Black Mountain Marathon, 2-25-2006

The Black Mountain Marathon and the accompanying 40 mile Mount Mitchell Challenge were the races that started my serious interest in ultrarunning. Since 1990, I’d run a few ultras, but only when I could fit in a race around work or my other trips. But by 2006 I’d already run the Marathon in 1999 and 2002, and the Challenge in 2001 and 2003. At first look these would seem to be ideal races for me; long sustained climbs, rough winter weather, remote course, and runnable downhills. The listed elevation gain for the marathon is 4100’ with 8500’ for the Challenge. But my previous experience had taught me that both races exposed my Achilles heel. Or, in my case, my  Achilles knee. My ultra racing was limited by how far and how fast I could go before IT band syndrome would flare up in my left knee. For both distances the course was a long out and back, with a turnaround at the top of the course, and a super steep paved descent near the end back into the town of Montreat. The long descents wreaked havoc in my knees, with IT band pain too severe to run through. Twice, I’d even been forced to walk backward down the road into Montreat.

After the 2003 Challenge, I’d given up on the hope of being able to race well at either distance, and looked for another race to try. My friend Steven had run Barkley in 2002, and with his help I’d run Barkley in 2004 and 2005. Despite its fearsome reputation, Barkley proved a better race for me. The downhills weren’t as long, and most were too technical to run anyway. With its mix of long uphill slogs, technical descents, and course navigation I was able to have modest success while enjoying the combination of the challenging terrain and difficult navigation on a beautiful course.

But I still missed running Black Mountain. In those earlier days of ultrarunning the race was a big deal. The host towns of Black Mountain and Montreat went all out for the runners, and nearby Asheville, NC provided a surprising number of strong racers. The postrace dinner was a wonderful feast, and the swag was a genuinely useful piece of clothing.

But mostly I missed the course. Once out of Montreat, there was the super long climb to the Blue Ridge Parkway for the marathon, and then the additional climb to Mt Mitchell for those running the challenge. Most of the climb to the Parkway was gentle, but it was so long and sustained that I could justify a hiking break somewhere along the way. The exhilaration of running the exposed ridgelines had kept me coming back.

In 2006 I was still refining my Barkley training, but I thought I could fit in a shot at the Black Mountain Marathon as well. I was confident in my training, which was primarily long trail runs in the Smokies, mostly in the Tremont area. Looking back now I see only one run over 20 miles, and maybe not enough runs to make me ready for Barkley, or even to strengthen my knees for the long downhill finish at Black Mountain.

For my previous races at Black Mountain, Jean had come along on the trip to hang out in town and visit their bakery. In 2006 she didn’t come, but my friends Steven and Mark (both Challenge and Barkley vets) were also there racing the marathon.

I was confident before the race thinking I’d had a good training season on the Smokies trails, and no knee trouble since that fall’s  Knoxville Track Club Big South Fork 17 miler. I had been training a lot with Mark, which had forced me to improve my speed. I hoped to at least match my best previous time of 4:42.

The 2006 race had a different start in downtown Black Mountain. At race time the temperature was about freezing, skies were clear with no wind, but it would stay chilly through the afternoon. The course was in good shape with only a few icy patches approaching the Blue Ridge Parkway.

After leaving Black Mountain, the course followed roads into Montreat College, and then onto some trails above the College. Next it followed a long ridge top section once used as a toll road up to the Blue Ridge Parkway on private land. The marathon then had a short section on the Parkway to round out the distance, while the Challenge continued onto the top of Mount Mitchell. The return leg skipped the Montreat trails, and dove straight off the ridge down remarkably steep paved roads into the College before finishing at Lake Tomahawk in Black Mountain.

I started too fast and had trouble falling into a good rhythm. My breathing, legs, and stomach didn’t get in sync until we were about half through the trails in back of Montreat College. There was much more climbing in that section than I remembered. I didn’t eat or drink much until Aid 2 (Bills Knob?) at around ten miles, but I was still feeling fine. I walked a few short sections of the gentle ridgeline just to rest my running legs. At the turn around on the Parkway I was in about 40^th place with Mark 5-10 runners ahead and Steven about 20 minutes behind.

On the return, once I was off the flatter sections near the Parkway I started to have knee trouble. The IT bands in both knees bothered me, especially in the rough, rocky trail dropping into Aid 2 (Bills Knob?). The trail was easier down to Aid 1 at Sourwood Gap, but I lost around 10 places while hiking due to the knee pain and to some unexpected fatigue. After Sourwood I really slowed. My hoped for 4:40 finish disappeared off in the distance, and the possibility of a 5 hour finish was starting to break away. I had to walk the steep road descent into Montreat, and lost another 5 places. Once down on the flatter areas I still couldn’t push hard, but did enjoy a new foot trail leading down through the campus to the Montreat gate.

Closing in a Lake Tomahawk, I heard a roar for the crowd as I came into view, and immediately was passed by Will Harlin, who was on his way to winning the Challenge 40 miler. I felt happy for him, but a little embarrassed for myself. My time was 5:02, and I had finished 63/122.

Mark had finished 29^th in 4:22 while Steven was 80^th in 5:31. I stayed for the postrace banquet and drove home the next day. I made a quick stop to hike a bit of the then accessible I-40 end of the Groundhog Creek Trail in the Pisgah National Forest.

Due to my IT issues, my ultra racing future was in doubt. I was plagued with knee pain in races at far shorter distances than I was running pain free in training, despite my training being on rougher courses than my races. I would continue with similar training regimens, but add some IT specific stretches that proved helpful. Most of my subsequent racing was either 50Ks or Barkley, but I managed to minimize, if not eliminate, the IT pain, and would continue to have decent results the next few years. At Black Mountain, both the Marathon and Challenge races are still held as of 2023, and the bulk of the course remains the same. Here is a link to the current course: (current course). 

With Mark, Matt, and Steven on a 2009 day hike to Mt Mitchell.

Smokies, Elkmont Old Roads OT, 2-5-06

The Elkmont Old Roads loop is a route I put together after studying old maps of the area. Jean and I had already hiked down the Mids Gap manway between the Elkmont Nature Trail and the Sugarland Mountain Trail the previous summer, and I was looking to put together an easy off trail loop near Elkmont. At Mids Gap we had seen the start of an old trail leading into Parton Branch. That old trail was shown on the 1931 park map, and we figured even if we couldn’t follow the old trail, the woods should be open enough for hiking.

Mids Gap Laurel, June 2005.

Parton Branch would take us to the Laurel Creek Road at the quiet walkway leading to a small cemetery up Whistlepig Branch. We would then walk alongside the road for a short distance before following the original route of the Laurel Creek Road. The current Laurel Creek Road was a NPS Mission 66 project to replace the older, steeper, and more tightly curved road to Fighting Creek Gap. The replacement of this part of the Laurel Creek Road, and that of the original Newfound Gap Road between Newfound Gap and Beech Flats, were the two major road projects of Mission 66 in the Smokies.

Elkmont Old Roads, Feb 2006.

We would cross Laurel Creek Road at Fighting Creek Gap, then take another old dirt road that led into the backside of Elkmont to complete our loop. Claudia would join us for the 6.5 mile trip.

Jean along Parton Branch.

For the hike we had a scenic wintery day with an inch of snow on the ground and light flurries falling most of the day. I took a GPS track, and this would be one of the first hikes where Jean brought along our digital camera. From the parking at the Elkmont Nature Trail we started up the Mids Gap manway, reversing our hike from June, and again having no issues following the manway. On the Parton Branch side, we lost the old manway after the first switchback, but were able to follow the upper creek through open woods. We had to skirt around the embankment of a switchback of the Laurel Creek Road, but continued to follow the branch toward the quiet walkway. A large amount of white vein quartz boulders may mark the trace of the Greenbrier Fault here.

Approaching the Laurel Creek Road 2013.

After a quick visit to the cemetery, we walked up the road.

Cemetery at the end of the quiet walkway.

The split with the old Laurel Creek Road (also TN 73) was just overgrown enough to be obscure at driving speed, but easy to find on foot. The roadway was wide enough that it would likely be brushy in summer. A few sections of the old road were washed out, and it would have been tempting to continue upstream at the first switchback. Beyond the switchback we saw a few bicycle parts scattered about.

Old bicycle parts along the former Laurel Creek Road, 2013.

We crossed the busy modern road again at Fighting Creek Gap, the trailhead for the popular Laurel Falls hiking trail. But we soon picked up  a new “old” road that reached Elkmont at its cemetery. We later learned our road was the route of a buried powerline, which helped explain its absence from older maps. We then walked Elkmont roads to the site of the collapsing Wonderland Hotel, and then back to the car.

Remains of the Wonderland Hotel in 2006.

We all liked the loop for its scenery, easy access, and historical context. My initial thought was that the loop was too short for a SMHC trip, but it wouldn’t be too long before the loop was on the club schedule.

The cemetery at Elkmont, 2013.

We would make several return trips. Our 1-28-13 trip was with Ed and Claudia. We then joined a 3-21-15 SMHC trip led by Bob Hawthorne which visited some new, to us, homesites in the lower part of Parton Branch. On 3-7-20 we went again with Clyde and Connie on a rare trip when we were taking Clyde out on a new route for him. On that trip we found a lot of dead pine in lower Parton Branch, and therefore the 2020 hike was tougher than the easy stroll we remembered. At the end of the hike, we explored a bit in Elkmont and saw three large standing chimneys.

With Clyde on the old Laurel Creek Road (photo by Connie).