jill Wojta (Onalaska, Wisconsin) are among the other accomplished runners in the field.
On the men's side, Jon Rea (Boulder, Colorado) is back after a strong second-place showing last year (13:05) and coming off a sterling fourth-place effort at the CCC 100K in Chamonix, France, in late August. One of his Boulder training partners, Matt Daniels, will be there, too, hoping to make up for a rough experience at UTMB (131st place) and hoping to regain his early season form that led him to the Gorge Waterfalls 50K victory in April.
Other top containers include Preston Cates (Flagstaff, Arizona), Nathan Moody (Los Alamos, New Mexico), Joe Corcione (Phoenix), Mark Wooten (Garland, Texas), Antoine Beland St-Onge (Canada), Blake Slattengren (Seattle), Joe McConaughy (Seattle), Michael Versteeg (Prescott, Arizona), Ryan Miller (San Antonio, Texas), Billy Preston (Virginia Beach, Virginia), Jeff Garmire (Bozeman, Montana), John Dragon (Boulder), Paul Jacobs (Washington D.C.), and two-time Western States 100 champion Hal Koerner (Ashland, Oregon).
Course Records
Men: 12:58:02 - Dakota Jones (2022)
Women: 14:03:23 - Camille Herron (2021)
100K Races
There are 397 runners entered in the slightly less competitive but equally spirited 100K races, with Courtney Dauwalter headlining the event. She's expected to be running with her mom, Tracy, 66, who is an avid trail runner from Edina, Minnesota, although it's possible, at least in theory, that Courtney could run all-out and win the race and then circle back to help her mom get to the finish.
The top-rated contenders in the women's race are Anna Kacius (San Francisco), Honora Einhorn (Carlsbad, California), Lauren Ladner (Canada), Jane Maus (Salt Lake City), and Julie Doll (Salt Lake City), while the leading men are Pedro Gomes (Scottsdale, Arizona), Jesus Topete Jr (Dulzura, California), Rajpaul Pannu (Denver), Michael McCausland (Seattle), and Kris Brown (Missoula, Montana).
Last Year's Top 3
Men: 1. Scott Traer, 7:31:46; 2. Avinoam Maier, 10:06:00; 3. Michael Tomchaney, 10:27:00
Women: 1. Lotti Brinks, 8:36:01; 2. Sarah Ostaszewski, 9:40:18; 3. Rachel Norfleet, 10:07:43
Course Records
Men: 7:31:46 - Scott Traer (2022)
Women: 8:36:01 - Lotti Brinks (2022)
WATCH IT
Aravaipa will be live-streaming the 2023 Javelina Jundred via its Mountain Outpost Youtube Channel. It's promising 30 hours of coverage beginning at 5:30 A.M. MST on Saturday morning and continuing through Sunday morning. Also, Aravaipa founder Jamil Coury has been interviewing several Golden Ticket hopefuls as part of the race's Chasing Gold series.
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