War at Windrock 11 Mile Trail Race, 4-11-15

Usually after Barkley I’m in no shape for anything strenuous for a couple of weeks after the race. But even after getting to Bald Knob on lap two in 2015 I recovered quickly. I’d heard a lot about the War at Windrock series and when Aaron suggested we try a race there I was excited to see what they had to offer, especially since the entire 11 mile course would be new trail for me. In their first few years, these races had been a three day event, with a hill climb, short cross country run, and a longer trail race. Despite WR’s focus as an ATV park, all the local runners I’d talked to had enjoyed racing there. For 2015 there would be just one day of racing with an 11 mile loop in the main Windrock area, and a 50K course that would visit the Windmills on Buffalo Mountain.

On race day, Aaron and I ran into problems right away. We managed to find our way to the Windrock parking area, but there was a huge ATV event going on, and no sign of our race. We drove back to Oliver Springs looking for another entrance we might have missed, but we saw no other way into Windrock. We were getting worried when we got back to the parking area, and still found no sign of our event. Luckily Aaron spotted another runner who told us that the race was set up was just above (but out of sight of) the main parking area. We cruised up there and got signed in. Just before the start someone got a great shot of the local runners who also included Steve Barber, Brian Williams, and Sho.

Some of the local runners before the race start.

Once underway, the race was a near disaster. The course was poorly marked and in lousy shape. Luckily I had taken a copy of the course map with me, but I don’t recall seeing anyone else in the race with one. Many of the 11 mile runners ended up on the 50K course, and almost everyone got lost at least once. I towed one guy along with me. I guess he figured if I could follow the Barkley course I could follow this one.

We did the first half of the CW loop as planned and I recognized the “upper Windrock” aid station #1 as the spot where I’d previously parked for runs with DK. Things got really sketchy after that as I needed to do a ton of navigating. Aid Station 2 was not set up as the crew had blown a tire along the way. So, our main reference point for the second half of the loop was gone. The last couple miles were along the valley floor and saw very heavy use by ATVs and were essentially just long mud scars. We saw no runner tracks as the ATVs pushing through the mud holes “washed” the trails clean. I’m not sure how much energy I had recovered after Barkley, but it was the navigation, not fatigue, that was the focus.

Close to the end on the final trails my parasite pulled ahead of me. We pulled into the start finish area unsure if the race was over. There were only two runners and computer person there to tell us we were done. It must have been a nightmare out there. Almost everyone had gotten lost, and most couldn’t tell the 50K from the 11 mile course. At one point there was an hour wait between finishing runners. There were multiple 5, 6, and 7 hour finishers for the 11 miler. Several runners ended up being driven in on ATVs. Aaron told me he’d gotten lost three times, and spent much of his time on the 50K course. I finished three hours ahead of him, and I’m sure he had some explaining to do when he arrived back home much later than expected.

The 11 mile course was on Windrock trails 22, 21, 15?, 24, G11?, 16, 2, and 1. The loop was around 11.5-12 miles. I finished in 2:23, 4^th out of 26 runners. Of the trails we’d run on, only 21 and 24 would have been worth repeating. Running new trails with DK was far more fun than what we did in the race.

The War at Windrock was not held again. With Windrock scheduling an ATV event on top of our race it was obvious that their priorities don’t include running races. I’m sure the organizers decided to take their races to venues where they felt more welcome. It’s unfortunate because Windrock has enough of the right type of rugged property for trail runs and other nonmotorized adventure sports, but I suppose they’re able to make enough money off the ATV riders that they don’t need to mess with their business model.