DECATUR — Andrew Bustos had two goals Saturday in the 20th Delano Park 12-hour endurance event: hit 70 miles, and establish an Alabama age group record.
He hit the latter easily and came tantalizingly close to the former, finishing with 68 miles to win for the second time. Bustos, 35, of Huntsville, smashed the age group record by five miles. His goal of 70 miles will have to wait another year. although he did it in 2022 with 72.
Ran Crump, 30, of Madison, was second with 65 miles. Joseph Doman, 31, of Ooltewah, Tenn., was third with 64. Laura Benson, 28, of Madison, Jessica Troyer, 42, of Huntsville, and Ann Mix, 57, of Owens Cross Roads, finished 1-2-3 in the women’s division. Each had 50 miles.
The event, known simply as Delano, as in “Are you doing Delano this year?” is held at the 28-acre public park created in 1887. The park has a cool, storied history. It is a super venue for the 12-hour and 50-mile events put on by the River City Runners. The grit-gravel limestone path is flat, runnable and certified at 1 mile. Not 1.29384 or some other weird number that throws off everything.
Runners began by the parking lot near the tennis courts, going counter-clockwise all day. They looped past the courts, rose gardens, playground, ball field, Decatur Middle, the water tower and back to the finish. It becomes a mental thing, as well as physical. The views don’t change. Doing loops with friends, or music, or whatever gets you through it, can help.
Heat, Gut Bubbles
Bustos is no stranger to endurance ultras and podium finishes, so he was prepared to go the distance Saturday to hit his goals.
Sometimes, though, the running gods throw a wrench into plans.
“My first goal was to break the Alabama age group record, and the second goal was to run 70 miles,” he said. “The record for my age group was 62, so all I had to do was run 63 miles. I had no problem breaking the AG record, but I came short of running 70 miles. I felt good at the beginning of the day, the temperature was great and it was cloudy, which really helped.
“After noon, the temperature began to rise. I was really hot and was having trouble keeping calories down. I had to force myself to eat while I felt like throwing up. You have to stay on top of your calories in order to survive. The less you eat, the more trouble you’re going to have during a long event.”
“My nutrition plan was Tailwind electrolytes in my bottle, LMNT electrolytes in a separate water bottle, Spring Energy gels, glazed doughnuts, and Red Bull energy drinks. I drank about three liters of Tailwind, two liters of LMNT, three doughnuts, and three Red Bulls.”
Hey, they give you wings. At least 68 of them.
Solid Field
The biggest field in four years had athletes from seven states, including Wisconsin and Ohio. Ages ranged from 4-year-old Riddick Cutting of Athens, who knocked out six miles with his grandfather, James Cutting, to 79-year-old James Emig of Roswell, Ga. Emig finished with 25 miles, which bested about 40 others on the leaderboard.
That’s the cool thing. If you want to do a few loops with the kids or grandkids, or have a training goal, or a personal goal, or a “Imma go until I decide not to go anymore” mindset, you can do it. Want to set a state age record? Give it a whirl. Sleep late and miss the 6 a.m. start? No problem. Come later. The 12-hour is a bit loose, and can be as serious or fun as you want to make it.
Race director Jon Elmore was working through some timing mat glitches to rectify one issue and triple-check the final standings. The standings below are official.
Official results for 12 Hour award winners are as follows:
Men
1. Andrew Bustos, 68 miles
2. Ran Crump, 65 miles
3. Joseph Doman, 64 miles
JD Pollard – Masters winner, 64 miles
Chris Bond – Grand Masters winner , 58 miles
Women
1. Jessica Troyer 50 miles
2. Laura Benson 50 miles
3. Ann Mix 50 miles
Liz Bauer – Masters winner, 48 miles
Wendy Tyler – Grand Masters winner, 45 miles
The top Relay Team was Don’t Be Weak with 92 miles.
Runners earning the 10-Year Vest: Brien Clark, Kelly Elmore, Kathy Nevels, Naomi Flanagan and Vernon Hurst
Runners Earning the 20-Year Jacket: John Nevels, Patrick Flanagan and Frederick Davis III.
Liz Bauer is the all-time mileage leader with 991 miles covering 17 years. She had 55 on Saturday. Davis is second with 914 and Ronald Woodall is third with 777 over 19 years.
Registration for the 2027 event will open Oct. 1 on UltraSignup.com
Check the full Delano 12-Hour standings here.
NOTE: Elmore said official results will be posted on the River City Runners website in the next few days. He is combing through them to double-check everything before posting.
