Firewater 50K Race, 10-25-25

The last two falls I’ve run the KTC’s 25K trail race at Norris. Both years I’d battled with plantar fasciitis and its aftereffects and wasn’t able to do the work needed for an ultramarathon distance. But this year was different, I’ve been healthy and active and was able to prepare enough that a full 31 miles of running was a reasonable goal.

East Lakeshore Trail Map.

As much as I enjoy the Norris Race, it’s tempting to drop down to the 25K distance. So, I looked at the fall schedule and one other race jumped out. It was local, the week before Norris, and the same Saturday Jean had her MBA teaching. Kathy and Tony’s Firewater 50K follows the East Lakeshore Trail through TVA property along Tellico Lake offering a point-to-point course for the 50K. It seemed like a perfect fit. I’d heard good things about the race from other runners (well organized, pretty trails, good surface, and few hills) and it was only an hour away.

Jean and I on the Coytee Segment in 2009.

Jean and I hiked two sections (Coytee and Glendale) of the trail while it was being built in the late 2000s/early 2010s on club trips. But I remembered little from those hikes except for the cushy lakeshore trail. Our 2009 trip with the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club covered the Glendale section and Coytee Loop. Our 2011 trip with the Sierra Club was a shuttle hike on the Sinking Creek and Glendale sections.

At the start/finish. Photo from Firewater Facebook page.

My summer and fall training went well. I did my usual greenway 8-milers along with shorter runs, mountain bike rides, and of course lots of hiking. I paid particular attention to my long trail runs, knowing these were my most important runs, and the best predictors of my race results. I ran a lot at Norris, both on the KTC 25K loop and on my Barkley hill training loop. I ran a lot in the Smokies on the loops from the Townsend Wye and from Tremont to Elkmont. I also ran the Armes Gap Jeep Road at Frozen Head as I would again be sweeping the Barkley Fall Classic, which requires some much more hill climb training. I even restarted my plantar era stretching and exercise routine.

Those long runs went well, I had three runs over 20 miles, four runs at around 6 hours, and 19 miles of tough terrain at the BFC. I felt ready but realized that my best training runs (Armes Gap 4X and the North Boundary Greenway) had been on gravel, much easier than I’d have on trail. Here’s my buildup of training runs.

Firewater Training List, Long Runs:

7-4-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Repeats	10.8 mi.	2400’	3:05
7-10-25	Sharps Ridge	Lin-Indy-Sharp	10.3	1000’	3:08
7-15-25	Norris	Hills Loop 7X	10.5	3500’	3:45
7-20-25	Smokies	Lumber-Meigs	11.8	1700’	3:44
7-25-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Plus	12.2	2800’	3:30
7-29-25	Norris	Hills Loop 8X	12.0	3600’	4:13
8-2-25	Smokies	West Prong	12.3	2050’	3:22
8-7-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Repeats	16.2	3600’	4:25
8-11-25	Norris	25K Loop	15.6	2000’	4:30
8-16-25	Smokies	Lumber-Meigs	16.0	2800’	5:21
8-25-25	Smokies	West Prong	17.3	2150’	4:48
8-29-25	Norris	Hills Loop 12X	18.0	6000’	5:56
9-4-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Repeats	21.6	4800	6:08
9-13-25	Smokies	West Prong	17.3	2150’	4:48
9-20-25	FHSP	BFC Sweep	18.9	6300’	X.XX
9-28-25	Smokies	West Prong	12.3	2050’	3:18
10-4-25	Norris	25K + Songbird	17.9	2000’	5:09
10-9-25	Smokies	Lumber-Meigs	20.0	3300’	6:04
10-14-25	North Boundary	Greenway	22.2	1700’	5:59

 

Race day started at 8AM at Wildcat Pointe with the 100k runners, who would run out to the Canal Trailhead and back to Wildcat. The rest of us got on a nice warm school bus for a ride to Canal Trailhead, which was the 50K start. Along the way we stopped at Sinking Creek Trailhead to drop off the relay runners and the ruckers.

I sat on the bus with Cody, who would be running only his second ultra. His first was the super tough Quest for the Crest, which he swore never to run again. He lived in Greenback, so he ran and hiked a lot of East Lakeshore. Later, when I first looked at the race results, I thought he’d won, but he turned out to have finished second, to another runner also named Cody.

At Canal TH Kathy gave us a quick pep talk and then off we went. I tracked the course with my GPS, but did not carry my phone. I started in shorts, a light Smartwool long sleeve wicker, and gloves liners. It was barely comfortable with temps in the low 40s. The sky was overcast and dry most of the day, so we had good footing with few leafy or rocky sections.

I started out a bit too far to the front and got passed a lot as the field sorted itself out. There are mile posts on the course, so right away I could tell I was running too fast. My plan was to try and go under 9 hours which would mean 17–18-minute miles, but we were running 12–13-minute miles. But what the hell, it felt pretty darn good. The north end of the course is flat with wide trail, and few obstacles. The course would trace the east shoreline of the lake, except for a few short excursions inland. We saw lots of other hikers, including a group from the East Tennessee Hikers.

I ran a bit with an Alabama runner who claimed to not have run over 10 miles before! I ran the first 8 miles to Antioch at 12–13-minute pace, which is normally what I run on the paved greenway at home. Aid station food was good, there was the usual assortment of snack foods, while some stations had treats like Gus, potato wedges, or bacon. Drinks were water or Tailwind.

By Antioch we were sorted out and calmed down. We began our first excursion running through a golf course and associated community. It was fun to run in the open with the longer views. I was able to follow other runners and save energy rather than trying to stay on course.

Steve Barber was at the Glendale Trailhead. The next section was a little more complex. We skipped the Glendale Shortcut and added the Coytee Loop. The mile markers did not include the Coytee Loop, so keeping track of my pace required some extra math. I was still moving well, now doing 14–15-minute miles, slower than my start, but still ahead of plan. This left me 20-30 minutes ahead of my 9-hour target. I began to scheme for a little better time, despite knowing that I’d pay a price for my fast early pace. So far, the hills had been mild, and everything could have been easily run. The first 100K runner we saw was female and looked super strong.

Coming off the Coytee Loop was a long section without markers. I stopped momentarily and was caught by a woman with the same question. We were soon met by the second and third place 100K runners, who confirmed that we were on course. John Storey and Rebecca were at the Coytee Aid Station, and we chatted briefly before I headed off over the long bridge that was still incomplete at the time of my 2011 visit.

2011 Bridge construction.

I was still moving well (14–15-minute miles) and making up time through the Sinking Creek Aid Station at 17 miles. This is considered the “halfway’ point of the course, since the southern end is more difficult that the northern end. Based on the mile markers, my time at the true halfway point was 3:34, better than my last two finishes at the Norris Dam 25K races. I think this was in this section that we ran by several luxurious lakeside homes with boat docks as we were just across the lake from Tellico Village. After that development was one of the longer climbs of the course, though still with only a few 100 feet of climbing. 

Long abandoned car along the trail in 2011.

Before Lotterdale Aid Station there was a long roadside section where I caught up with my first fading runner. He, like the other handful I passed, was cramping and reduced to walking. I was still running OK through Lotterdale but had slowed to 17–18-minute pace, and occasionally 20-minute pace over the last 10 miles. Mark McPhail was also at an aid station. There were a couple more hills, but just enough to give me an excuse for walking breaks. I reached the last aid station at Peterson at 7 hours.

There was a long section in the highway right-of-way after Peterson, I wouldn’t bother to hike this section unless you were determined to hike the entire East Lakeshore Trail. Near the end a woman came walking up the road and complained that she thought the course was long. I didn’t realize that she was in the race, and that she had turned the wrong way after finishing the spur, until she was well beyond me. Kathy later told me that at least two people had made wrong turns coming off the spur.

There was one last hill before the spur. The mile long spur gave us our only chance to see the runners ahead and behind us. I first saw a group of 5, and then three others that I’d run with earlier in the race. At the turnaround I grabbed a wristband from the pumpkin to prove I’d been to the bitter end, then dashed for home at ~20-minute pace. I only had 8 minutes on the next guy behind me, enough for him to make up if I didn’t push it in. The next 3-4 runners were mostly those whom I passed when they were fading. Once back on the main trail, it was a short, steep pitch back to the start at Wildcat Point.

After thanking Kathy and Tony I proudly collected my finisher’s whiskey flask and sat down for chili, coke, and snacks. The race could not have gone better for me. I had no plantar fasciitis symptoms and no knee troubles. My back that had been wonky all week felt fine. I had no blisters, chafing, or cramping. The footing had been great, so I had no stumbles, and I’d not gone off course. I’d been lucky with my food and hydration, eating the minimum to keep myself fueled and drinking enough to stay hydrated in warm dry weather. I was stiff and sore the next day but had no long-term effects. Best of all, I was 30 minutes under my goal time, and never really paid the price for going out faster than I’d planned.

Finish photo from Firewater Facebook page.

Smokies Hiking, Metcalf Bottoms to Gatlinburg via Trail, Lift, and Tram, 10-18-25

One of the great things about hiking with the SMHC is that its members often come up with new hike ideas. Ed’s plan was to introduce us to novel ways of getting around Gatlinburg, and to visit some of the tourist accessible overlooks in the city. Our plan was to start at the US 321 Park and Ride where we took a Rec Center bus that Ed had charted to Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. We all split the $60- shuttle fee. Then we hiked the Metcalf Bottoms, Little Brier Gap, Little Greenbrier, Laurel Falls, and Cove Mountain trails through the park. We split off Cove Mountain on an old service road to reach to the top of the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Lift, and rode the lift down to the base lodge. From the lodge, we took the Tram, down to Gatlinburg, then walked to the Trolley Transfer Station near the Ripley’s Aquarium. Then we caught the Yellow Line bus back to the 321 Park and Ride. Whew! 

Little Brier Gap.

We left home at 7AM and got to the P&R at 8:15. Patt Watts, Randy Mitchell, and Lynn Kzsos were there. I rode with Jay Smelser, former neighbor who was on his first club hike, attracted by Ed’s exotic route. Coincidentally we started hiking on the same section of trail that Ed and I had used for our last hike together on Rocky Ridge (Rockless Ridge). Ed pointed out that an obvious manway at Little Brier Gap headed north into the Foothills Parkway right of way and extended all the way to the current end of the Parkway at US 321. Little Greenbrier Trail is CCC-built with a narrow tread carefully hand dug into the side of the mountain on a perfect grade. I was surprised to note numerous rock outcrops on the Little Greenbrier Trail, and that the walk along Chinquapin Ridge was through open forest. I’m still not sure why Rocky Ridge had so little rock outcrop, and so much low tangly vegetation. The trees were just starting to turn color, and the acorns were beginning to fall.

Jean at the Cove Mountain Junction.

We had lunch at the start of the short spur to the Cove Mountain Fire tower, now converted into a NPS weather station. Jay and I were the only ones to take the short walk to the tower. Jean and I had not hiked on Cove Mountain Trail since the 1990s, and I wasn’t going to take the chance that we could wait another 30 years to visit the tower, even if it sat behind a chain link fence. 

Jay at the Cove Mountain Weather Station.

The tower marked the end of the climbing, while the Cove Mountain Trail followed what had to be the old jeep access road for the tower. From Cove Mountain to our cutoff at Mount Harrison there was a bulldozed dirt road parallel to the park boundary on the private land side that we could often see. I way pointed one spur plus the split off the trail to the ski lift. We passed Phils View, which served as the top of a viewless off trail loop Jean and I had done in 2013. The split took us over the top of Mt. Harrison, my first time on this peak. Here we saw some good fall colors, reds from the sourwood and maple and various yellows and light greens from other early turners. Our group was moving well. 

Hikers on Cove Mountain Trail.

Ober Gatlinburg installed a large viewing deck at the top of the lift, and we took full advantage of that for photography. Mt. LeConte was especially outstanding, and we were grateful that it held all the rain clouds. There is an epic zip line paralleling the ski lift, with understandable screaming from the zip liners. Through one of his many connections Ed had arranged for us to ride down the ski lift. Jean and I rode down with David. The slow half mile ride had great views, but was high enough off the ground to bother those with even a mild fear of heights.

View of zip lines from top of the ski lift.

At the bottom of the lift we could see smaller lift to our right which Jay said was used for lift served mountain biking at Ober. Ahead was the huge main lodge where we waited in line for the tram that would take us to town. The lodge was crowded and the skids not so well greased for our ride, but soon things worked out. The tram was barely above treetops, and the edges of the 2016 Gatlinburg fires were still easy to spot. I was surprised that there was still so much undeveloped land around Gatlinburg. Maybe the flat and moderate slopes are settled, and only the steepest areas remain unbuilt. 

View looking back up the ski lift.

From the base of the tram, we found our trolley stop. Quick recalculations indicated that we could walk the half (actually 0.9) mile to the transfer station at the Aquarium faster than if we waited for the trolley. It was now in the 80s without shade and the crowds of midseason Gatlinburg were tedious for those of us used to having the woods to ourselves. Ed had listed the hike at 9.5 miles, I bumped it up to 10.5 to cover our midtown walk. We noticed two other ski lifts rising out of town.

We waited for the Yellow Trolley with a crowded group at the Aquarium. Finally, we all squeezed into one of the smaller buses and held in place. There was little to no airflow in the bus, but once underway, and past the turn out toward Pigeon Forge, we made good time. Back at the Park and Ride we exploded for the cars, worried about traffic heading for I-40. But, Jean and I made it home in 75 minutes, the same time we’d expect under normal conditions going home through Pitman Center, and certainly easily enough to retain the warm glow of wonderful and unusual hike.