BY KAREN BOSSICK

Volunteers at the finish line of the grueling Standhope Ultra Challenge weren’t supposed to set up the finish line until 7 in the morning.

But they had to get out of bed about 4 a.m., alerted by other volunteers atop Trail Creek Summit, that Benjamin Stout was on his way in.

The 5-foot-11 runner finished the grueling 100-mile run in 20 hours 49 minutes, besting the previous record of about 24 hours.

Stout, 31, is the son of Ted Stout and Rose Rumball-Petre of Picabo. He was heavily involved with cross-country and track while at Wood River High School, the Wolverines winning their first state championship in 38 years in 2010 while he was a member of the team.

He competed in his first Standhope Ultra Challenge in 2017, setting a course record for the 30K a 256:10. He set a course record for the 60K in 2023 at 6:14:34. Both records still stand.

“This year he did the 100-mile race to see if he could break the 100-mile course record. And he set a course record for that,” said Ted Stout, his proud papa.

The Standhope Ultra Challenge--Idaho’s highest trail race--is not for the faint of heart or weary of limb. The 100-mile endurance race gains 23,000-plus feet of climbing from the time it leaves Lake Creek six miles north of Ketchum, climbs up Rock and Roll to Trail Creek Summit then runs across creeks and up the slippery trails of 11,000-foot Pioneer mountains.

Winners get a Standhope belt buckle, a T-shirt and the satisfaction of completing the toughest century race in Idaho.

About 250 runners competed in three distances during the 11th annual Standhope Ultra Challenge this summer. Twelve competed in the 100-mile run.

The second-place finisher in the 100-mile race—Eric Young of Ogden Utah--finished nearly five hours behind Stout at 25:28:26.

As a young man, Benjamin Stout was a four-time winner of the Backcountry Sun Valley runs. He competed on the U.S. World Championship team at the International Sky Runner competition in Scotland several years ago. It was the U.S. team’s first time competing in that event; with Stout’s help, they got third place.

“It’s like trail running but more extreme—a lot of ridge running,” Ted Stout said.

The younger Stout has won numerous long-distance races in New Mexico, and placed or won in such races as the Running Up for Air Grandeur Peak Challenge in Salt Lake City and the Speedgoat Mountain Races in Snowbird Utah, as well as various races in Oregon, California and Montana.

“He’s always been an active kid. I started taking him to the fun runs that the Elephant’s Perch used to organize in Adam’s Gulch. He got the bug and started running more and more,” said Ted Stout.

Benjamin Stout currently works as a botanist with the National Park Service at Valles Caldera National Preserve, a 14-mile-wide depression in the earth created by a volcanic eruption, now known for mountain meadows and meandering streams.

When he’s not working, he’s out running on the trail.

“The Standhope 100 is the longest run he’s done—his longest up until now had been 50-mile races. And it was definitely a family affair with myself, Rose, our daughter Mariah and her husband Nick Weber-Stout involved,” said Ted Stout. “We were there when he started at Lake Creek in the morning. The rest of the day we drove around the Pioneer Mountains meeting him at different aid stations.”

The weather was a little drizzly off and on, but it was kind of refreshing,” Stout added. “We went to Park Creek, then Fall Creek. And Mariah and Nick cheered him on at two other aid stations, including Standhope Campground.”

With Benjamin running all night, the family camped out at Boundary Creek Campground on Trail Creek Road. Ted got up early and drove up Corral Creek and met him at the Pioneer Cabin trailhead about 3:30 a.m.

“I put on my headlamp and ran with him down Corral Creek Road back to Boundary Campground. Mariah joined us there and ran with him to the finish line at Hemingway. Volunteers were just starting to trickle in.”

Suffice to say, Benjamin Stout was happy with his performance.

“I’m always amazed what a good runner he is,” Ted Stout said. “It’s astounding he can do these things, and I’m sure he’ll do much more in the future.”