10:29:18
19 of 101 "finishers"(214 actual starters at race time)
I had been looking forward to/dreading this event for a while. I knew last years event was tough and some of the really great local ultra runners had turned in times in excess of 8 and 9 hours at last years event. That may seem ridiculously slow for a 50k but this is not your ordinary race. This is The Barkley Fall Classic, offspring of the infamous Barkley Marathons at Frozen Head which has seen less than twenty finishers in its nearly 30 year history.
This years event was set to be even tougher with a lot more elevation and a few more features to be included that are staples in the daddy Barkley. I took all this into account in my training leading up to The Fall Classic, and did nothing but as much vertical running and climbing as I could. I even made a handful of trips to Frozen Head and got in as many miles on the trails as I could. I felt like I had prepared as well as I could but still didnt know really what to expect on race day.
The night before I couldnt sleep at all. No matter what I tried no comfort could be found. Not many races have kept me up the night before, but Barkley did. No matter. 4:00a.m. and the alarm was going off. Race time was set for 7:00 and I wanted to be sure to get there early and let the nerves wear off hopefully. My wife being a willing sidekick for the day certainly helped. She planned on hiking up to the fire tower on top of Frozen Head after the race start and waiting for me at the top of Rat Jaw, a knarley one mile climb from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary following a power line cut straight up the side of the mountain. More on that later.....
After milling around for a bit at the field where everything was being staged at and talking to a few friends from Knoxville that were running as well, it was time to head to the road leading into the park and get ready for race start. Im sure Durb(race director) or Laz(Barkley Marathon evil genius) were saying something important on the megaphone before the race, I just couldnt hear them. As a matter of fact, I never even saw Laz light his cigarette signalling the start. All at once though the field surged forward and we were on our way. We headed up the main road into the park as light was just starting to break and ended up running into several friends from Knoxville that were also running. About six of us "locals" from Knoxville ended up running together for the remainder of the road leading up to the famous Yellow gate just before the single track started up Bird Mountain.
Once we got onto the single track the long line of runners immediately slowed to a walk as it was a long, steep two miles to the top from here with over a dozen switchbacks. By the time we got to the trail the sun was all the way up and lighting the way. I had settled in just behind another friend from Knoxville with a couple more just a few spots back. There was plenty of time for conversation going back and forth up the mountain, but the pack was still keeping a good pace. Once I finally hit the summit of Bird Mountain, the pack picked back up to a run. We started back down immediately on narrow single track with a lot of switchbacks, but the trail on the backside of Bird wasnt quite as well worn as the trail up. At this point the front runners were already out of sight and the pack I was in was a little too slow for my liking but I kept telling myself that it was a good thing to be a little slower at this point.
after another couple of good climbs the course started to become a little more "Tennessee flat" and a little more runnable. Just around two hours in according to my cheap Casio I finally saw a red arrow pointing the way down a side trail toward the first aid station at Bald Knob. I hadnt really drank any water from my bladder, but I went ahead and topped it off any way and quickly grabbed a couple of Slim Jim's which Laz said to make sure and do, then it was back up the short side trail to North Bird Trail and on to Deja Vu Hill.
Once we got to Deja Vu Hill we were to make a counter clockwise loop around before heading out on Coffin Springs Trail toward the second aid station at Tubb Springs. This is the first spot of the day that I can say I lost time. An apparent left instead of a right just before starting on Deja Vu had several of us that were running together follow a trail that vanished in about 200 yards at the top of a hill and left us all reaching for our maps and trying to head in several directions to try and find another trail marker. After several minutes and no luck, we all decided to back track to the intersection. Once we got there there were already several other runners that had caught up and were also trying to decipher which way to go. I ran into a few friends from Knoxville that I had gotten a little ahead of after the Bald Knob aid station and we ended up running in the same pack for the next several miles. Deja Vu was a tough section because once I got lost the first time, I stayed turned around the entire time. I was glad to finally be done and get onto Coffin Springs which I was more familiar with.
Coffin Springs was a nice wide jeep road but it wasnt well used so it was a little overgrown and rutty, but it allowed a lot faster pace than I had been able to go the first several miles. I ran about halfway to the second aid station at Tubb Springs with a friend from Knoxville. After a little bit though I was running alone until I got to Tubb Springs where I was greeted by my wife who had hiked up North Old Mac trail to meet me. After a quick fill of water once again and a good luck kiss from my wife, It was onto the jeep road down to Armes Gap. Four hours in and only 13 miles covered at this point. Kinda lets you know how much climbing there was on this course so far. It would get much worse though.....
On the way to Armes Gap I was able to catch up with a couple of other Knoxville runners I knew and ran for a brief while with them until I was able to pull away from them a little before crossing highway 116. Once I got in sight of the highway I could hear somebody call my name. Turned out to be my friend Kirby Russell who was there cheering on runners along with a couple of other of my Knoxville runner friends. It was nice to see some friendly faces and get some encouragement before the big climb ahead. Kirby let me know that I was in the top 25 when I passed. That was a nice motivator too.
Once across the highway the trail started to climb again immediately up toward Fodderstack Mountain. It was a nice wide jeep road, but really steep. Just as it started to level out a little, there was an arrow pointing left. Testicle Spectacle was what awaited. The picture below doesnt come close to showing how steep it really is. If I had to guess, its maybe somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 mile to the bottom. The extremely steep grade was topped off with overgrowth of briers, large rip rap rocks that were covered with grass and weeds and not much if any trail to speak of. Once we got to the bottom and got our bib punched, we were informed that once we got back to the top, we would be halfway. Only halfway, and still a couple of huge climbs left in the second half of the race.
The reward for finally making it back up the grueling climb of Testicle Spectacle was a quick breather at the top and a little more encouragement from Kirby Russell, DK Stanford, and Steve Barber who had made the walk up to the top of Testicle after I had passed them earlier at Armes Gap, then, it was the long, twisted, rutted downhill of Meth Lab Hill. Meth Lab wasnt easy to navigate by any means, but at least it was all downhill. Once at the bottom it was a little run through the woods then onto asphalt for about a half mile as we came back out onto highway 116 just below Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
I got to the front gate of the prison in 18th place. I was with another runner I had followed up the highway. He was still moving a little faster than I was and stayed about 70 or 80 yards in front of me as we worked our way up to the front of the prison. I looked down for a second at one point and when I looked back up, poof, he was gone. I had no clue where he had went. For some reason at this point I must have lost all sense of awareness. I thought to myself, " maybe he went around the prison wall to the left and up the gravel road", so, without even looking around at all, thats where I headed. Once I got around the corner of the wall I expected to see him, but he was nowhere in sight. "Where the Hell did he go!" I thought. At this point I decided to backtrack to the front of the prison so I ran back down the gravel road and just as I turned the corner I saw it. A read arrow stuck in the grass right in front of the front door of the prison. How did I miss that? My little side trip allowed about 5 or 6 other runners to catch up with me by the time I got into prison finally. Once inside I was with a couple other guys as we tried to make our way through the maze of rooms the course lead us through as we tried to find "The Hole" where we got our next bib punch.
Unfortunately, in my search for "The Hole", I ended up takking a detour once again. We ended up misreading a sign and went up a set of stairs and back outside which isnt where we were supposed to be. Back in the front once again we went. This time though I got my flashlight out and we figured out where we went wrong. I ran down into the hole, shining my light quickly into each cell. On the fourth try, Boom! There was a face grinning back at me. It was the guy we needed to find to punch our bibs. He seemed to be really enjoying his job today.
Once my bib was punched it was back outside where there was an arrow pointing the way to what I already knew was going to be the hardest climb of the day, Rat Jaw. Im not certain of the exact details, but Rat Jaw is roughly 45 degrees and steeper for over a mile straight up a power line cut to the peak of Frozen Head. Its covered with impassable saw briers, so your best bet is to stay in the wood line on either side. The first problem I encountered with Rat Jaw was actually getting onto it. Once we made the initial climb up off the prison grounds, we came out onto an old overgrown jeep road. There were a couple other runners ahead of me at this point so I just followed their lead which proved to be a mistake. The jeep road disappeared into the woods and suddenly we were all guessing once again where we were.
After a few minutes worth of figuring on where we had passed the trail and a couple of us decided the best approach was to backtrack. There was one brave soul that kept going on up the mountain through the woods though. Never saw him again.....
Once I finally got to the power line cut, I knew I was on the right route. It started out as a jeep road, but that quickly turned into a forest of saw briars. Head high saw briars. I decided to head for the wood line off to the side of the power lines to avoid the briars and to hopefully make better time. Even in the woods though the going was extremely slow. The climbing was through rocky loose soil while trying to use trees to pull yourself along the entire way. about halfway up I popped out onto the old Prison Mine Road. I had been down the Mine Road a couple of weeks earlier during a training run, so it gave me a good reference to where I was and how much farther I had to go up Rat Jaw. I crossed the power line cut a couple of times trying to find the easiest way up at all times. When one side was to steep, I tried the other side. I eventually ended up coming out at the Frozen Head tower on the right side of Rat Jaw. Took over an hour to go slightly less than a mile.
Once at the top, the reward was a climb up the fire tower to get another bib punch. That hurt more than it needed to. Once back down the tower I jogged over to the jeep road and spotted my wife standing by the edge of Rat Jaw still looking down the hill watching the other runners struggling to get up. I caught her by surprise as she wasnt expecting me to come up on the opposite side of the power line cut. After a quick kiss she decided to run the half mile or so back down the jeep road to the Tubb Springs aid station with me. Just as we were about to the bottom, who do I run into once again but Steve, DK, and Kirby on their way up to the fire tower to watch the action on Rat Jaw themselves.I stopped for a second to talk and Steve hands me some "adult" hydration. Man, that hit the spot! Its good to have friends!
After "refreshments" were done I headed on into Tubb Springs and refilled my Camelbak for the trip down North Old Mac trail to see Laz for the first time. I was still feeling really good, even after a couple of HUGE climbs. Luckily North Old Mac was all down hill. Once I was at the bottom I was greeted by one of the awesome volunteers that went and grabbed my bag for me. I had a few goodies stashed in there like a pack of Tuna in Olive Oil(a personal favorite) and a bag of dark chocolate covered Goji berries. I ate the Tuna there while I changed my socks and bandana. Once I was done I walked over to Laz to get a Bib punch. Before he punched me though, he asked "are you done, or are you going all the way?". At this aid station, runners had the option of opting down to the "Marathon" finish or continuing on for the full course which meant another 8-10 miles. I told him "I paid for all of it, Im running all of it". He grinned, punched my bib, and I was on my way again.
After leaving Laz's aid station there was a little less than a mile until the Chimney Top trailhead. Chimney Top is a deceptive climb. Its a switchback climb for the first mile or two before leveling out briefly. The second part of the climb is by far the worst, especially after having had three huge climbs already and now being around 8-9 hours into the race. Straight up. Literally straight up. No switchbacks. Thats how you finish the climb up Chimney Tops. This is where I started to feel it for the first time. About halfway up the switchbacks I heard someone above me that sounded like they were coughing loudly. I heard it a couple of more times before I caught up to the guy on the side of the trail bent over dry heaving. This part of the race was starting to take its toll on those who had continued on it looked like. I continued on and quickly caught up to another runner. He stayed ahead of me for a short bit but decided to walk over and take a break on a rock. I made the rest of the straight up climb of Chimney Top very slowly. It was the worst part of the race for me by far. My legs were screaming and telling me they were done. I would push for a hundred feet or so, then stop or walk for a second. Near the top I had spotted another runner who appeared to be having the same issues as me. Amazingly though, I was still closing the gap on him little by little. Once I caught up to him we talked for a while and ran when we could. We both decided that it really helped having someone else to run with for motivation.
After we crossed the summit of Chimney Top we started back to a decent jog on our way down to the aid station at Spicewood. Running down hill at this point actually seemed to hurt worse than the climbs. Once we ran in to the Spicewood station and got our last refills of the day we were off on our last leg to to finish. I had had hopes of a sub 10 hour finish, but unfortunately I still had about 3 miles to go at the 10 hour mark. Now that I was on a good downhill and I knew the end was near I had renewed energy. Seemed like I was to the end of Chimney Top Loop and back to Laz's aid station again in no time.
After a quick "Congratulations young man" from Laz as I passed through the aid station It was through the parking lot back onto the main Park road for what felt like about a mile. The asphalt finish was not a welcome site, but I was able to keep a slow trot all the way to the finish thankfully for 19th place overall in just under 10 1/2 hours. The race was an awesome experience and was just as tough as Laz had promised. Im looking forward to next years race!
#Brookscascadia #Trainuphill
