Highlights

When I heard that Adam Hill was planning to run 24 hours on the Appalachian Trail the first weekend of May I knew that I wanted to be part of that adventure. Springtime in the Southern Appalachians is especially pleasant, and Adam's run was on a section of the AT that was new to me. I arranged for my professional crew (Melinda and the Boys) to help out, booked a vacation day at work, and started to get excited.

We left Cary on Friday morning, drove to Asheville and met Adam at his home, then off to the Nantahalla Outdoor Center for last minute supplies, and finally to the Wesser Bald Tower, where we started our run at 6 PM.

The Nantahala section of the Appalachian Trail heads south from Nantahala Gorge and takes a winding path toward Georgia. Looking South-east from Wesser Bald you can see a chain of 5000-foot mountain ridges and peaks that seems to go on forever. Knowing that these peaks were the same ground that we would be running on made the view all the more impressive.

By Adam Hill

The weekend of May 2nd I had the pleasure of spending two (really three) days on the trail in what turned out to be some stellar running! I have done the "double" workout before, but this brought it to a whole new level for me. On May 1st, my good running friend, Mike Day, and I jumped in a car with his wife and three of his kids, and took off for the mountains! Our plan...to run for 24 hours on the AT starting at Wayah Bald heading south. Our goal...have fun and see just how far our legs and the trail would allow us to go!?!

We had planned on starting at 6 pm on Friday from Wayah Bald, then run until 6 pm Saturday. We arrived at the summit parking lot at 5:30 and after a few minutes of tossing the football around with Mike's son's (Thomas, Kevin, and Sam) I started getting my things together. My crew person was to be another running friend coming in from Knoxville, Andrew Moore. Andrew was to meet Mike's wife, Melinda, at Winding Stair Gap 10 miles in, so that he could gather my things together as he was about to follow me through the night on my journey into Georgia. Sure enough, we cranked up our running at 6 pm on a cloudy evening and began our descent off of this beautiful bald. The wildflowers were everywhere, and even though there were still no leaves on the trees, the forest floor was quite lush. I was pumped to see the large flowered trillium in bloom, along with Mayapples, crested dwarf irises, and countless others that I didn't know the names of.

I felt great and was cruising along at a good pace running almost every hill as I approached the side of Siler's Bald. I came around the corner and was somewhat startled to see Andrew sitting at the corner of the field! He had come up the trail to run with me into the first aid stop! We had a great time running, and the weather was perfect, even though some storms were looming overhead.

This Saturday and Sunday, Annette Bednosky will be competing in the World 24-hour championship in Bergamo, Italy. Annette earned a spot on the USA National team with her 122-mile performance at the Freedom Park Ultra.

The run starts 4am EDT Saturday, May 2nd. Check here for live updates. Annette mentions in her blog that the Female entrants have qualified with runs of 99-149 miles. Visit Annette's blog and leave a comment of support!

photo: Denise Davis

On March 21-22nd, Denise Davis completed the Smokies Challenge Adventure Run, also known as SCAR (see also here, here, and here), joining a small but growing group of adventurers who have met this formidable trail challenge.

Make certain to read Denise's report of the adventure, it's one of the best accounts I've read of this challenge. As an enticement, here are some highlights:

SCAR is the acronym for the unofficial Smokies Challenge Adventure Run, a one-day unsupported 72 mile run on the Appalachian Trail across the crest of the Smoky Mountains National Park. It gains over 18,000 feet in elevation and you only have one opportunity for aid or to quit. What first got me interested in this run was an article a friend had sent me years ago, about a woman who had run across the Smokies in two days, stopping at Newfound Gap and then coming back the next day to finish it. This was before I started trail running and I knew most hikers took five days or more to cross the Smokies. I was impressed and that article stuck with me.

I decided this year that I would try SCAR as a training run for the Massanutten. After I finished it yesterday, in retrospect I realized that I should have done the Massanutten as a training run for SCAR.

There is some interest in organizing another attempt at SCAR the first week of May. Please let me know if any of you are interested. Also see the SCAR entry at WNC Trailrunner.

The Crowder's Mountain 50k is a historic North Carolina ultramarathon with a great course and a hard-core group of repeat finishers. This year the run is different in a couple of key aspects. First, it is now a 30k one-way course with the option of running the whole course twice for a 60k ultramarathon. The course covers new ground including portions of Kings Mountain, which is the site of a famous battle from the Revolutionary War.

This year, the run is being held on the same date as the Umstead 100. The date conflict is intentional. Co-RD Ray Krolewicz correctly pointed out that since Umstead sold out in an hour or so, many area utrarunners will not be participating in the 100 mile run this year, so an alternative on the same weekend makes a lot of sense.

Another benefit is that the race location spans both North and South Carolina. Races that cover two states are cool. Also, if you wanted to purchase some fireworks for the 4th of July, South Carolina has more liberal laws regarding what you can buy!

If all these benefits are not enough, think about pairing the Ridgeline 60k with Mohammed Idlibi's Roan Mountain adventure run. Both Ridgeline and Roan Mountain connect to the Overmountain Victory trail. Roan Mountain is near the Western terminus of the overmountain trail, while King's Mountain is the Eastern Terminus. I'm planning on being there Saturday! Hopefully I'll see you too.

Ridgeline Entry Form.