Badger Mountain Challenge Course Guide

The climbs: short, steep, and they keep coming

There is no single monster climb here, and that is the trap. You get a string of steep 800 to 1000 foot pitches, and on the 100 you climb them four times over the two loops. Badger Mountain has switchbacks on the final pitch, so it stays runnable in patches. Candy Mountain is the opposite, a long unrelenting grind with no switchbacks to break it up, and after 30-some miles most people are hiking it on purpose. Hike the steep parts efficiently and hold your effort even, and you reach each top with legs to spare. Run the early laps hard because they feel easy and you will pay for it deep into loop two.

Because the loop repeats, you learn the course as you go, which is a gift. You know exactly what is coming on the second lap, so you can meter your effort against climbs you have already met. Use that. The runners who fall apart here are usually the ones who treated the first 50 like a 50 mile race instead of the front half of a 100.

The descents: runnable, but they add up

On an out-and-back, every foot you climb you give back, so this course descends about as much as it climbs. The downhills are mostly runnable, not technical plunges, which tempts you to hammer them. Resist that on the early laps. Repeated downhill on jeep road and dirt quietly shreds your quads, and the back half of the second loop is where badly paced people turn into a shuffle. Practice controlled, runnable descending before race day so you can keep your legs turning over late, when your quads are cooked and it is dark and windy.

The footing rewards attention more than fitness in spots. The jeep-road sections throw deep, fine dust that plumes up with every step and can fill your shoes, and plenty of runners plan a sock change at a drop bag to deal with it. Small thing, but raw, dusty feet over 100 miles is a real way to end a day early.

Exposure, wind, and the weather lottery

This is the part that actually defines Badger. The Horse Heaven Hills are open, dry, and almost completely treeless, so you are exposed to the sun and especially the wind for basically the whole course. Aid stations come roughly every 3 to 7 miles (around 15 of them), so you are never far from help, but between them there is nothing to hide behind. The race even warns that the wind has zero trees to slow it down.

Late-March weather in the Columbia Basin is the single biggest variable, and it is the main reason the DNF rate runs high. Some years it is sunny and pushing 70 or even 80. Other years it is 35 degrees with 40 mph wind, rain, and white-out fog, and hypothermia is a genuine risk up on the McBee ridge in the dark. You cannot pick your weather, so plan for both ends of it: a layering system, wind protection, gloves and a warm hat in a drop bag, and the discipline to actually put them on before you get cold.

The night, drop bags, and crew

On the 100 you are out for a full night, and the cold and wind bite harder after dark on exposed ground. The good news is the logistics are friendly. There are two drop bag spots, the start/finish (also the 50 mile turnaround) and the McBee parking area, and you pass them five times total, reaching McBee at roughly miles 18, 31, 68, and 80. That is frequent, predictable access to dry layers, warm food, fresh socks, lights, and batteries. Stage those bags like you mean it.

Pacers are typically allowed for the later miles, and on a windy night out here, company for the second loop is worth more than usual. A crew that can have hot food and the right jacket ready at the start/finish and McBee can be the difference between pressing on and dropping when the weather turns. Confirm the current crew, pacer, and drop bag rules with the race, then build your night plan around those access points.

Pace the climbs by grade, not by the watch

Your flat-ground pace tells you almost nothing on these steep little climbs. What matters is grade-adjusted effort, so hold a steady output you can repeat all day and power-hike the steep pitches without feeling like you are giving up time. The classic Badger mistake is running the first loop’s climbs too hard because none of them look big, then hitting a wall on lap two. Use a grade-adjusted pace to turn your real fitness into honest climbing and descending targets, and you will not cook the front half.

Build a vert-aware, weather-aware finish prediction

Do not guess your Badger finish off a road time. The 18,431 feet of climbing, the repeated descents, the dust, and the wind all add real time, and a rough day weather-wise can add a lot more. A vert-aware finish prediction that accounts for this course’s climbing gives you a realistic window, and from there you can work back into the 32.5 hour close and the aid-station cutoffs so you actually know your buffer at each checkpoint instead of guessing in the dark.

Carbs: steady, trained, and easy to get down when it is cold

For a long effort, aim for around 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and only push the higher end if your gut is trained for it. The wrinkle at Badger is the cold and wind, which kill your appetite and make gels and bars feel like a chore late at night. Lean on warm aid-station food and things that go down easy when you are chilled, and keep your intake steady instead of gambling on big catch-up doses. Rehearse your exact race-day carb rate on long runs, including some in bad weather, so 80-plus grams an hour feels normal rather than like an experiment.

Sodium, fluid, and warmth: plan for wind and a long clock

Even in cool weather you sweat on these climbs and the wind pulls moisture off you fast, so do not let the cold trick you into under-drinking. A sodium concentration around 500 to 700 milligrams per liter of fluid is a solid starting point, higher if you are a salty or heavy sweater. Just as important on this course, treat warmth as part of fueling: if you get too cold to eat and drink, your race is over regardless of how fit you are. Weigh yourself before and after a long training run to find your real sweat rate, then build your plan around your own number and keep a warm layer within reach the whole way.