My husband, Chris & I had a vacation day (these are rare & like gold so spent very carefully) planned for Friday 5/24/13 to hike the 5 miles uphill on the Alum Bluff trail that leads to Mount Le Conte lodge. My mom was lucky in the lottery & had reservations for four of us to spend the night in the lodge, have a nice meal, watch the sunset & relax in our remote cabin on top of the beautiful mountain. Things quickly changed for these plans when Chris sustained a severe injury to his right achilles tendon. After a track workout on Tuesday 5/21, it seized up & left him barely able to walk. By Thursday, he was in and boot a struggling to get to his car for work. There was no way that Chris would be able to climb the mountain to the Le Conte lodge so the plan quickly changed.
I had a trail tempo run scheduled for Thursday 5/23 so I spoke to my coach, Chad Newton to see if I could run the Rock 2 Rock trail 10k instead of the workout. Once Chad approved, I contacted the Race director, Jay Curwen who had registration still open! The race has a 5pm start so at least I could make the vacation day worthwhile. My heart was broken for Chris though... He was crushed not being able to go to Le Conte & now not able to run at all. We cancelled the trip to Le Conte, Chris volunteered at the finish line of Rock 2 Rock & I raced.
The weather was perfect. It was sunny & 64 degrees. With a 5pm race start, the temperatures can get quite hot! This race is known to be a competitive trail race. It was once part of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup series & also is the opening event for the Mountain Sports festival, drawing trail runners from all over the country. Among those toeing the line this year was Shiloe Mielke (Vasque), Duncan Hoge (Bull City Running), Sean Blanton (La Sportiva), Alison Bryant (La Sportiva) & Jennifer Evans (Bull City Running).
All Photos by: Jay Curwen
The course is a mix of fireroad, technical single track which climbs Eden rock & gains 2,000 ft elevation in the 1st 3.5 miles. The trail is very rocky, rooty & uneven & is scattered with fallen trees & limbs, has briar bushes & other fun obstacles to maneuver. Wearing my Inov-8 X-Talon 212s, I knew that I would be fine. The shoe is low profile to make it easy to feel the trail & has tough lugs to help grip the trail on the steep climbs & decents (a must for this course). I protected my eyes with the Julbo trek sunglasses. The lenses make the trail light (even in dark shadowy sections) & protect my eyes from pollen & low-hanging limbs.
The race was off promptly at 5pm. The 1st 200 meters was on a grassy field then the race headed up the hill to the mountain. It was a clear beautiful day so birds were chirping & the scenary was gorgeous. It didn't take long to forget about the beautiful sounds becasue all I could hear was my elevated breathing. The pollen in the air was thick & my legs felt like lead. There were several runners with me as we punished our legs to attack the climb. I exchanged positions back & forth with Shaun, Josh & Kurt all the way to the top of the mountain. Once we crested the mountaintop, those guys took off down the steep decent with reckless abandon like a wild animal running for its life. I wanted to go with them but my legs were heavy from the climb & I thought that they may buckle at any second. Somehow, they recovered & I was able to pick up the pace again. The downhill had several switchbacks & obstacles to jump over. It was dangerous but fun! Everytime I picked up the pace, I would hear someone ahead of me scream in agony as they had a fall, twist of the ankle or a speared leg from a tree limb. I decided to be a little more cautious & careful with my footing. The downhill flew by & before long, I recognized the gravel road that lead to the finish line. I heard screams & cheers & knew the finish was just around the corner. I was able to push & pick up the pace to finish as 1st Female (9th overall) in 54:57.
Place Name Age Sex City State Time Pace
1 Shiloh Milke 33 M Asheville NC 46:08:00 7:26
2 Duncan Hoge 25 M Chapel Hill NC 47:39:00 7:41
3 Sean Blanton 27 M Atlanta GA 48:36:00 7:50
4 David Workman 42 M Flat Rock NC 50:02:00 8:03
5 Shaun Pope 24 M Black Mountain OH 52:35:00 8:28
6 Josh Marcus 26 M Mill Spring NC 52:49:00 8:30
7 Paul Scouten 43 M Black Mountain NC 53:23:00 8:36
8 Kurt Wilson 34 M Asheville NC 54:40:00 8:48
9 Amber Young 34 F Asheville NC 54:57:00 8:51
10 Andy Applegate 47 M Asheville NC 55:10:00 8:53
11 Matt Roane 42 M 55:16:00 8:54
12 Jeff Dean 34 M Charlotte NC 57:26:00 9:15
13 Mike Jackson 44 M 58:05:00 9:21
14 Jeremy Donahue 30 M Harrogate TN 58:23:00 9:24
15 Alison Bryant 34 F Elkin NC 1:00:01 9:40
16 Joshua Lundin 33 M Asheville NC 1:00:35 9:45
17 Jennifer Evans 24 F Durham NC 1:01:16 9:52
18 Sofie Beckham 38 F Asheville NC 1:02:56 10:08
19 Arnaud Levasseur 41 M Asheville NC 1:04:12 10:20
20 Grant Sparks 37 M 1:05:56 10:37
21 Zan Sistare 55 M 1:06:21 10:41
22 Brody Miller 24 M 1:06:59 10:47
23 Matthew Fecteau 37 M Durham NC 1:07:02 10:48
24 Matt Hollifield 44 M Spruce Pine NC 1:07:16 10:50
25 Bill Lawrence 42 M 1:08:01 10:57
1 Shiloh Milke 33 M Asheville NC 46:08:00 7:26
2 Duncan Hoge 25 M Chapel Hill NC 47:39:00 7:41
3 Sean Blanton 27 M Atlanta GA 48:36:00 7:50
4 David Workman 42 M Flat Rock NC 50:02:00 8:03
5 Shaun Pope 24 M Black Mountain OH 52:35:00 8:28
6 Josh Marcus 26 M Mill Spring NC 52:49:00 8:30
7 Paul Scouten 43 M Black Mountain NC 53:23:00 8:36
8 Kurt Wilson 34 M Asheville NC 54:40:00 8:48
9 Amber Young 34 F Asheville NC 54:57:00 8:51
10 Andy Applegate 47 M Asheville NC 55:10:00 8:53
11 Matt Roane 42 M 55:16:00 8:54
12 Jeff Dean 34 M Charlotte NC 57:26:00 9:15
13 Mike Jackson 44 M 58:05:00 9:21
14 Jeremy Donahue 30 M Harrogate TN 58:23:00 9:24
15 Alison Bryant 34 F Elkin NC 1:00:01 9:40
16 Joshua Lundin 33 M Asheville NC 1:00:35 9:45
17 Jennifer Evans 24 F Durham NC 1:01:16 9:52
18 Sofie Beckham 38 F Asheville NC 1:02:56 10:08
19 Arnaud Levasseur 41 M Asheville NC 1:04:12 10:20
20 Grant Sparks 37 M 1:05:56 10:37
21 Zan Sistare 55 M 1:06:21 10:41
22 Brody Miller 24 M 1:06:59 10:47
23 Matthew Fecteau 37 M Durham NC 1:07:02 10:48
24 Matt Hollifield 44 M Spruce Pine NC 1:07:16 10:50
25 Bill Lawrence 42 M 1:08:01 10:57
Amber Reece-Young and Shiloh Mielke
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