"Hard is good" by Dave Stevens male winner of Wixárika 100M

That was adventure racing at it's hardest. Hundreds of creeks, dogs, cows, spiders to maneuver. Bush whacking and sliding down steep slopes only to go right back up again at 80% grades. The first 90k was incredible, stoke was high.. climbing mountains with some 'off trail's magic, crusing down steep technical game trails. Stoke was high and I lead from 30k, but the real fun began after Mascota. (Wishing I had poles) We entered bush whacking territory and some route finding. Sometimes I would look at my watch and see that it took me 10 minutes to get through half a kilometer. The thought of having another 100 or so left was really tough mentally. It did not get any easier, in fact it got harder, after all it was the jungle. It got surprisingly cold, and wet. The insects roar in this place when you approach.

Things got low at 148k.. I sat down on the side of the road debating whether to try and hitch a ride to anywhere but where I was... I wanted to quit. But the guy that stops, asks if I'm ok and encourages me to carry on. He told me there is some smoother?! trail coming up.. The local people here were incredibly welcoming and encouraging. I knew the guys behind were catching me and that's when I decided to really race and try to win. Coming down the mountain for the last 10K was agonizing, but somehow managed to push and make up time. I wouldn't have pushed if I didn't know they were so close behind. Coming through the city at the end was pretty magical, although painful. Puerto Vallarta was alive and the reception was something I've never experienced.

By far the hardest thing I have done in my life., From breaking through spiderwebs, slipping on cow turds, dodging local dogs in the night, fueling off chips, sweating more than a fountain. The heat was difficult, but the pain in the rest of the body muted it. Come to Puerto Vallarta if you want a real challenge... And you will be looked after by Puerto Vallarta by UTMB team as they couldn't have done a better job.

Don't change this!

Hard is good.

By Dave Stevens