This has always been one of our favorite races. Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN is one of the most scenic places east of the Mississippi. Our teammate from the Blue Ridge AR, Mark Bell was out third for this race. Zach’s brother Paul was volunteering since a support crew was no longer required. Zach and Paul were running the 12-mile trail run the next day.
The race started early Saturday morning. The maps were handed out at 5am with the race scheduled to start in a half hour. Unlike previous years, there was no plotting involved; we only had to copy the checkpoints off a master map.
The first thing we had to do was the paddle section on the lake. An interesting twist this year was that both checkpoints 1 & 3 were underwater. Fortunately for us the water wasn’t stirred up and murky, so we found the CPs with only a little difficulty. Many teams never found them. Once we returned to the start we had to portage the canoe about a quarter mile to CP4. From CP4 we ran back to the lake and swam a quarter mile across with most of our gear in dry bags. It was about two hours into the race when we finished the swim.
After changing our socks and retrieving our packs from the dry bags we were off on the trek section than turned into a 20 mile, eight and a half hour marathon. We had to follow a lakeshore trail to CP6. After about a mile we found many teams wondering about looking for the CP. They were not looking in the right place because the CP had been incorrectly marked on the map, but we knew where to find it and we did. Our passport clearly said, “Stay on the trail until you come to CP6”. After a short bushwhack and a trail run we were at CP7. We were informed by the volunteers there that the three teams in front of us had not found CP6, so we were technically in first place at that time. Since we had raced in previous years we knew a short cut to CP8 and took it. Then it was on to CP9. Before reaching CP9 we had to cross one of the many swinging bridges in the park. By then it was about 10am and the temperature was already in the 90s. From CP9 to 10 we were running on paved roads. An hour later at CP10 we took the very steep Cable Trail into the gorge to start the bouldering section. It’s called the Cable Trail because there is a cable running from top to bottom for assistance. That’s how steep it is!
In the gorge was the hottest part of the race since the noon sun was beating directly down on us. Because of the drought there was little water in the gorge; so the boulders and rocks were mostly dry. Two teams (much younger than us) passed us in the gorge by running on the boulders and rocks. We were much more cautious than that. Although the section was only three and a half miles long, it was very tedious hoping and stepping from rock to rock and took quite a toll on our feet. After two hours and 45 minutes we reached the swinging bridge and CP12 that was our stopping point and our exit out. It took over 30 minutes to climb the trail out and another hour to reach CP13. Cathy was being “towed” by a rope that was attached to Zach, the “tow man”. The bottoms of Mark and Cathy’s feet took a toll in the gorge. At CP13 it was back on the paved road for a few more miles to the TA for the bikes. After 20 miles and eight and a half hours and lots of blisters we reached the TA. We don’t normally get blisters but the wet shoes from the swim kept our socks wet even though we changed them several times. Wet feet are what usually cause blisters besides poorly fitting shoes.
We arrives at the TA about 430pm. The Race Director told us we were in 4th place overall and would be the last team allowed out on the bikes. Since it would not change the standings she gave us the option of riding directly to the rappel a distance of only two and a half miles. That was a ‘no brainer” especially since our feet were not in the best of condition and we might not have the opportunity to rappel if we completed the entire bike section.
After the short ride we headed for the rappel site. On the hike up to the rappel Cathy’s hip locked up and she was not able to continue. Zach was hoping that Cathy could make it and if need be he would help her. Cathy knew this meant being “towed or dragged” and opted not to push it. Mark and Zach continued the hike to the rappel. At the rappel Mark decided his feet were too torn-up to complete the trip out of the gorge which was a half mile of bouldering and a climb up the Cable Trail. Zach ended up doing the 300 foot rappel by himself and taking the hike out. It was a great rappel!!
Our official finish time was 14 hours after we started. We finished in fourth place overall and third place coed, our best finish ever in this race and our best overall finish in any adventure race in a long time.
After we returned to the cabin Zach spent a lot of time draining blisters in preparation for the 12-mile trail run the next day. When he went to sleep that night he wasn’t sure whether he would be able to run or not. In the morning he seemed to be ok. The run didn’t start until 9am and had about 50 participants. It was hot but the forest cover kept temperatures under control. Since Zach had raced all day Saturday and Paul spent the day volunteering, including carrying all the rappel equipment out; they were both kind of tired at the start. They went out at a 12 minute pace, which is good for trail running, in the hopes of maintaining that pace the entire distance. After five miles Paul was starting to suffer and told Zach to go ahead. Zach knew that he would finish ok as long as he didn’t get a cramp in his legs. He crossed the finish in two hours and 24 minutes, a 12 minute pace. He finished first in his age group. He also took home some poison ivy and lost both big toenails from the bouldering.
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