Two years ago, Hans Troyer crossed the finish line at Black Canyon and ended up in the hospital with post-race complications. Last year, illness kept him from even stepping to the line.

This year, he won in 7:20:00, breaking the course record by 4:55.

Black Canyon has a reputation for being fast. Hans describes it differently.

"Black Canyon is just tricky." he said. “You can't just go into it and just nail it first shot. It’s hard to get it right.”

On this day, he got it right.

Controlled From the Start

The race opens with long, runnable descents. This dictates an aggressive pace from the gun. With fresh legs and gravity in your favor, it's easy to believe you are cruising when you are actually overreaching.

Hans refused to race the clock early. He raced his effort.

“I wasn’t watching time. I was watching heart rate pretty consistently and my heart rate wasn't doing anything crazy at all.”

He moved to the front when the pace felt too relaxed. He let others surge when it made sense. He listened to his body, and maintained the effort he knew he could control.

By the time the pack hit the Bumblebee checkpoint at mile 19, they were already under course record pace. Rather than directing his attention towards the record, Hans stuck to his plan.

"I had no idea. I thought we were just cruising. The plan the entire day was just, you know, cooling, take care of myself, keep myself in it, look for easy moves."

He was simply running controlled and staying cool. That discipline early would matter later.

The Move After Deep Canyon

If there was a defining moment, it came just after Deep Canyon Ranch around mile 31.

The stretch leading into that aid station is long and exposed. Runners arrive depleted and ready to reset. Hans refueled and immediately shifted gears.

Leaving the aid station, he dropped a string of three low 6-minute miles. Hans felt the opportunity was ripe to shake up the field, and his body was ready to take it up a notch.

“Besides Eli [Hemming], the entire field was not ready to push after that,” he said.

That surge narrowed the race to two. Ultimately, the move proved to be too draining for even Eli Hemming, and he dropped back several miles later.

Remember, Black Canyon is tricky. It doesn't always reward the biggest move. It rewards the right one.

Where the Race was Won

Statistically, Hans believes this course opens up around mile 37, right after Black Canyon City. That is when gaps widen & fatigue shows, and where he broke free from Hemming.

In reality, he thinks that is the result of decisions that are made much earlier.

The downhill start invites aggression. Unless you pay close attention to effort & heart rate, a fast start can cost you later on. In a 100K, early mistakes are worse than late mistakes. They can compound and chip away at you for hours. When someone like Hans makes a move, those mistakes can make you unable to respond.

Hans' race wasn't perfect, though. In fact, he put the late-mistake theory to the test.

The Three-Mile Scare

Late in the race, Hans miscalculated the gap between aid stations. He ran out of water. Then he ran out of carbohydrates.

"It was that 9-mile section where there's no aid stations, and like halfway through it I was just out of everything, and I was like, 'oh, this is terrible.'"

The response from his body didn't come for a few more miles. By the time he bonked (shown above), he had already started to refuel.

"When I got to Table Mesa, it was just like heavy bonk for 3 miles. Like, legs just weren't working. But luckily it happened right at Table Mesa, so I had just restocked everything."

For a brief stretch on the race's final major climb, the race hung in the balance. Then, Hans managed to pull himself together and found his legs again.

"Almost a big mistake, but luckily, carbs are pretty magic."

Closing It Out

The final few miles were emotional. Victory was within reach, along with a record. Fueled by the excitement, he found a little extra at the end.

"I think I closed in like sub-7 pace, but it felt like 5:30 pace in the moment."

Two years after this course put him in a hospital, he ran through the finish as the course record holder.

Even then, he was already thinking about what could have been cleaner. A few adjustments. A few smarter decisions. Maybe a few minutes faster next time?

Maybe. Black Canyon is tricky.

This time, Hans Troyer mastered it.