The Hotter 'N Hell Hundred wrapped up in Wichita Falls Saturday morning.  It's the largest 100 mile race in the nation.  This year was the 25th anniversary of the race.  It was hot, so Hotter 'N Hell was not just a clever name.  But the racers endured.  The pro race got underway just before 7:00am Saturday.  At the first turn of the race at Route 368 in Iowa Park, the pack was still relatively close together.  They wouldn't start to break apart until about the 30 mile mark of the race, just outside Burkburnett.  Nick Kiernan of Euliss, Texas took the lead in that lead pack and didn't give it up.  He crosses the finish first as your winner, just a shade under four hours.  After the race he talked about how challenging the 100 mile course got as the day wore on.
"Early on in the race I was feeling really good," said Kiernan.  "I was nice and hydrated.  As the race went on I got a little bit more dehydrated and just kinda sliding down hill.  Definitely my power was definitely suffering there towards the end.  Like I said I just tried to conserve as much as possible and pray for a good finish, you know."
The women's pro race was a little bit closer at the finish than the men.  They ride a 100-K, which is just over 62 miles.  At the finish a few riders had broken away from the pack, but it came down to a sprint for the finishline.  And, just a shade over 3 hours, it would be Stacey Bertsch from Billings, Missouri who had enough left in the tank to win.
"There were a lot of attacks going on throughout the race," said Bertsch.  "But there was nothing that could get away.  We knew it would come down to a field sprint.  I had a couple girls who were working, they know what to do leading out, they did a great job and brought me the last hundred, hundred fifty meters."