2011 Pitchell 100K +

The Pitchell.....what an epic adventure! Birthed by the mind of Mad A (Adam Hill) in 2004, this run starts at midnight on the summit of Mt. Pisgah and you run, hike, and crawl 67 miles (all on the Mtns. to Sea trail) to the finish on the summit of Mt. Mitchell! With its midnight start time and the finicky October weather, this is a beast of a run, and one that's gotten under my skin.

The Pitchell cannot be fully explained by words - it's one of those runs you have to experience (not unlike Sweetwater 50K in that respect). To me, this run represents the perfect storm of difficult trail elements - you've got extremely technical single track trail combined with unholy leaf coverage, unpredictable weather, night running, sleep deprivation, extreme temperature and weather changes, and let's not forget the roughly 30,000 feet of elevation change. Even when you're prepared for each of these elements individually, it's easy to underestiamte their impact as a whole.

I think everybody who attempts the Pitchell 100K+ must come in to the Folk Art Center (FAC) thinking, "How'd THAT happen? Why doI feel like I've been hit by a truck after running the slowest 50K I've ever run?" Then, of course, it hits them: They realize the hardest (or at least slowest/ most unrunnable) 50K they may ever encounter is still ahead of them. See, that's the kicker- this run gets progressively more difficult. The last 20 miles is an ode to denial. It kicks your butt, and even as its happening, you simply can't believe it's that hard- surely you're just having a bad day, or the conditions aren't right, or you didn't get enough long runs in or get enough sleep...

Need I even say this? Very few people have completed this run. It's kind of like The Foothills Trail that way- hard to finish, but in a different way. Since its inception in 2004, the "all time finishers list" includes just 8 names.

Pitchell 100K+ All Time Finishers List
This does not include people who ran but modified the run to make it easier. (For a complete list, go here.)

Adam Hill 16:30, 17:30, 15:06!, 15:33
Kevin Lane 15:18
Charlie Roberts 18:11
Mike Mason 16:48
Brian Beduhn 19:50
Brad Kee 17:47
Sean Blanton 19:20*
Eric Loffland 19:20*

Fast forward to Friday, October 14th, 2011**

Well, This Sucks
The day of the race dawned beautiful and temperate and it seemed as if everything were aligning itself to enhance the runners' chances of finishing this beast. There was just one problem- me. I found myself at the tail end of a difficult week, feeling overwhelmed and under prepared. I'd spent the last few weeks moving truck loads of stuff to the new house after working all day, and then working late into the night trying to get some cleaning and painting done. As a result, my running had been erratic at best lately, which only fueled my distemper.

Everyone knows moving is a huge adjustment, but for those of you who know about the new developments in my life, this is just one of several huge life adjustments I'm smack in the middle of. So its not surprising that my dealings with Duke Power and AT & T earlier in the week were enough to send me careening over the edge. I was ready to pick up the phone and dial 1-800-HONEYBADGERNEEDSTHERAPY.

After being so stoked about this run for months, on the way over to Mad A's house on Friday I found myself saying to Charles, "I don't even want to run this race. I wish it could be on some other day because I just cannot get my head in to it right now."

Nice, huh?

The Usual Suspects Roundup
As planned, the runners began arriving at Mad A's house around 5:00 p.m. Several Georgians were joining the hunt for the illusive finish, including Charles Raffensperger, Sean Blanton, and Eric Loffland. Charles has run most of the individual sections of the Pitchell course already, but Sean "Run Bum" Blanton and Eric Loffland had never been on this trail before. Considering the outcome, this says a lot about both of them.

2011 Runners:
Adam Hill
Dave Pryor (early start)
Psyche Wimberly
Charles Raffensperger
Mike Mason
Terry Foxworth (early start)
Sean "Run Bum" Blanton
Eric Loffland
Brian Beduhn (early start)
Brian Kistner
Sultan (early start)
Brad Kee

In addition, many of the usual suspects were running the FAC 50K, which begins at 6:00 a.m. the next morning and goes from the Folk Art Center to Mitchell summit.

Whip My Hair!
For me, the evening at Mad A's was the absolute highlight of this year's Pitchell. Pre-run get togethers are always fun, but hanging out with the likes of Matt Kirk, Adam Hill, and Crimson Cheetah...well, that just takes things to a whole other level. I'm not ashamed to say I still get a little star struck amidst their company.



Awesome Group Photo. From Top Left: Brian Kistner, Eric Loffland, Adam Hill, Me, Charles, Mike Mason, Matt Kirk, Isaiah Mosteller, Sean "Run Bum" Blanton


Adam's parents and Suzanne are entertained by Jon Harrison and Sean Blanton (and Luna)

Adam Hill impersonating Neil Young singing Willow Smith's, "Whip Your Hair"

Most special bonus- Meeting Ava for the first time!


It's the PITCHELL, Baby!
Things move fast. Before I knew it, we were at the top of Mt. Pisgah and it was just before midnight. I was happy that Charles got to experience this part of the run- the midnight start really is very special.

From Left: Crimson Cheetah, Brad Kee, Adam Hill, Eric Loffland, Charles, Me, Run Bum

In my humble opinion, all super badass runs need to start at midnight with a sip of Moonshine and a howl at the moon...

Well, this is where this post becomes painfully anti-climatic. I'd like to say that everything turned around for me, I started feeling great, I had an awesome run, and I finished in an amazing time. Sadly, no. From the moment we began, I felt as if I just didn't want to be there. In fact, it's fair to say that I was simply waiting for Charles to give the tiniest hint that he wasn't in to the run, either, and I'd be all over that shit, saying I could totally quit and be fine with it.

Unfortunately I had a 43-mile wait for that to happen. We decided to end our quest at Craven's Gap, knowing we would not summit until well into the dark. We'd had enough, time to call it a day.

Some highlights of those 43 miles include:

Climbing away from the FAC, you get a terrific view of Pisgah and you see how far you've come


Right before FAC, the trail takes you under a freeway pass, but you're running through a pasture, complete with cows. It's surreal. Especially after running all night.


Just completed a 11 hour 50K, took a 45-min. rest, shared a 22 oz. IPA from Green Flash brewery with Charles, and chatted with Jeremy Hargroves before taking off again. No wonder I'm smiling!

So, we're done.

We started running down the BRP back to my car, and suddenly we hear someone yelling something from a moving car. The car pulls over to the side of the Parkway and at first, I think its just another of theose insane leaf lookers. They are CRAZY and will slam on their brakes at the first sign of a brightly colored leaf. But I turn around, and there's Terry Foxworth, standing on the Parkway railing, yelling, "PITCHELL SUUUUUUUUCKS!!!"

Aaaaagh...!!! A kindred spirit! What a wonderful and welcome sight!

We yell back, "PITCHELLL SUUUUCKS!!!!" ....Hahhaha!

Terry explained that he and Dave were both simply not in to it from the beginning, but they decided to finish a 50K and stop at FAC. Hearing this made me feel infinitely better about my day. By way of an update, Terry said that Adam was going strong but had run into a rough patch and was slowing down. Still, it was 3:00 in the afternoon, and he was approaching Mitchell. Beast!!

As far as the other runners, Brad Kee was not far behind Adam and B-Rex was still going strong, although he may have taken an alternate route. I heard something about Sultan taking a nap, and then dropping later. Cheetah had dropped at a nice even 40 miles. However, Terry said that no one had seen or heard anything from Sean and Eric, and this kind of concerned me because they had never been on this trail.

So, Nicole and Terry gave Charles a ride back to my car and Charles came back and picked me up. We drove up to the Mitchell summit to see if there were any finishers and any news on Eric and Sean.

Beginnings of a beautiful sunset atop Mitchell. ..Trying to not be worried about our boys.


So we wait...and wait...and wait. Still, no one has heard or seen from Eric or Sean. Charles and I were both worried and we stayed up at Mitchell, watching and waiting. At about 7:30, with dark approaching, and the winds picking up speed, we thought we better contact the Ranger and let him know the situation (becauae Rangers love hearing that runners are out there lost on the trail, and we like to make them happy). They close the gate at 8:00, so if Sean and Eric were to make it up there to the parking lot, they'd have no way to get to their car. Not knowing what shape they'd be in, we decided to wait it out.

We kept driving down Hwy 128 to see if we could find them lower on the trail, then we'd go back up to the summit parking lot. Back and forth, back and forth...where ARE these guys?

To my amazement, Charles can perfectly imitate Run Bum's voice, and we spent some time cracking up at the expense of our spirited young friend. That's just how we roll, baby.

We were actually laughing so hard we were crying quite worried, and when FINALLY the Ranger came around and told us our friends were in the Ranger's bathroom getting warm, we immediately wondered if we'd find them in some compromising position were so very relieved!! We headed over and Charles rounded the boys up and put them in the car and gave them some food.

We heard their story (complete with how they "held up" some tourists for food), and were simply amazed and inspired by their journey to Mitchell. They are both amazing and talented runners, and it was an honor to be a part of their journey on that day.

Charles, Eric and Run Bum (in ski mask) hamming it up- We're so happy they're safe!

To get the full low-down on their journey to Mitchell, go here: Run Bum's Pitchell Report

And you MUST check THIS out:





In conclusion, the Pitchell is....an EPIC ADVENTURE. It's not for everyone, and there is definitely an element of danger. But after this day, I want to complete the run from Pisgah to Mitchell more than ever. In my future, I want to be able to say I ran from here to there...Yes, I'm one of "those" people.

Giddyup.


* Missed summit, but ended run at Stepps Gap at Ranger Station for safety reasons

** This year's date for the "real" Pitchell- as opposed to a PussyKitty Cat Pitchell whereby you start early. However, this year's attempt made it very clear to me just how dangerous it can be to end up at Mitchell after dark. The weather conditions change on a drop of a hat. For that reason, I think a midnight start is out of the question for me in the future, since you need to be sub-20 hr. in order to finish in daylight.

The Birth of the BARC

It's not a Memo...It's a Mission Statement.

It started out as an idea, not even a terribly creative idea : Run 44 miles on your 44th birthday. Take the day off from work and do something special to celebrate being alive. By the end of the day, my birthday run had in fact given birth to it's own creation- The Birthday Adventure Run Challenge. The BARC.

Make no mistake about it- the BARC is not a birthday run. If a birthday run is about celebrating life and being grateful for being alive for another year, then the BARC is a birthday run on steroids.

Differences- for starters, a BARC has an added goal of making this year's birthday more memorable than the last. Also, the number of your years must lend itself to the base of the challenge (OK, so that part's not different than my original idea).

Essentially, a BARC is a challenge that you design for yourself, based upon your feeling or mood at any place in your life. One year you may focus on a strength, the next on a weakness. It can be a short hard run or a multi-day epic. It's entirely up to you; and because of this, you can end up challenging yourself like no run tailored for the masses could ever do.

For example, on his 70th birthday Jack LaLanne towed 70 boats carrying 70 of his friends across Long Beach Harbor (about 3 miles), handcuffed and shackled.

Why?

Why would you do this, you ask? If you have to ask, you probably won't understand the answer. Because challenge is fun. Pain is fun. Suffering is fun. Why? Because when it ends it gives you a perspective on life you couldn't otherwise have. And what better way to explore the art of suffering than completing a super burly kick-ass adventure run?

Like Captain Kirk said, "I don't want my pain taken away, I need my pain." With no pain, there is no struggle, no struggle, no rewards, and if no rewards, then why bother living at all? These things add experience to our lives, they fulfill and enrich us, they make us human.


This Year's Challenge

I take it the situation is grim and the odds are against us. Sounds fun.

A 44-mile out-and-back run starting at Montreat College in Black Mountain. The goal was to run to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, the highest place in the Eastern U.S. at 6,684 ft, then summit the next four highest peaks along the 4.5-mile crestline trail between Mt. Mitchell and Deep Gap before returning to the start.

All in all, that's FIVE mile-high peaks:

1. Mt. Mitchell (6,684')
2. Mt. Craig (6,648')
3. Big Tom (6,581')
4. Balsam Cone (6,596')
5. Cattail Peak (6,584)

Burly? Check.

Kick-ass? Double-Check.

The Report

Preparation for the Monday run began on Friday. On my way down to the GUTS Reactor Run on Friday morning, I took the Parkway up to Mt. Mitchell to drop aid. I dropped a gallon of water at Black Mountain Gap and another gallon at the picnic area at Mitchell where Deep Gap Trail begins. I made sure to put notes on the water indicating it was aid for runner and to please not remove it.

Inspired by the herculean efforts of those running in this weekend's GUTS Reactor Run, I set off early Monday morning for Black Mountain to begin my ultra adventure run challenge. I had about 90 ouncesof water (Accelerade) and hot pink flagging tape. I figured I was good to go!

Little did I know just how much I would be relating to those GRR racers in a few hours.

The first part of the course is the same as the Seven Sister's Summit Run. You start at Rainbow Rd. Trailhead and take the Rainbow Trail up 2 miles to the split of Mitchell Toll and Trestle Road. That first 6/10 of a mile up Rainbow Trail is brutal, too. I don't know the elevation gain, but the super-short, super-steep switchbacks gets you up pretty high in that first 1/2 mile. In hindsight, it kind of set the tone for the day...

Now, for some reason, instead of going up to the split of Mitchell Toll and Trestle, when I came to a grey diamond marking that said, "Traverse to Rainbow Road" I took that. I figured I had a map, and I'd be fine. And I was. However, it was a little tricky. As I neared the end of rainbow Road, I came to a horse gate, and was at Lookout Trace. It took me a nittle while to figure out that if I went up Lookout Trail, it would intersect with Trestle Road and I'd be back on track.

I flagged the crap out of the intersection of Trestle and Lookout, so I could take the same route on the return home (thank you Mad A for that great idea).

Trestle Road is a nice trail running along a ridgeline. After a couple of miles, there's a sharp right turn and a short, steep climb to a gravel road. The branches here were covered in rime ice and looking very pretty indeed. Again, I flagged the crap out of this intersection to help me on the way back.

Sourwood Gap was right around the corner, and I ran to the left here to access Mitchell Toll Road, which I'd take all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I took in the sights at a leisurely pace and made sure to explore every little spur trail. I'm glad I did, as I discovered this rock outcropping that gave this beautiful panoramic view:

Nice view from a little rock outcropping off Old Mitchell Toll Road

The first sign that the recent weather had impacted the trails came a little further up the Toll Road. It's bad enough to run this rocky trail in the best of conditions, but there was water everywhere! The Toll Road was literally a river in many places.

Old Mitchell Toll Road/ River

Finally, the Toll Road drops you on to the BRP at Black Mountain Gap. For some reason, I started getting really excited about the run at this point. From here on out, I was in uncharted territory, and suddently summiting Mt. Mitchell seemed a whole lot more real. Maybe I was just happy to be off that rocky, river of a toll road.

First surprise of the day: The gallon of water I had stashed in the bushes just right of the sign was gone! That really surprised me, but I figured Deep Gap was not too far away, and considering all the water on the trail, I'd be fine. Off to Mt. Mitchell State Park I went, with a left turn on to Hwy. 128, and then I kept my eyes open for the Buncombe Horse Trail.

Entrance to Mt. Mitchell State Park

Highway 128 is the road to the summit of Mitchell. Had I known what I was in for with the Buncombe Horse Trail, I would've taken this road all the way up!

Maybe a mile up Hwy 128, I picked up the Buncombe Horse Trail. There was snow on the trail, but the real problem was the water. It soon became clear that this stretch was going to be slow going and miserable. The trail was a choice of ice or swamp. When you could run on hard packed snow, things were fine, but the terrain constantly changed and trying to decide where to step soon began to wear me out. (On the way back, I didn't even bother. I ran right down the middle and just did not care).

Entrance to the Buncombe Horse Trail

The trail was a mess!

Running on the far sides of the trail would sometimes yield good results


But just as often, your foot would completely sink out of sight

After about 5 miles, I began to look for the Commissary Trail, which would take me to the Mitchell Trail. All I could think of was how happy I would be to get out of this bog!

Then I found the Commissarry Trail and here's what it looked like:

The Commissary Trail was completely frozen over

At least I wasn't on this trail for long before I came up to the Mitchell Trail. Surprisingly, there was no snow on the trailhead. From the sign, I could tell this would be quite a hike up to the summit. I had about 16 oz. of water left, and so I started up, anxious to summit Mt. Mitchell.

About 500 feet later, here is what the trail looked like:

All the water that had run down froze over

I just found a new way to hate trail stairs.

I was already concerned with the time, and was doubting my ability to continue on after Mt. Mitchell. I had agreed to meet my boss for a birthday beer after the run, and I wasn't yet ready to give up on that.

It seemed like it took forever to maneuver around all the ice and reach the summit. I was out of water, worn out, and ready to head back. From what I had heard about Deep Gap, there was no way I was risking it with all this ice.

I was so happy when I started seeing the signs I was near the summit!

It's surreal to come upon this sign in the middle of the wilderness

Mt. Mitchell visitor center via trail


I took this picture on the way to the picnic area- no view whatsoever.

Second and third surprise of the day: I reached the picnic area, and took shelter in the little building there. I was ready to get my water, have some lunch, and call Charles. At this point, I was harboring some lingering thoughts about heading out Deep Gap even though it was getting late in the day.

I called Charles, only to find thathe had gone home sick and was completely out of it. It was a frustrating call as I kept losing reception and so we finally just said good-bye.

I went to retrieve my gallon of water, and found it was completely frozen! Then, I searched my pack for some food, and found I had just one Mojo bar left. I had failed to finish packing food the night before, thinking I was going to do that in the morning. Instead, I completely forgot, and ran out of the house with my food-short pack. Ugh! Stupid mistake.

Site of realization I had no food or water and 20 miles to get back to my car.

So close, yet so far away. Good-bye Mt. Craig and friends.

I decided I better just head back, and I hoped for the best. I found plenty of water on the trail and purified it with iodine. However, the lack of food finally got to me. The last few miles were a death march. Not even a death march, more like a death (slow, slow) walk. To make matters worse, almost all of my flaggings had been removed.

My boss started texting me and I told him I was OK, not to worry, that things were just taking longer than I thought. he surprised me by showing up at my car in Montreat and texting me. I sent him directions to pick me up at Lookout Trace, thereby ending this birthday run. To round out the experience, we went to a beer pub in Black Mountain where Ihad 2 Ranger IPA's and called it a day.

I was almost feeling disappointed in the day, but when I arrived home, I saw that my NB wear test shoes had arrived, and, being the shoe whore that I am, life was good again.

Armed with new shoes and a plan for a seriously kick-ass "BARC" next year, I set this run behind me, never to look back.

* Over the weekend, Adam Hill (Mad A) was kind enough to e-mail me some additional information I was missing about the route I had chosen. I was working off of Mike Mason's (Cheetah) general directions for this course, and had I not had Adam's additional notes I would have gotten lost for sure. Thanks, Adam!

Birthday Run Preview

44 miles to celebrate 44 years. Just like the movie, this begs to be a triumphant true story.

If you saw "127 Hours"...this is my note.

On Monday March 7 I plan to run from Montreat College in Black Mountain to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, the highest place in the Eastern U.S. at 6,684 ft. Then I'll summit the next four highest peaks along the 4.5-mile crestline trail in the Black Mountains between Mt. Mitchell and Deep Gap.

Mt. Mitchell got its name from Dr. Elisha Mitchell, a science professor who first calculated its height in the mid-1800s. Mitchell fell to his death from the peak in 1857 while verifying it as the highest in the range. He's now buried at the summit. I'm just sayin'. This could be dangerous.

Between Mount Mitchell and Deep Gap, there's about five miles of rugged trail that will take you to Mount Craig -- the second highest peak in the eastern U.S. -- and across Big Tom, Balsam Cone, and Cattail Peak, three of the other mile-plus summits. On a clear day, experts say the panoramic view stretches 85 miles.

At the time I'm writing this, the route looks like this:

Cheetah's StolenBirthday Run in 10 Easy Steps

1. Start – Rainbow Road Trailhead in Montreat
2. To Trestle Road trail to Sourwood Gap
3. Pick up the Old Mitchell Toll Road, run to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP)
4. Left on the BRP
5. Right on Rt 128
6. Right on the Buncombe Horse Trail
7. Left on the Mitchell Trail (run to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, 6,684 ft)
8. From the summit, run across the parking lot to the Deep Gap Trailhead
9. Follow the Deep Gap Trail across the following summits:
   Mt. Craig (6,648 ft)
   Big Tom (6,581 ft)
   Balsam Cone (6,596 ft)
   Cattail Peak (6,581 ft)
10. Turn around and retrace run back to Montreat

Given that some of these climbs are so steep they are permanently roped to provide a needed handhold, I'm expecting to arrive back at Montreat in the dark. After discussing this fact with my friend Dave Pryor, he suggested I stay home avoid the Rainbow Trailhead route on my way back, considering how easy it is to get lost on these trails at night. Good thinking, Dave! Thank you. (Maybe now I won't be out there for 127 hours!)

I've asked my friend Adam Hill, who knows these trails better than anyone I know, to provide a little guidance in adjusting the route in my favor, so I can avoid getting lost...if at all possible.

Stay tuned...