At 5:59 a.m. on October 18, 2025, Ryan McKnight kissed his wife on the cheek and removed his puffy jacket, and at 6a.m., the race director rang the bell, and a pack of runners took off down the dirt trail, headlamps illuminating the ground in front of them. In just a few minutes, they disappeared out of sight, swallowed by the wilderness. No phone service, no internet, just individuals with a common goal: to finish the Gila 100.
The Gila 100 is one of the only 100-mile trail races in New Mexico. It’s an old-school-style race put on by two Silver City locals, and their goal is to bring ultrarunning to their community. The course winds through the Gila National Forest outside of Silver City, New Mexico, the first designated wilderness area in the US, covering 3.3 million acres of rugged and remote terrain.
By mid-morning, the runners approached the fourth aid station, located at Sapillo Creek. McKnight ate some yogurt and dropped off extra gear he no longer needed. After Sapillo Creek aid station, the course begins a major climb: a 2,200-foot ascent up to Rocky Canyon.
Launched in 2024, the race is a grueling out-and-back. Twisting, turning, climbing and descending through the rough, untouched wilderness, the climbs are long and unforgiving. Days run hot and nights turn freezing. Runners endure temperatures ranging from the high 80s during the day, down to the low 30s at night.
Before 4 p.m., McKnight crossed the Rocky Canyon aid station which marked mile 44.5. At 53 miles, runners turn around and head back toward the finish.
This year, 11 people signed up for the 100-miler, including McKnight and his wife, Genia. The couple met while running ultras more than a decade ago. This is Ryan’s second time tackling the challenging course, and last year, the lanky 6-foot-tall 53-year-old took first place in 26 hours.
Ryan is a regular in the running community, and trains for races by simply running. He has no plans or schedule. Rather, he runs for reasons that have nothing to do with medals and winning.
“I just like being in the woods,” he said. “I grew up running around the woods behind my childhood home, so it just made sense running around in the mountains as an adult.”
If not for the sense of community he feels when running races, he would only run for fun.
“If I wanted to do 100 miles by myself, I would backpack. Take three or four days, go slow, take pictures and sleep at night,” he said. “Staying awake all night during these races sucks.”
But Ryan does 100-mile races anyway. He came to events to “play in the woods” as an adult and stayed around for the tight-knit running community.
“Half the reason you pay hundreds of dollars is for the aid stations,” he jokes. ”Seeing different places and being fed and watered along the way.”
Ryan stormed through the Gila 100 this year, finishing in an impressive 28 hours and 36 minutes, taking fourth place — a razor-thin minute behind the third-place male, who had traveled from the Chicago area.
Ryan wasn’t too disappointed that he didn’t place in the top three. “I think he deserved to bring a trophy home from so far away,” he said. “I didn’t finish my other two hundreds this year. All I wanted to do was finish, and I did.”