My 2026 San Juan Softie 100 Race Plan

I’m running the San Juan Softie 100 again on Friday. Last year, I finished in 34:54:08 after getting injured. This year, I want to finish in 26 hours. I also built a 28-hour plan because dropping almost nine hours from last year is ambitious. I’m using the 26-hour schedule as a speed limit and the 28-hour schedule as the fallback: Never get ahead of the 26-hour schedule to bank time. Stay inside the 26-to-28-hour corridor as long as my legs, stomach, and the weather cooperate. Switch to the 28-hour plan when I miss a decision gate. If I fall behind the 28-hour plan, forget the time goal and finish safely. The course is 103.4 miles with 18,558 feet of climbing, an average elevation above 10,000 feet, and a high point of 12,438 feet. What I learned from last year The opening 35.8 miles through Middle of Nowhere are mostly the same as last year, but this year the course goes through Purgatory instead of following the USFS road. OpenSplitTime listed Cascade at mile 8.0 in 2025, while the…