Bandera 100K — Where Hans Troyer Announced Himself
The Texas Proving Ground
Bandera 100K runs through the Hill Country State Natural Area southwest of San Antonio, Texas. It’s a loop course over cedar-choked ridgelines, rocky caliche trails, and creek crossings that look manageable on a map and feel grinding underfoot.
January in the Texas Hill Country can be anything — mild and perfect, cold and muddy, or unseasonably warm with full sun cooking exposed ridgelines by midday. Bandera runners prepare for all three and get two of them.
The race is a Western States Golden Ticket qualifier. Top two male and female finishers receive automatic entry into Western States 100. That designation pulls a stacked professional field to a small town in the Texas scrubland every January — one of the more surreal contrasts in the sport.
The Course
Bandera runs a loop format through roughly 6,900 acres of state natural area. Runners complete multiple loops of varying length, with the full 100K covering the course’s signature terrain repeatedly.
The Rock: Caliche and limestone underfoot throughout. The rock at Bandera is sharp, uneven, and ankle-rolling. Shoes designed for soft forest trails struggle here. Experienced Bandera runners use aggressive lugged soles with rock plates.
The Cedar: Dense cedar breaks line much of the course. When dry, the dust is significant. After rain, the cedar roots become a slip hazard on every descent.
The Climbing: 13,700 feet of gain across 62 miles is not dramatic by mountain standards, but it is relentless. The Hill Country doesn’t give long sustained climbs — it gives short punchy rollers, back to back, with no recovery stretches.
Creek crossings: Depending on recent rainfall, crossings range from dry rock hops to knee-deep wades. January flooding is not common but not impossible.
Golden Ticket Pressure
The Golden Ticket designation makes Bandera’s front pack one of the fastest in January trail racing. Professionals who need a Western States entry and don’t want to wait for the lottery show up here. The race gap between the elite field and the general runners is significant — top finishers cross the line hours before mid-packers.
Hans Troyer’s Course Record
Hans Troyer arrived at Bandera 100K in January 2024 having never run a competitive ultra at that level. A friend had suggested he sign up. He was training out of a camper in Augusta, Georgia, finishing a master’s degree in kinesiology, running twice a day through Georgia summers.
He set the course record. Second place finished over an hour behind him.
That performance put Hans on the map and started the trajectory that would lead to Canyons 100K, Western States, and the Black Canyon wins. Bandera is where it began.
What Makes It Challenging
The rock is relentless and punishes sloppy footwork for the entire 62 miles. January weather is unpredictable — cold fronts can drop temperatures 30 degrees in hours. The Golden Ticket field runs the front of the race at a pace that burns out runners who go out too fast chasing them. The loop format means runners are on familiar terrain the second and third time through — which sounds like an advantage but psychologically compounds fatigue as landmarks repeat.
62 miles | 13,700 ft gain | January | Loop course | Hill Country State Natural Area, Bandera, TX