Black Mountain Marathon

February 23rd 2002

I first heard about the Mount Mitchell Challenge (40 miles) and Black Mountain Marathon from Jim Hartnett down in Florida. Since we were moving up to NC anyway, I thought it might be a tough, challenging race to try. I also mentioned it to my Dad, and he was quite interested. At first, he wanted to do the Challenge, but I convinced him it would be wiser to try the marathon, and if we did well enough, to consider the Challenge in 2003. We both started training in the early Fall of 2001. We mailed our race applications as soon as we received them in October, but did not hear that we had made it until the first of January! They only allow 100 racers for each event. But by then we were both well on our way to be ready for the race.

Kelly and I drove from Pittsboro to Black Mountain, but we ended up leaving in the early evening. Our driveway and house clearing had been scheduled the week before, but had been delayed. They actually didn't get started until Thursday morning, and we had wanted to leave Thursday mid-afternoon. But we stuck around until they had finished up for the day so we could see all of the changes. They moved so quickly and did a lot in one day! Dad had driven up from SC, and Nadia had flown in from DC. They were already fast asleep by the time we arrived at almost 10 p.m. We were lucky enough to stay in the lovely Bed and Breakfast operated by Nancy and Roger Schnepp named "The Inn Around the Corner."

On Friday, we had a great breakfast at the Inn and walked around Black Mountain for awhile, shopping at the General Store, some art galleries, an outdoor gear store, etc. We had a yummy lunch at a local cafe and then we drove about 20 miles to Chimney Rock. Since we were running the next day, we didn't take the stairs to the top and didn't hike much!! We did enjoy some nice views though. We headed back to town for an early dinner and then we were off to the mandatory pre-race meeting that evening.

At the meeting, we were given last minute race and weather information. For the 2nd or 3rd year in a row, conditions were going to be quite mild -- no snow covering the trails!

We also received a very well done "orienteering map" with the course trail highlighted, and an elevation gain chart for the entire course. Check out the long steady climb all the way up for 13 miles! Also notice the very steep decline for a couple of miles around mile 21. More on that below!

Click on image to see a larger version

After the meeting, we went back to the B&B and I actually fell asleep around 8:30 p.m.! The race started at dawn, or about 7 a.m., so we had to be up early! (When I say "we" that refers to Kelly and me... Dad and Nadia arise everyday between 3 and 4 a.m.!) I of course did wake up several times during the night, and when the alarm went off at 5 a.m. it seemed awfully early. But I headed downstairs for coffee, and Nancy had gotten up to make a wonderful pre-race breakfast. We left the B&B around 6:30 a.m (the race start was about 1/2 mile away), checked-in to verify that we were actually going to start, and then waited for the official start.

I won't bore everyone with the course narrative, though you can click here to read the one the race directors sent us. But below are some pictures from the race that Kelly shot.

	Here we both are right before the start of the race. It was still pretty dark out and very cold!!!



Here I am winning the race!! Actually, I'm really in between two packs of runners, but it does look like I'm winning. :-) Dad looks really cold! The first and last few miles of the race go through town, so those parts are on pavement. The rest of the race is run on trails.



The way the course is designed, Nadia and Kelly couldn't really see us except in the beginning and end, so there are no pictures for many miles. Here we are coming off the trails, about a half mile past the very steep down hill on pavement around mile 21. It was so steep I resorted to walking down backwards at some points!!! Around mile 8 or 10, the outside of my right knee started to get sore. It only got worse as I ran -- especially on the down hill. As Kelly took this picture of Dad, he said "No Fun! No Fun!"



We are both pretty close to the end here! I can't believe I'm smiling -- my knee was killing me!



And here are the pictures of us crossing the finish line. I had made the turn around at 13 miles in about 2:37, so I didn't pick up the pace much on the way down. My knee began to hurt so much, that for the last few miles, I kept having to stop and stretch it. Much of the course was like running in a stream bed with no water -- the rocks were that bad! Dad said he didn't run down much because of that. We both think the course would actually be easier if there was snow, as long as it was somewhat packed, because then you wouldn't have to worry about all the loose rocks.

	Here we both are at the end... Glad to be done, but already thinking about the Challenge next year!