PITCHELL 68 Miles

Mt. Pisgah to Mt. Mitchell
One year ago exactly I ran my very first ultra marathon, the Triple Lakes 40 in Greensboro, NC. Who would have guessed I would celebrated my first year by running Pitchell? From the day Adam Hill mentioned this run it was on my “must run” list. Although I had signed up for the Triple Lakes 40 again this year, I decided to run Pitchell instead, promising myself I would go at least 40 miles if not longer.

I knew this run would be a challenge. This is the 3rd year that Pitchell is run, and in the previous two years only two runners have ever finished the entire distance. The run begins on the summit of Mt. Pisgah which is 35 miles South West of Asheville and ends on the summit of Mt. Mitchell 33 miles North East of Asheville. The majority of the run is supposed to be run on the Mountains to Sea Trail and goes right thru the city of Asheville. This year 7 runners would attempt this monster.

To give myself the best chance of completing this run I decided to leave an hour earlier with other running friends Brian and India. We were at the summit of Mt. Pisgah at 10:24 pm. The fog was very thick in the air, and I couldn’t believe it was this warm in October. My body was completely wet at the top of Mt. Pisgah and the run had not even started. We casually hiked down the 1.5 mile trail and met with the 4 other runners who would be starting at 11:30pm, Kevin Lane, Charlie Roberts, Stu Gibeau, and Adam Hill.

We turned left on the Shut In trail which is also part of the MTS trail. This would be my first time running the Shut In completely. We had dropped 6 bags filled with aid along the parkway, and the MTS weaves in an out of the parkway more frequently than I though. Visibility was 5-10 feet, and I could not see very much in front of me. While running I startled a very large animal that seemed to be lying down very close to the trail. It ran about 10 feet away and I shined my headlamp at it. The animal turned around and all I could see was the florescent glow of two large eyes looking right at me. This wasn’t good so I began to make noise and yelled bear to your left to the runners behind me. We clapped our hands and made more noise to alert animals that we were running thru. This happened two more times along this section of the run. The first 35 miles of the run in the dark went reasonably well for me. Other than the fact I felt like I was in a rain forest from the humidity, I felt great.

Within the first two hours Charlie zoomed by me, Brian and India. It was here I decided to step on it a little harder and picked up my pace. 20 minutes later Kevin rolled up behind me and we ran together until we reached a drop bag, he then took off. Later I met up with Adam and we ran several drop bags together. Sarah Almodovar volunteered to stop by between our six drop bags and support any runner.

Click on the video to see Stu's comments on this run. He is a sub-24 hour finisher at Western States.


Me and Adam rolled into the Folk Art Center together at 6:48am. This is where I had my car parked. I changed my shirt refilled my water, and had a cup of coffee. I tried to not spend too much time here and was off on the trail within 12 minutes. Daylight was just breaking and a new day was starting. Matt Kirk was manning the Folk Art Center aid station, and he led me to the trail. I felt very good at this point and I was running my best. I was at the next aid station by 9:00 am. Here I refueled, took in some fruit and pretzels and was off. At this point Kevin Lane had a 50 minute lead. I was also only 10 min away from the last 50k runner. The 50k runners started at the Folk Art Center at 6:30am (me and Adam missed them by 18 minutes). I still felt strong, and mentally told myself that I would catch up to the 50k runners, this was my goal at this point in the run. I was so wrong. This next stretch of the MTS trail was incredibly steep and long. The hills were relentless. One difficult thing about Pitchell is that most of the elevation is the second half of the run.

Me, Adam and Stu took a 10 min break on a rock outcropping on top of Lane Panicle. We were all out of water at this point and just wanted to make it to the next aid station. After some more climbing and descending we were there, Beetree Gap. I had 3 slices of cold cheese pizza which never tasted so good. We all sat down on the asphalt for another 10 minutes then took off. Adam had mentioned that the next aid station is only 4 miles away. The previous two were 8 miles apart, so this mentally psyched me up. I had a fresh pair of shoes, socks, shorts and t-shirt waiting for me there. These 4 miles reminded me very much of Massanutten. I let Adam and Stu pass me as I took more time climbing at this point. I missed one switchback and got lost for a good 15 minutes. I retraced my steps and found my friend the white dot and kept trucking along. I met Adam and Stu again at the Greybeard aid station where I saw to my surprise them changing into regular clothing. I never thought about dropping out of the race until this point. Was I going to be able to finish this adventure? Was I being unreasonable in wanting to keep shuffling? Mt. Mitchell State Park closes its gate at 7pm. This means I would have to summit Mt. Mitchell a little before 7pm and ride down with the finish crew before the gate is locked. Could I run the next 12 miles and make it out before dark? It was questionable considering my pace and condition after 56 miles. I was not about to quit.

I’ve wanted to get this run under my belt for a year. It combined my love for the mountains and distance running. I pulled out the map and looked at the option of completing this run on the parkway versus the trail. Its an extra half mile on the road, but I knew that pounding the asphalt at this point would be much easier than the trial. It certainly would eliminate the technical running (roots, rocks and uneven terrain). I had been running for 56 miles and my legs were trashed at this point. I changed into my fresh cloths and changed my socks and shoes. I took off running on the parkway. This was a little dangerous but I wanted to summit Mt. Mitchell. I wanted to run from Mt. Pisgah to Mt. Mitchell even if it wasn’t all on trail, I wanted to complete the run.

I reached the next aid station 4 miles away Balsam Gap. It was here I again contemplated dropping out with only a few miles to go. I was falling asleep on the parkway. Sleeping while running opposite of traffic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon is not a good combination on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I downed a coke and sat down for 2 minutes. It was here I was encouraged by Matt Johnson a volunteer. He told me I was making good time and I could easily finish before dark. After running this kind of distance my math in my head is not very accurate, so having someone confirm my fuzzy math is always encouraging.

I reached the summit parking lot of Mt. Mitchell at 5:24pm exactly 19:00:21 after I started the run the night before onto of Mt. Pisgah. I did not reach the true summit as the park ranger did not allow us to do so due to the construction of the new watch tower that is still going on. According to my polar watch, I burned 13,744 calories.

Kevin Lane set a new record and finished in 15:18. Charlie finished 12 minutes after I did, but started an hour after I did and ran it entirely on trail. I later found out that Brian and India finished in approximately 24 hours. 4 new names were added to the list of Pitchell finishers.

I want to thank all the volunteers who made this adventure succesful and without them would be extreemly difficult to do. I also want to thank Adam Hill for puting on this fantastic event!

6 drop bags were left 5 miles apart from each other: Adam Hill
Shut In Mobile Aid Station: Sarah Almodovar
Folk Art Center (mile 35): Matt Kirk
Ox Creek Rd Aid Station (mile 43): Mike Jackson
Beetree Gap Aid Station (mile 51): Todd Bray and his father-in-law
Greybeard Aid Station (mile 55): Matt Johnson
Balsam Gap Aid Station (mile 60): Jason Hayward
Hwy 128 Aid Station (mile 65): Jon Snow
Summit Aid Station (Finish): Matt Johnson

Hinson Lake 24 Hour

The course is the 1.52 mile inner loop that circles Hinson Lake which is in Rockingham, NC. The surface is a soft clay maintained trail through the woods. I ran over 16 small wooden foot bridges including an 300 foot bridge that crosses over the lake 43 times. This was a last minute run for me. I wanted to log in some distance miles and give this run a try. Running for 13 hours and 6 minutes I ran a total of 65.36 miles (105 kilometers). Some runners continued to the end of the run and hung in there for all 24 hours! Im also saving a little juice for Pitchell next weekend.

Tom Gabell put on a fantastic race that I would recomend to anyone trying their first ultra distance or anyone that is looking for a good time on flat trails. I do have to admit I did get a little dizzy towards the end.

I drove home the same night and the photo to the left is of me standing in my kitchen.

37 Miles on the AT in the Smokey Mountains

At 8:35am I was standing on Clingmans Dome. The weather was fantastic. Clear sky’s, 68 degrees, and the view was amazing. I ran down the winding ramp that leads up to Clingmans Dome and turned right on the AT. For the next 8 miles I ran up and down to reach New Found Gap. This would be the only access point to a road for the entire day. I topped off the water bottle I consumed in the last 8 miles and kept heading North East on the AT. I was carrying 3.5 liters of water and some food in a day pack.

Reputedly known as "Kuwahi" (the mulberry place) by the Cherokee Indians, the mountain was originally dubbed "Smoky Dome" by local Scots-Irish inhabitants. In 1859, the mountain was henceforth renamed for Thomas Lanier Clingman (1812-1897), who extensively explored the area in the 1850s and spent many years thereafter promoting it and was also a lawyer, member of the U.S. Congress (House and Senate), and a brigadier general for the Confederate States of America, by compatriot Arnold Guyot. Guyot named the mountain for Clingman due to an argument between the U.S. Senator and a professor at the University of North Carolina, Elisha Mitchell over which mountain was actually the highest in the region. Mitchell contended that a peak by the name of Black Dome (now known as Mount Mitchell) was the highest, while Clingman asserted that Smoky Dome was instead the true highest peak. Guyot put the dispute to rest when finding that Smoky Dome was 39 feet (12 m) shorter than Black Dome.

After passing the Boulevard Trail that leads up to Mt. LeConte the AT runs along one of he most amazing ridges I have ever hiked on. At this point in my adventure I was alone, and continued to be alone for the rest of the run.

2 hours into the run I was at New Found Gap, 5 hours into the run I was at Pecks Shelter, 6.5 hours I was at TriCorners, 10:58 I was at Davenport Gap. It rained during the middle of the day, but overall the weather was very nice. I consumed 7 liters of water, and ate a little over 1,000 calories which is not enough for a run like this. My heart rate monitor told me I burend over 9,000 calories in my 10:58 of running.

Smokey's 60k Preview

This Saturday I will be running one of my favorite trails in the South East, the AT in the Smokey’s. I have done the 31 mile section from Newfound Gap several times and want to go a little farther this time and will start at Clingmans Dome (37 miles). Clingmans Dome is the western terminus to the Mountains to Sea Trail that begins and is the highest point in the Smokey Mountains at 6,643 feet. Only Mt. Mitchell rises higher east of the Mississippi.

Myself and a few friends from Charlotte plan to get an early morning start. We can drop some aid at Newfound Gap which is six miles away from the start. Once we pass Newfound Gap there will be no aid stations and the run will be 100% self supported. The weather can be very tricky in this area, but so far we are looking at a fantastic Saturday.

Ramadan Is Here

Thursday the 13th of September is the first day of Ramadan. It is a month of fasting for Muslims around the globe from sunrise to sunset for a full lunar month. It is not only about fasting from food and water, its about being good, moral peace keeping people. More importantly, it is a bout a spiritual purification that comes from being deprived of the basic necessities of life in order to appreciate the blessing bestowed upon us, and to realize that there are people worse off, and that it is our duty to aid them. It can be seen as a detoxification period that trains the body and mind.

You can’t run very far without water or food. So how does this affect my training? Ill be running a lot at night.

Table Rock to Montreat - 39 Miles

Table Rock to Montreat is a run from the summit of Table Rock that follows the Mountain to Sea Trail to the Black Mountain Campgrounds and then is run down to the city of Montreat. Planned and organized by Adam Hill, a friend, and an unltramarathoner. Many thanks to the volunteers that helped with the aid station and with the entire logistics of putting on a long distance point to point run.

After meandering our way thru the gravel roads that lead to Table Rock, we all unloaded our gear and started packing essentials for the night and everything we needed for the next morning.

Nine runners and a few volunteers all hiked up to the summit of Table Rock (3,680 feet). It was a perfect night, the stars were bright. After seeing a shooting star, and Brown Mountain light up a few times I shut my eyes and passed out around midnight. We woke up at 5:30am, gathered everything, and at 6am started running back down the mountain. Our cars were along the way which is where I dropped off my sleeping bag and pad. We continued along the Mountains to Sea trail (MST). It would be 11 miles before we would reach our first aid station.

The views along the ridge off of Table Rock in the morning made me feel like I was out West. As the sun started to rise, and faint red glow was painted along the horizon. We headlamped it for the first hour. I wasn’t expecting it to be so hot before the sun came up, I remember being drenched in sweat as we passed Chimney Gap and the sun wasn’t even up yet! Approaching Shortoff Mountain (2,880 feet) I couldn't help but notice how much of the forest had burned. The trail blazes and the trail itself was also burned, making the route difficult to find at times. My legs, and arms were black with char all over my body. We descended steeply down Shortoff and climbed towards Pinnacle were the green forest came back to life. We climbed 1,200 feet in less than a mile to reach the top of Pinnacle (2,400 feet). Atlast the first aid station! I needed some calories and certainly needed to fill up my bottles.

After refueling, me and Marc descended down the Overmountain Victory trail for a short while, then turned left on a gravel road. It was here I kept telling myself that this would be a long day, and not to push myself too hard. I alternated the running with some brisk hiking, it was becoming very hot. I then passed Dobson Knob (3,440 feet) and then Bald Knob (3,495 feet), kept going up and down. I was rationing my water as I knew I still had to pound out a few miles. I had been running alone for the past 2 hours at this point. When I reached a set of train tracks I made the mistake of turning as I remember seeing a sign to the left. This was a mistake. I ran and hiked down the train tracks for half a mile in the exposed sun. I realized there must be something wrong and decided to take a water break and sit down in the shade and pull out my map. I could hear and see the river, and I made it out in the map. I decided at this point to start bushwhacking back to the trail. I had already lost too much precious time, and I needed to get to the next aid as I didn’t have much water left. I picked up to sticks and used them to cut thru some of the vegetation while trying to cross. I crossed the river, again getting my feet wet. Then crossed a nasty swamp and climbed up some steep section which is where I heard voices. I started to yell out and sure enough it was Rob. I started whacking more vegetation trying to get closer to his voice. I made it back to the trail, but now out of water and exhausted. I took a sip of water from Rob and kept moving, we still had another mile and half to the next aid. After crossing a 5 lane highway (221) I finally reached the second aid station. I drank a cold coke which never tasted so good. Ate a cheese sandwich and took my socks and shoes off. I had another pair of socks I would put on. At this point I was ready to drop out of the run. After taking a 15 minute break, Rob talked me into getting back on the trail. We had run 26 miles at this point, well if you factor all the bushwhacking, maybe 27, and the next section would be another 13 miles, much of it uphill. I was up for the challenge, re-laced my shoes and pushed on.

We walked passed Grassy Knob (1,800 feet) pulled the map out a few times to find out way up to Woods Mountain (3,646 feet). We turned left and ridge hiked after passing Woods and alternated with the running and fast hiking. It was here we met Marc again on the trail and kept moving as a group of three now. Then just a mile before John a volunteer met us out on the trail with Gatorade. Wow, I was relieved. I had been practicing Sip Control Management for the past 3 hours. This was a strict policy of one sip every 12 minutes. If I took in more than that, I would go dry and suffer miserably with the heat. So when I saw the cold blue Gatorade that John brought out and he was giving it out to us, I guzzled down when I had and refilled my bottle of water. He told us we had 30 min, which also psyched me out, so we kept pushing. I ran to the end until I got to the BRP and Hwy 80. I was beat up, dehydrated, but very happy I had gone this far. The temperatures must have been in the 90’s and going for 40 miles and climbing no less than 8,000 feet was a difficult task for me to do. All runners dropped out at this point.

Mount Olympus, West Peak 7,965 feet and Mt. Baker 10,790 feet.

This mountain has a very long approach. 44 miles round trip. While this would be manageable running with two water bottles in hand, it’s an entirely different experience with a 60lb Arct’yrex Bora 95 pack! Day 1: The first day was flat and cloudy with some rain mixed into the hike. From that point on until I got back to the parking lot 4 days later my cloths never dried. We spent the first night at Lewis Meadows, set up camp, cooked dinner, and prepared for the next days hike which is where the elevation started taking place. I dropped some food and dry cloths at Lewis Meadows and lightened my load by a few pounds. Day 2: The next day we hiked up to Glacier Meadows following the Hoh river which is where most people end their journey. It was there I met the white mountain goat. I also found weird bones left on the trail, not sure what kind of animal it was (photo). I knew we didn’t have much time as we were planning on getting up at 3am for an alpine start at an attempt to summit the West Peak of Mt. Olympus. I can see why not too many people attempt this climb, the approach is extremely long and tiring if you are carrying all the necessary gear for a safe climb. Along the way we met an Italian team and a San Francisco based team. The Italians didn’t seem to have all the necessary gear for the climb, but appeared to know what they were getting themselves into. They had rope, but no harnesses, which can be scary while traversing over ice bridges and crevasses. They explained that they were used to glacier and snow travel as they lived above 6,000 feet in Northern Italy. Giovanni and Paula were their names.
Day 3: We got up at 3am, and ate breakfast and began gather our gear (crampons, anchors, harnesses, rope, etc.) We hiked up the moraine and down the moraine in complete darkness by way of our headlamps. The sun began to come up while we were on the blue glacier. This glacier is one of a kind and is filled with small crevasses with blue ice frozen over and is almost never covered in snow. You literally are walking on ice that is tens of thousands of years old and is distinctly blue. After crossing the Blue Glacier we continued up to the Snow Dome at 6,600 feet. Moving towards the left we entered an area called the keyhole and turned around the summit. It was there we ended up on rock and not glacier. We rock climbed to the summit, and reached it at 9:40am PST Tuesday.

As we headed back down the snow conditions were much different after a few hours of sun light. The snow was mushier and now less safe to travel. I lead our rope team on the decent. This can be a tricky job. If an ice bridge weakens after the sun heats it up and thus makes it unstable, I will be the one to take the fall. Good glacier knowledge and glacier travel technique is certainly something you need to know at this point. I made it back to Glacier Meadows camp at 1pm. We all gathered our gear, repacked our bags and continued down to the Ranger Station another 10 more miles down. We pitched the tent near the Hoh river hoping it wouldn’t rain and that the breeze would carry the mosquitoes away.

Day 4: We repacked everything, and hiked another 9 miles out to the cars. My legs were trashed at the end of this climb. Too much hiking with a heavy pack left my muscles and my joints felling it. We still had another mountain to climb.

Our gear was wet, we were all exhausted and we decided to take a rest day, and quickly changed our minds on climbing Mt. Rainier and used our back up option, Mt. Baker via the Easton Glacier. I had done Mt. Baker a year ago with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Washington. Last year I climbed it via the Coleman Deming Glacier. We headed north and crossed the Olympic Peninsula via a ferry to Oak Harbor, Washington. We spent the night in the Auld Holland Inn (http://www.auldhollandinn.com/) which I recommend if your looking for a good deal in that part of Washington. There we washed cloths, lets our gear dry, and planned for our summit bid on Mt. Baker. The plan was to climb Mt. Baker in 24 hours. This is a lofty goal alone, but to do it after a 4 day climb up Mt. Olympus was a bit of a stretch.

Day 1, 3pm: Because we had planned to do this in one day our load was light. We carried enough food and gear only for a night and the next day. Approaching Mt. Baker from the North we hiked in 2.5 miles and set up camp on the base of the glacier. It was there we spent 1.5 hours digging and building a platform on the ice for our tent. 10 feet away there was a crevasses. I believe we were safe however because we were very close to the rocks. We pitched the tent, began cooking dinner, and watched the sun go down. I have attached a video of my friend Tito giving a pre-climb report.

Day 2, 3am: We woke up, made some oatmeal, and gathered our gear and were roped up and climbing by 4am. The ascent up Mt. Baker started off easy, but quickly became steep. We reached a 40% grade which is fairly steep for me. Your crampons have to be able to dig deep into the hardened snow and you must trust them to hold you and your entire loads weight. We reached the summit at 10:20 am PST for a beautiful morning. The weather could not have been better. We stayed at the summit for 40 minutes and then began our decent. Again, I took the lead descending. We were descending about 2.5 to 3 times faster than our ascent. By this time we were all feeling the fatigue in our system, but kept moving along. We would be traversing around crevasses and ice bridges. Finally we made it back to camp at 2pm. I knew that I would not make it out of there in 24 hours, I still needed to pack up all my gear, and hike down a very steep 2.5 miles out. I was back at the car at 4:20, 25:20 minutes to summit Mt. Baker and back. Last year it took me 3 days to reach the summit and get back, so Id say it’s a bit of an improvement.

It certainly is good to be back on land, and back in Carolina trail country.

Mt. Baker Summit

I reached the summit at 10:20am PST Friday.
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Mt. Baker Ascent

After using our one contingency day to dry our wet gear we realized that Mt. Rainier was no longer an option. Mt. Baker is our next adventure, and we plan on climbing it between now and very late Friday via the Coleman Glacier route. We are departing from the trailhead at 3.30 PM PST.

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Mt. Olympus Update

No cell phone reception. All 4 charlotte based climbers have returned safely. I reached the summit of Mt. Olympus at 9:40am on Tuesday PST.
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Twofer Climb - Pre Report: Mt. Olympus & Mt. Rainier

Objective: Climb Mt. Olympus (7,965 ft) and then Mt. Rainier (14,411 ft) in six days.

Yes, there is more to Mohammed than just running. I really enjoyed climbing Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier last year, and I’ll be back again this week with a small group from Charlotte. We will attempt to summit both peaks in one week with travel from and back to Charlotte.
Both of these peaks will require glacier travel and that means crampons and good rope-work must be put into play. I will be updating my blog live from the summit of both mountains (pending good cell phone reception).

Laurel Valley 35

Runners from Hell put on the Laurel Valley 35miler. This race is 100% self supported. It’s you and nature, no aid stations, no mile markers, and no finishers medal. Besides the small entry fee to get into this run you have to earn your status as a runner, an initiation. All the rookies are forced to be sweeps and make sure every runner makes it to the finish line as there is no road access to the trail during the entire run. This was my first year.

I was shocked to find that the temperatures in Charlotte the week prior to the race had gone above 100 degrees. At night the temperature was in the high 80’s low 90’s, and extremely humid. The weather in Morocco was much milder and dryer. There was 12 people running sweep, and although I thought that was plenty.

For the majority of the race I enjoyed the company of Doug Dawkins. I also ran with Marc Castleberry and Lisa Arnold, two other sweeps for the majority of the run. Had I realized this 35 mile section of the foothills trail had so many streams I would not have taken my 100oz bladder. With the weather being as hot and humid as it was, carrying more water than less was the wise thing to do however.

Moving at a slower pace gave me the chance to enjoy the beauty of this area. I also soaked my entire body 3 times in the larger rivers, trying to cool my core body temperature.

Ill certainly be back to run this again next year!

Tangier to Cabo Negro, Morocco - 77k

I woke up an hour late, and laced up my running shoes, and headed out the door at 4am. I wanted to run a few hours in the dark as I knew at this time there would be less traffic than the insanity of mid day traffic in Tangier and Tetoun. I would also be avoding the deadly heat for a few hours. Abdul Azziz, my mobile aid station was following me along the way. We had pizza, watermelon, 10 liters of water, imitation Gatorade, two bottles of ensure, boiled potatoes, 6 gels, and 4 packs of cliff blocks for fuel.

New energy came out of me when the sun rose an hour and half later. It was here that the elevation began to kick in. It was only 2 weeks prior I had finished the Grandfather Mountain marathon. This run was equivalent to two Grandfathers in terms of elevation gain, and 4 miles short of 2 marathons. The heat was unbearable in Tetoun. Running in the dry heat with the sun beating down on my body was difficult at times. Shade was nowhere to be found. Twice I sat in the car with Abdul Azziz in the car for 10 min just to shade my body from the scorching sun. Both times I contemplated abandoning my idea of running from Tangier to Cabo Negro. If I didn’t finish this run now, and decided to drop, I would have to come back again next year to do another run I kept telling myself. I kept on going. I reached Cabo Negro in 9:27 (11:51 pace). I surely thought I would do this run in much longer time considering that my legs were still a little trashed from Toubkal 3 days prior, and the sun ravishing my body.

I built a small reputation for myself in North Morocco, the crazy American that ran longer than anyone they knew. Some of them promised to run with me next year!

Jabel Toubkal 13,671 feet

Morocco is always an adventure. Every year I discover a new village, and meet new people while I am in Northwest Africa. The very same mountains that inspired me to get out and become more active and learn how to run in the hills were paid homage. Jebel (mountain in Arabic) Toubkal, the highest of the Atlas stands at 13,671 feet. I reached the summit of Toubkal on Tuesday July 24th at 8:45am. I remember the summit being cold, and very windy. Windshield temperatures were freezing which was cooler than expected up there.

My journey started on Monday when me and my cousin Ra’fat started a seven hour drive down to the Berber village of Imlil. We started in Tangier Morocco, the gateway to Africa from Europe. In route we passed Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakesh. Driving conditions were good as the new highway that was built in the last few years now went all the way to Marrakesh.

When we reached the town of Imlil we parked the car and attempted to find the trailhead. We didn’t hire a guide because I knew there would be many people attempting the summit and we would be able to follow people we met on the trail. The first half an hour we got lost a few times, but then we go on the right track and headed up the trail. The town of Armoud was especially nice. Here you can visit a village that has about 180 households with no road access. The only way in is by foot or by mule. Further along the trail I visited the mystical shrine of Sidi Chamharouch. Here only Muslims are allowed to enter and view the shrine. By this time, Ra’fat was feeling the heat and the effects of hiking for 4 hours on the Moroccan trail. This was his first time ever attempting a hike. The pack I was carrying had approximately 50 lbs. and I offered to carry all of his weight. A few Berber villagers offered to carry his pack on their mules, but being a trooper, he declined and wanted to carry his own weight.

Darkness was quickly approaching and we still had another hour of hiking until we reached the base camp of the French Alpine Refuge (10,686 feet). We headlamped it until we reached our base camp where we found a warm bed, food, and a group of 50 other climbers. We were the last two to reach camp that night. I was impressed with Ra’fats accomplishment so far. After dinner, I explained to him that we would need to get very early start so we can beat the heat on the way down. The next morning after hiking for 20 minutes, Ra’fat decided to stop as exhaustion took its toll on his body. He hiked back down to camp and rested as I continued to push on for the summit. I took off at this point and was passing several hikers along the way. Some rock scrambling was required in certain area’s. Much of this area reminded me of Kilimanjaro. The scree was a bit annoying on the way up, and was very dangerous on the way down.

After reaching the summit, I stood on top of North Africa and admired the view for 10 minutes. It was here that the high winds stopped blowing for 2 or 3 minutes. Complete calmness, and then back full force. The wind was so strong that I had to crouch down a little for fear of flying off the face of Toubkal. An hour and forty five minutes later I was back at base camp. I hired a mule and his owner Ibrahim to carry my cousin Ra’fat down the mountain, and also carry my heave pack down as I wanted to save my joints for my run that I would attempt 3 days later.

We made it back to our car, and drove to Jama elFna in Marrakesh for dinner, and continued all the way back to Tangier arriving at something like 3am on Wednesday.

Grandfather Mountain Marathon

365 runners crossed the finish line at this years Grandfather Mountain Marathon. This point to point asphalt marathon starts in Boone, NC and finishes at the Highland Games at Grandfather Mountain, NC. According to my AXN500 we experienced a 2,570 feet of net gain over the 26.2 miles. That not an easy task while trying to maintain a marathon pace. I finished in 4:03:55.

The weather was perfect for July and thankfully not too hot. The race was well organized, but I do have to mention that the aid stations were fairly basic with just H2O and some Gatorade. Some fruit would have been nice.

After taking the first shuttle back, we discovered that we had to take yet another shuttle (2 miles away from the car). We didn’t have the patients to wait for the second shuttle and decided to walk, adding on an extra two miles for the day.

Midnight Marathon - Dupont

The weather was perfect for running. Not too hot, not cold, just right. We were 9, and we set off to run a marathon at midnight on trail. A fine trail I will add. We traced the DuPont Marathon course which I have run now 4 times, all midnight marathons! I don’t even know what that place looks like during the day. I hear its really beautiful. Every time I run this marathon its on a full moon at midnight.

The clouds covered the moon at the start and we head lamped it. Running at night was refreshing this time of the year as it gets very hot and humid during the day in North Carolina. It was 70 degrees at the start, dark and calm, and it felt great. We started at 12:01am. After running for an hour and a half you could see the clouds moving in slow motion and get bits and pieces of a large full round moon.

On the DuPont marathon course you run an old unmaintaned airstrip. It was here that I saw a full large moon that was crisp in the mountain night. I could feel myself drawing energy from this majestic sight and I ran harder.

We finished the run and drove back to Charlotte just as the sun came up.

Cold Mountain

The hike up to Cold Mountain started in the beautiful area known as the black balsam balds off of the Blue Ridge Parkway on the Art Leob trail.

The Black Balsam area includes some of the most spectacular mountain balds in the Southern Appalachians, including Black Balsam Knob, Sam Knob, and Tennent Mountain. These treeless mountaintops draw people from all over due to their sweeping views and alpine-like appearance.

After hiking past the balds and thru Ivestor Gap, we reached Shining Rock. Named for the white quartzite rock that forms its summit, Shining Rock stands at 5,940 feet. Shining Rock Ledge, which forms the backbone of the area, boasts five peaks over 6,000 feet, the highest being Cold Mountain at 6,030 ft.

From Shining Rock we headed towards Cold Mountain. As we approached, the trail turned more technical and more overgrown. Climbing up Cold Mountain was certainly not easy to do. Although it was cooler at the top, it surely was not cold this day. After 9 mile of hiking we reached the summit of Cold Mountain and enjoyed lunch and headed back the same way.

The day turned out to be a beautiful day in the woods.

New York City Marathon

I'm in.

37,869 people ran the NYC marathon last year and finished. To run this race you must have a qualifying time (just over 3 hours for my age group) or enter into a lottery and be selected. Over 98,000 people applied for the lottery. Running a 7:15 min/mile pace for 26.2 miles is out of the question for now, and I'm glad the lottery worked out the second time around for me.

Roan Mountain Marathon

As we drove up the steep road to Carvers Gap my windshield wipers couldn’t move fast enough to clear the rain pouring. We parked the cars and were off on the trail by 7:15am. The rain kept coming, and then it rained in intervals for the next 8 miles. We were off to highway 19E where we were meeting a group of 30 hikers from Charlotte. From Carvers Gap to 19E is 13 miles and round trip would be the first annual Roan Mountain Marathon!

This hike is planned around the Rhododendron blooming season. Although they bloomed early this year, the pink shrub was out and about. The view from Round Bald to Janes Bald was especially pink as the Rhododendron had bloomed all along the mountain. The word Rhododendron is derived from the Greek words: rhodos, "rose", and dendron, "tree.” This is an alpine shrub and usually survives in higher elevations.

The trail was muddy and slick. Some sections of the single track was very technical. While raining and going downhill it became a little dangerous to run. I made it to 19E in 2:51 minutes and met with our group of hikers that were planning on hiking back up to Carvers Gap. I had a bottle of Ensure and Gatorade Rain stashed at 19E. After refueling I headed back up with the group the same trail I just ran down, this time mostly uphill. We hiked up to Hump Mountain and saw the largest long horn cattle I have ever seen. They must have weighed atleast 3,000 lbs each. There were a dozen of them casually chewing grass and just lying around. At this point I decided to get moving again and went for a slow pace run and passed the group.

I didn’t realize how steep some of the sections of this trail were coming down until I headed right back up. Going up to the Grassy Ridge Bald (6,189 feet) which ended up being the highest point of this run/hike was so steep I was forced to a sluggish hiking pace. This section of the trail is a little over a mile and climbs 1800 feet. The view from the top of Grassy Ridge is worth the effort. The sun broke out and the clouds cleared. I slowed my pace here to enjoy the amazing views. Finally I reached Carvers Gap my original starting point, cleaned up a bit and drove home.


Click on map below to enlarge.

Mt. Sterling

This past Sunday me and a group of friends drove up to the Northeast side of the Smokey Mountains for a quick ascent of Mt. Sterling. The rhododendron had blossomed early and was plentiful.

The weather was great (a little warm) and the views were amazing at the summit. We ended the day with a dip into Midnight Hole, a swimming area near the end of the trail. There were too many people there as the weather was perfect for a swim.

Just before reaching the parking lot we spotted a timber rattler snake, a rare find.

Mt. Mitchell Ascent

This past Sunday I got back into the woods on the hills again after MMT. We hiked up the usual route from the Black Mountain Campgrounds up towards Commissary Ridge and to the summit and back. Me and Greg enjoyed a hot cup of chocolate and coffee. The weather was windy at the top with a temperature of 58 degrees. With the wind however it felt more like 40. Mt. Mitchell is the coldest and windiest place in the entire South.

Along the hike we found a Red Newt. It was the first time I saw this tiny creature. We ascended at a fast pace, from the campgrounds to the top in 1:52. Technically we are not allowed to go to the summit, that was to the parking lot.

We did get briefed on the new watch tower the park is building. The structure is now framed up and expected to be completed by September of 2007. The old tower was torn down about 10 months ago.

MMT 75.9

“Why do you keep punishing yourself by trying to run 100 miles?”

Over the past year I have had the question lobbed at me from family and friends of all circles. I even ask myself that question usually around mile 30 during a run. Why am I doing this to myself? So many runners I meet on the trial, at races, or on longer hikes are just ordinary people with an extraordinary drive, passion, and commitment. Very few runners are actually trying to win a race, or break a record, but rather they are seeking the incredible personal accomplishment of finishing. I have yet to finish a 100 miles.

The formal definition of an ultramarathon is any race on an open course that exceeds 26 miles, 385 yards, the official distance of a marathon. Most ultras fall in the range of 31 to 100 miles, but some are considerably longer than that.

Massanutten is known to be one of the toughest on the east coast. The total gain is more than 19,500 feet (I only climbed 16,700). To put that into prospective for my sedentary friends, that’s like climbing Aconcagua (the highest peak in the Western hemisphere) in one day. It takes anywhere from 17-22 days to climb Aconcagua as a fit mountaineer. If anyone is interested in that, let me know, as I plan on climbing it one day!

The run started at 5:00am on Saturday in the dark. 5 or so miles into the run the sun came up while on top of Buzzard Rock. Fast forward another 50 miles I was on my way back from Bird Knob (aid station #9 - 53.1) and the sun was coming down. With a headlamp illuminating the trail, I began running downhill. At this point my body is fatigued and tired, but my confidence and motivation was high. After reaching the hwy 211 aid station the second time for the day (aid station #10 - mile 58.2) I decided to change my running shoes. I took 2 Advil, ate 3 turkey sandwiches, 2 handfuls of cheddar cheese potato chips (they were so good!) and some boiled potatoes with salt. I put on a new pair of socks, re-tapped areas of concern on my feet, and I was out of the aid station within 11 min. I was on my way to Gap Creek (aid station #11 - mile 64.9) for the next 6.8 miles.

Alone in the dark with a headlamp ascending, I found it impossible to avoid the muddy sections of the trail. My fresh pair of shoes were soaked in mud and my feet were wet again. I made it to Gap Creek at 11:56pm. I ate some more food, took 2 Advil, and refilled my water. It was 2.8 mile to Moreland Gap (aid station #12 - mile 67.7). This is one of the shorter sections, but still very muddy. I remember stomping in mud half way up my shins above my gaiters. This is where I had hot chicken quesadillas! The next section was a long 8.2 miles to Edinburg Gap.

This is the infamous Short Mountain that everyone had talked about. It is a very rocky tail, and some sections with no trail but large boulders to skip on. This would normally be something I would enjoy doing, but it was 1:40am when I left Moreland Gap. I was tired, had just run 67.7 miles, very sleepy, and alone in the dark, cold, windy Short Mountain. It rained on and off. My eyes would shut for a few seconds as I briskly walked on the trail. I began to see weird objects that I knew could not be real, like a basket of fruit on a boulder in the distance. As I got closer I could see that it was just another boulder. This is about the time my left foot twisted between two rocks. It wasn’t a slight roll of the ankle, but a nasty twist that I knew would ultimately results in some serious pain soon to come. I knew that if I kept moving I could keep the ankle from swelling immediately and possibly finish the race. My pace had slowed considerably. Soon I was passed by 4 runners, then a group of 2. I realized that having someone with me in the middle of the night would have been a good idea, and possibly prevented the sloppy form of running which eventually caused the injury. I kept shuffling where I could and walking some sections. Finally I started descending; I thought I was close to the next aid station. A half a mile of downhill lead to some more climbing. Was my mind playing tricks on my again? I was very sleepy, so I decided to lay down and take a fast nap. 10 min later headlamps flashed into my face and I got up again and kept moving. I did this another two times, took two quick naps, then got back up and kept moving. The sun began to come up and day light broke at around 5:20am. This did give me some energy, but not enough to overcome the pain of a throbbing ankle. I took another nap. Finally, I hobbled over to the Edinburg Gap aid station (#13 - mile 75.9) and decided to drop out of the race. I reached Edinburg Gap at 6:06am, and I had been running for the past 25:06. The cutoff time to complete the total run is 36 hours. According to my heart rate monitor, I burned 16,678 calories.

There will be many more races to come, and I am already planning my next 100 mile run. I am very pleased with 75.9 miles, and will have my day with a 100. I have never seen a course that is so well marked. I managed to stay on the trail while sleep walking. The aid stations were well stocked with food, and pain killers. I want to thank DC a friend that was my support crew, whom without would have made this run much harder. I also want to thank all the volunteers for supporting this run and making it a great event.

Photo by: Anstr Davidson