Ali Khalfan Abdullah Hamdan Al-Jahouri led the Tevis Cup, held July 31, near Auburn, Calif., as the trail led down into the final canyon, through the daunting California Loop, into the Francisco’s vet check (86 miles) and then across the American River.

Al-Jahouri had traveled from the United Arab Emirates to contest the Tevis Cup for the second time, and aboard his leased horse, DWA Sabku, he was the surprise leader. But before he could cross the finish line first, he took a wrong turn, allowing Jeremy Reynolds and Becky Spencer to take over the lead and win the 50th annual competition.

While Al-Jahouri was wandering in the darkness, trying to recover the correct route, Reynolds, Spencer, and a couple of other riders passed him. “I would have gotten lost too,” said Reynolds, “but I was with some other riders who knew the trail.”

However, until they reached Lower Quarry (94 miles), the final vet check, they didn’t know about Al-Jahouri’s mishap. Reynolds left in first aboard CV Eli, with Spencer just a few minutes behind him riding Oritos Sonny.

“My horse had tons of base,” said Reynolds of his final miles of the ride. “He likes to have his way, and he just kept giving me more. I hated to ask, but he kept giving.”

As Reynolds headed toward No Hands Bridge, the old narrow-gauge railroad trestle, Spencer asked Oritos Sonny for more. “I hauled to catch up with Jeremy, and we finally made it at No Hands,” she said.

The riders had a dilemma. There were 6 miles left, and the route alternated between a dirt road and single-track trail, as well as a final climb to Robie Point to the finish.

Both riders had strong horses, but if they continued to push one another they risked hurting their horses–and the others were only minutes behind them.

“We were both cantering together, and we knew we needed to take care of the horses,” said Reynolds, whose CV Eli took the prestigious Haggin Cup for best condition the following day. Spencer echoed his sentiments. “We didn’t want to push the horses, and they were pretty equal,” she said in reference to the condition of the horses.

There have only been two other ties in the Tevis Cup’s history. The first was in 1976 when Sam Arnold and Donna Fitzgerald finished with the same time, and then in 1992 when Shellie Hatfield and Marcia Smith rode across the finish line together. Reynolds and Spencer made a pact and rode out of the trees holding hands as they crossed the finish amid the cheers.

“Finishing together was awesome,” said Spencer. “This was the chance of a lifetime.”

The winning time of 15:59 is the second slowest time on the books. Nine of the top 10 riders finished within one hour of the two winners, and the 10-placed rider, Chuck Mather, was 1:08 behind. Often the top 10 have a larger spread, usually due to a faster finish time of the leaders. Lila M. Abdul-Rahim rode Clancy to third (16:06), and Gabrielle Mann aboard Patrick finished fourth (16:14).

At 11:30 p.m., Al-Jahouri realized his goal when he crossed the finish line in fifth. Exhausted, but happy, Al-Jahouri said, “This race is the most difficult in the world. Many people in the UAE have no idea. If you can complete this it is something amazing. The trail…you can’t believe how hard it is. I hope to come back every year.”

A Twist Of Fate

Over the 100 miles, many stories have unfolded during the 24 hours of the historic ride. The Tevis Cup, formally known as the Western States 100 Miles in One Day Ride, is the pinnacle of endurance riding and attracts riders from throughout the United States and several foreign countries.

In 2003, Frenchman Michel Bloch deferred a race to the finish with ultimate winner Heather Reynolds (Jeremy Reynolds’ wife) because he felt she had the better horse. In the last miles of the ride Bloch’s horse was tiring, and riding with Heather helped keep his horse going. Bloch told her he wouldn’t race to the finish if she would keep at an easy pace and carry his horse along. She agreed, and he honored his word.

Set in the remote back country of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Lake Tahoe, the trail traverses an old emigrant route that was abandoned by early pioneers heading to California due to its excessive difficulty. The ride starts in Robie Park, a section of land owned by Western States Trail Foundation and named after the ride’s founder, Wendell Robie.

Riders head west and cross the Truckee River before entering Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. They ascend steep, rocky slopes to Emigrant Pass (8,750 feet) heralded by Watson’s Monument before heading into the remote Granite Chief Wilderness and then into the deep, sheer canyons with the North Fork of the American River below.

Bloch was among the frontrunners into Squaw Valley and over Emigrant Pass (12 miles). They breezed through the Robinson Flat vet check and the first one-hour mandatory rest (36 miles) before tackling the canyons in the midday heat.

By Foresthill (69 miles), the second man-datory one-hour rest, Bloch arrived with a 40-minute lead. Monsieur Josef, his horse, looked alert. It seemed the contest would be for the remaining top 10 spots and the Haggin Cup, given to the horse deemed “most fit to continue.”

However, at the vet check Monsieur Josef didn’t trot “right.” Bloch asked to let the horse rest for 30 minutes before re-presenting him to the official ride vets, and they agreed. During the re-check Monsieur Josef was off in his right front. Bloch took the disappointing news well.

“If I could not handle these things I would have a motorcycle. For me it’s disappointing, for him,” said Bloch patting his horse’s neck, “he’s happy because his day just got 30 miles shorter.”

Al-Jahouri, Pam Bailie and Reynolds all entered Foresthill vet check within minutes of one another, and their crews informed them that they were now the leaders. With Bloch out, the nature of the ride changed. More riders trickled in, and strategy, horsemanship, caution, and a little luck would determine the placings.

In 2001, Al-Jahouri and several other riders from the al-Wathba Stables had contested their first Tevis Cup. He’d been among the finishers of their group, but their times had been slow, just under the 24-hour cutoff. The Arab riders, more used to the flat, fast endurance riding that’s become their trademark, were shell-shocked at the difficult terrain. This year Al-Jahouri returned with his younger brother in tow.

With a top-10 finish as his goal, Al-Jahouri suddenly found himself in the lead. “I told my brother to go slow because his horse was tired, but I kept going on,” he said. “I did a lot of conditioning for this year. I rode in the mountains in the south of France, Argentina and Austria for mountain experience.”

Al-Jahouri also prepared to get off and run with his horse, something rarely seen in the fast desert races, but almost a mandatory requirement for a top 10 finish in the Tevis Cup. In fact, both brothers tailed up the final steep section of Emigrant Pass.

Al-Jahouri rode with a handicap, however. He wasn’t familiar with his horse, as he and his brother made arrangements to lease Tevis competitive horses, and he’d taken a hard fall in the Granite Chief Wilderness and hurt his arm, which later turned out to be broken.

“There was this big rock. I was ready for my horse to climb up on it and then go over, and he jumped it. I fell and did this,” he said, holding out his bandaged arm.

As the sun began its descent, Al-Jahouri cantered out of the Foresthill vet check, with Reynolds less than five minutes behind him. However, Al-Jahouri wasn’t the first competitor out of the vet check. Tim Tweitmeyer, an elite ultra marathon runner, left about 20 minutes ahead of the first rider.

In honor of the Tevis Cup’s 50th anniversary, 12 runners ran with the horses to mark the 30th anniversary of the first human to run 100 miles over a trail in fewer than 24 hours, which happened at the 1974 Tevis Cup. This feat led to the Western States Run, which precedes the Tevis Cup by one full moon each summer. Scott Jurek, the Lance Armstrong of long distance running, won his sixth consecutive Western States Run in June and set a new course record of 15:37.

The cooler temperatures meant the American River was higher than in past years, and Al-Jahouri said the water came more than halfway up his saddle and over the point of his horse’s shoulder.

By now it was dark, and despite the brilliance of the full moon and the faint light of his glow sticks, Al-Jahouri took a wrong turn. The week prior to the ride, volunteers mark the trail with yellow ribbon and paint white arrows on the ground. Offshoots to the trail and various fingers are painted with a straight line, indicating “do not go this way.” Regardless, knowledge of the trail lies with each rider.

“When I did my first ride years ago,” stated Ride Director Dick Nogleberg, “everyone said that if you didn’t know the trail to ride with someone who did. To this day riders are responsible for knowing the way or finding someone who does. We do our best to mark it, but this is a remote trail.”

Markers can be lost, paint scuffed away, and riding in the dark for the last half of the ride, as many riders do, makes seeing markers even more difficult. “Besides,” added WSTF Pres-ident Mike Pickett, “this is a ride and not a race. Wendell was adamant about that, and if you don’t know the trail you shouldn’t be racing.”

After a mile or so Al-Jahouri realized his error, an error that cost him the chance to win the Tevis Cup and to be the first foreigner to do so.

“The trail was poorly marked. I got lost,” said Al-Jahouri simply, with neither anger nor frustration in his voice. “In 2001 I came to complete. This time I wanted to go a little faster, but I wasn’t thinking first, just top 10.”

Conquering The Challenge

Ann Hall finished seven minutes behind Al-Jahouri in sixth place, and she was thrilled, especially since she didn’t know she was riding the Tevis until 12 hours before the start.

“A bolt of terror went straight through my heart,” she said when her husband, Hal, informed her that she was riding. Hal Hall has the second-most Tevis finishes (23), bested only by

Barbara White who has 27 finishes. Hall was looking forward to the 50th annual ride, but when a horse broke Hall’s foot as it jumped out of a trailer, his hopes were dashed.

“I asked the doctor if it was broken, and he told me it was smashed,” said Hall. His wife, Ann, conditions their horses, including Bogus Thunder, but she doesn’t particularly enjoy the stress of competing.

But once she was underway, Ann settled into the rhythms of the ride. “I had a great time. We moved up all day long, and Hal told me to go faster when I got into Foresthill. I was shooting for a midnight finish, but we went a little faster because of the cool weather. I ran down all three canyons and my horse got A’s all the way through the ride [in the vet checks].”

It was this last fact that brought Ann the greatest pride. Bogus Thunder was awarded the 2002 Haggin Cup, and with this year’s top 10 finish, he would again be in contention.

When the top 10 gathered the following morning, it was without Spencer. “He was tight in his haunches,” she said of Oritos Sonny. A large audience watched the veterinary panel examine the other nine horses for soundness and general movement and their cardiac recovery index.

“Jeremy’s horse was the best in the field without a doubt,” said Chief Veterinarian Jamie Kerr. “The first vote we took before discussion was almost unanimous. One thing that really stood out was the freedom of movement the horse showed.”

Kerr was pleased with the ride. “This year confirmed what we re-learn every year: the terrain is difficult no matter what,” he said. “We had fewer metabolic problems this year and the weather helped, but we still had the same results at the end. Fifty-two percent completed. Hydration is the most significant component to this sport.”

Kerr constantly explains the importance of water and the effects of dehydration on the equine athlete in all aspects of performance.

Unfortunately, ride officials had to deal with a horse death. After vetting through Foresthill, Debbie Wilson and Moonshadow Bey continued on their way, recounted Tevis veterinarian Ray Randall. “The horse stumbled, went down, and died on the spot,” he said.

Matt Randall, Ray’s son and a member of the veterinary panel, got to the horse very quickly. “There was nothing he could do,” said Ray. “I’m not sure it could have been prevented.” Gary Cook, another Tevis veterinarian, said it looked like a sudden cardiac incident. The necropsy performed by the University of California at Davis Veterinary School showed that the horse suffered an aneurysm.