Typical Monday of some work, walking to pick the kids up from school late afternoon, and sitting down for a nice family dinner. Then I left Texas later that night, in which I thought I had left myself a lot of spare time to get across the states heading East over to Alabama. I had to arrive at Cheaha State Park, which is the finish line of the race, by noon on Tuesday. This was in order to catch the race shuttle service I booked to get back to the start area where the host hotel and registration check-in was occurring, which was a bit further Northeast in Dalton, Georgia. Overall the 11 hours of driving time was achieved with a couple sleep stops at highway rest stops along the way. I did arrive at Cheaha State Park with about 1.75 hours prior to the scheduled shuttle pickup. This gave me some time to get out stretch and enjoy the sun and views on “Top of Alabama” (fact: Cheaha State Park is the high point in the state at ~2,100 ft+). After walking around for a bit I reflexively put on my running sandals (Luna) and headed out for further exploration on a short little run within the park trail system. Feeling refreshed and getting the blood flow into my legs again I can back to my car and started gathering my gear. I also said hi to a few other fellow participants that were there and arriving to park their vehicles as well for the shuttle ride. My main purpose now was to double and triple check I had everything I needed. I was taking NOTHING extra with me, and thus everything (including what I was wearing) was my race kit. This being said I did not have plans on utilizing any drop bags so thus the meticulous intention of ensuring I had everything with me – if I forgot it in my car, well that is where it would be until I finished the run. Packing and unpacking and then repacking my hydration vest out of the trunk of my car in the parking lot, I probably looked like an over-medicated OCD-type person as more than a casual easy-going ultrarunner about to partake in a multiday journey. But heh, this is where my obsessive nature helped me, I really needed to ensure I have my gear to be safe and warm enough for up to four full days. Finally I was ready and simply sat in my folding chair at the back of my car and put my feet up just soaking in the Alabama sunshine as it was a beautiful day out. Eventually some of the volunteers team showed up with two van shuttles and a pickup truck & trailer. All the runners gathered around with anticipation and piled their bags into the trailer. A short roll call was done, so the event team could see showed up whom actually booked the shuttles. All of the participants found themselves a seat in one of the two Ford Transit vans. As a self-identifying introvert I picked one of single seat options that was open. The van doors closed and soon we headed out and were travelling Northeast into Georgia. It only took maybe 15 minutes into the drive and I was out sleeping. The long drive really did take it out of me, so it was nice just to relax and not worry about anything at this point. About three hours later we pulled up to our host hotel The Fairfield in Dalton, Georgia. Everyone poured out of the van and tracked down their luggage as I waked in to check in to my room. Once that step was done, I lined up in the lobby for my race check in from the volunteers. I received a nice SS200 dry bag, a cotton SS shirt, as well as a technical LS shirt. With everything now settled I headed up to my hotel room.
I took off my laid out my hydration vest, because that was all that I had. Except that since I did not have any other luggage/drop bags with me I had to open my newly acquired dry bag package and place my new shirts in there and label this “drop bag” for the finish line so it would be waiting for me at the end – problem solved. Next, I tied up my brand new Altra running shoes and looked up where to go for some dinner. I settled on Chipotle as it was not too far away. A quick jog over and order myself a nice large burrito and what do I see but some fellow runners from the shuttles. I gabbed my food and sat down with them for a bit as we ate and chatted small talk about the upcoming adventure. A couple more fellow participants came in and joined the table. After finishing my delicious burrito and chips I got up and continued my round about run back to the hotel finishing off the day. A nice warm shower and cleaning up I crawled into bed and called my kids back home. It was nice to chat one more time before the race, and they had school in the morning I would not get to talk to them until the finish. After my phone call with my wife and kids I was able to find the Edmonton Oilers (my favorite team) hockey game on tv to watch and fall asleep to.
Race Day
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| My obligatory pre-race selfie at the start arch | Dalton, GA. |
Before I knew it, I awoke in the hotel room and it was now race day. A pre-race sleep in an actual bed was an excellent change to my usual pre-race car sleep I am accustomed to for my ultras. My Garmin said I got a nice lengthy 9h32m and a “GOOD quality” sleep score of 88, which is decently high. I felt good after that rest from the long travels to get to this point. At 09:00 I wandered down to the lobby and had my fill of the complimentary breakfast and coffee. Packed up the remaining charger cords and tucked everything away in its place in my NATHAN hydration vest. Now 10:00 was here so back down to the lobby to catch the shuttle vans over the few short miles over to the Mill Creek Start area. The start area was already buzzing with activity. People parked all over the side of the road in this small road junction parking area with their kitted out vans you normally see at these races. Family, friends, crew, and of course the runners made the area seem like a small busy super market outside this little tiny town hall type building where the last minute bib check-ins were. Outside near the starting arch was a table with 2 distinct lines formed, one for the gear check in, and the second for the GPS spot tracker assignment. I waited my turn and moved through the lines and with the spot tracker now attached to my hydration vest I had completed the final steps before the actual start of the race. Now to simply sit and chill for a bit. At 11:40 the Event Director called everyone into the building for the race briefing. This was a small intimate setting as all the runners and some extra people all bunched in the building. No new information was passed out (that I am aware of) that was not already in the race manual, but you never know in these events so always need to pay attention to last minute announcements. I guess he did pass on the information of some “false” flagging that was forest service and similar to the races, but to ensure to not follow those ones. With the briefing over the runners all filed out of the building and started gathering under the start arch. 5 minutes to go…. Everyone had those nervous and excited vibes all at once. As a veteran of the 200+ distance I was more calm and simply ready to get going and start the journey. Deep down I was excited for the trails and view that were to come as it was going to be an all-new adventure for me. That is one of the reasons I love these races.
Start (the first couple segments)
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Front running with Coree Woltering (0.0 Mi)
Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
The countdown was on, friends & crew lining the road on the way out of the arch, and then BANG! The gun was fired off as the start of our 200 plus mile journey all the way to Mount Cheaha in Alabama had now began. I took off in the front with Coree Woltering as the two of us jogged down the road together chatting away. It had been awhile since I had been in a race with Coree, perhaps since Cocodona in 2021? We were former teammates of rabbit ELITE trail team a few years back for a season. I learned that sponsored elite runners were just like the rest of us as Coree had just signed up for this race the day before (I have been known to do this…a lot…just ask my wife). Just a short while down the road we deviated onto a the gravel portion of the road and then finally onto double wide trail – the Pinhoti Trail. Coree and I were then joined up by James Ebert who caught up to us. He joined in and kept the pace up as we alternated leading the pack of 3. I fell to the back and followed Coree & James for the first 7 miles or so of the run before falling back to my own pace. They were going a little to fast for my personal liking on this multiday adventure, especially on the uphill, as my poor little Houston flatland legs could not quite keep the pace. At this point the Pinhoti Trail was taking us up along ridgelines among the trees. The wind was whipping higher up on the ridges, but the views through the trees provided some great inspirational scenery. I was now running by myself, a familiar spot in these types of races, just after an hour after starting out. My pace was still quite brisk considering I had another 190 miles or so to go but it felt good and running through the singletrack in the trees was truly blissful feeling.
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| Pinhoti Trail views in Georgia on day1. |
As I was coming around to that 3 hour running mark and nearing in on the first aid station I believe I was passed by maybe 2 more runners in that time somewhere along the way. I could not be bothered yet as I was trying to settle into my own 3-day pace. The aid station was a nice sight as it signified some good course progress in my mind, as the first segment was 16.2 Mi with a decent 2,400 ft gain. I loaded up on some calories and snacks and downed some Coca-Cola. Onward we go as the temperatures were slowly rising in the afternoon.
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| Keown Falls Trail (20 Mi) |
About 20 Mi in the flagging (& confirmed by my .gpx file) took us onto the Keown Falls Trail for one of the short deviations off the actual Pinhoti Trail. This trail winded up a small creek and took us under and then above these cool waterfalls and rock formations – it was worth the short detour just for the views alone. It was here I was caught from behind by another runner, Jeremy Couch, whom I latched on with and we stuck together for a bit. I was dipping my hat in the water falling from the rocks and filled up my water filter bottle with some cold creek water. I followed Jeremy and continued on. He gave me some insight on the first segments we were running as he told me about last year when he attempted the race as well. The two of us ending up leap-frogging each other for the next couple segments. Even as a self-described loner ultrarunner it is nice to team up and run with people once in a while in these long ultramarathons as it often helps make the time seem to go by quicker. I recall passing through the second aid station together that that up on this semi-open plateau with some incredible views. After filling my bottles I walked over to the viewing platform and took a selfie off the outlook. Pete Schreiner, the race photographer was there shooting as well. I recall taking off just ahead of Jeremey here as he was fixing something with his feet I recall. The trail took off downhill from the aid station which was a nice change from the uphill we were just doing. The following miles were great flowy trails and there was even a few creek crossings. Jeremey had warned me about one of these in particular he had vivid recollection from the year prior. There was quite a few crossings overall, just infrequent enough where your feet & socks seemed to almost be fully dried out then another crossing would present itself on the trail. Once in a while these would have the ability to rock-hop your way across, but most of them were no way around getting at least ankle deep in cold mountain water. Right before the full onset of darkness I came around the corner of the singletrack and my waistlamp caught a flash of something on the side of the trail. To my surprise Coree Woltering was there lying down taking a dirt nap. I was a little confused but I did not disturb him since he eyes were closed and he looked out: resting (he is super experienced in long-distance FKTs and adventures so I did not worry about his wellbeing, knowing he’d be ok). My only guess was the heat got to him, which I later found out, was in fact the case. That first day sneaky heat was very draining for a lot of runners in my opinion. I personally felt dehydrated as well, but just tried to down as much as possible to catch back up as the sun was going down.
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taking in the views at AS2 John's Mountain Overlook (25.9 Mi) | Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner
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arriving at AS2 John's Mountain Overlook (25.9 Mi)
Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
Near the end of the second segment nearing the third aid station Jeremey caught back up as we came into the aid station now with all our lights fully on as it was well into darkness at this point. There was a couple other runners already in there refueling away and getting crew assistance, as well as the first 2 females came into the aid right behind us as well. One of the Race Directors came up to me with the video camera for th livestream while I was sitting there waiting for my burger to be cooked and asked me about the stream crossing we just came through. I gave a quick blurb for the video, then got to down my delicious home cooked aid station cheeseburger (the first of many during this race). The night was young at this point but we were just getting started being about 9.5 hours into the adventure.
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| refueling at AS3 Dry Creek Trailhead (39.8 Mi) | Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
Chasing Women
The 2 females that came into the aid right behind Jeremey & I actually turned around quicker than us and were about to head back out on the trail. I used this as motivation and got up to go with them and follow along. Jeremey was right with me as well. So there was a mini group of the 4 of us now running out from Dry Creek Trailhead aid station onto this segment of the course. Ashlie Ithurburn, the previous years SS200 female champion, hung back with Jeremey and I as we let the other go ahead slightly. Ashlie confided in us that she did not want to run along side her anymore and wanted to run her own race at this early point into the run, so she hung out with us, more or less dragging us along. For the next 20 miles or so I ran chasing Ashlie as she kept up this decent pace that moved us along very well during these night time hours. The second deviation from the Pinhoti trail during this race occurred somewhere here as well, with a long detour south on some equestrian trails that made a big loop down and back up again reconnecting to the Pinhoti eventually. It was important in this section to watch the flagging and follow your .gpx as it was one of the only portion where a lot of extra trail intersection were present.
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| refueling at AS6 High Point Trailhead (69.4 Mi) | Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
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not taking myself too seriously, enjoying the run (70 Mi)
Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
Ashlie was moving very efficiently and kept my driving forward as I chased her along. Without her to follow I would probably been running a lot slower by myself at this point. Eventually Ashlie’s pace outmatched mine and she drifted a gap in front of me, but I did not push at this point and was more focused on maintaining my own run and was planning my first rest stop. I don’t recall the exact time of night but I came into the first aid station with sleep setups very early in the morning. This was the High Point Trailhead aid station in Georgia which was a small parking lot on the side of a main road. I came in here alone, but the other female Stacy we had been following was also in there with her husband/crew. It appeared she was getting ready to rest as well, which I had made up my mind that is exactly what I was going to do. I had also been bothered slightly on my right heel with a hotspot that had been forming, so was going to tend to that here as well. I got some food, then took my shoes and socks off and went over to the adjacent sleep tent and laid down on the mat covered ground and grabbed a couple sleeping bags for warmth. I set my timer for 1 hour (I think?) and drifted off quite quickly. I awoke with 9 minutes left on my timer, so had gotten 51 minutes of sleep time here at my first full rest stop about 110 km (69.4 Miles) into the race on night one. I awoke and shivered and hobbled my way back over from the sleeping tent to the main aid tent where I got some warm food and had one of the awesome volunteers assist me with me with my right heel. They magically help craft a moleskin to fit around my hotspot area and secured it in place with some athletic tape. I then put on my only pair of spare dry socks and got ready to head back out. The other lady runner, Stacy, was just heading out at this time as well so he left the aid station at the same time following the Pinhoti Trail along side the road on which what I latter deemed the worst part of the route. It was super chilly, like 30f or so, but the sun was just about to rise as it was nearly daylight again. Just a couple rolling miles and then the trail turned into a full blown rail trail adjacent to the roadway. It went on for a full half-marathon of miles like this simply parallelling the road and slowly winding along, no major grades, and no major turns a true rail trail indeed! I tried to keep up with the female runner but she just seemed to be moving ever so slightly faster than me. Due to the flatness of the trail I was able to see her in my sights for long portions ahead of me at a time and use it as a carrot to keep moving and stay with her. Finally, the segment ended with a pavement segment that led into the Huffaker Rd aid station.
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| one of many home-cooked cheeseburger I had along this run | day2. |
It was not as warm as yesterday and the wind was fairly steady at this point in the morning. I sat down in the tent and had caught back up to the female runner, Stacy, as she was refueling there as well. I got another cheeseburger and then another came into the wind-whipped tent. It was Coree Woltering, he had come back and caught back up. We chatted briefly as we ate and he said he was feeling much better after what I had suspected of his night one dehydration experience. I finished off my burger and asked for one more to go as I rearranged my pack after changing from my jacket into a long sleeve only to make me a little more comfortable in the day hours. I took my second burger and packed my other pockets with snacks and headed out. The Huffaker Rd to Cave Spring segment was a full 17.2 Miles of nothing but roads (which is in fact the route of the Pinhoti Trail). As I noted earlier this section sucked looking back! Overall this middle section was just over 30 miles of pure flat boringness in the middle of the 200+ miles run. As I trotted along the road I treated myself to some podcasts (which I rarely do in races). I figured I needed it for these sections to distract me from the constant traffic noise and just to keep me distracted a little for this long paved portion. It gave me eerie vibes of running Tour de los Tejas again. Not too far down the road I was slowly job-walking and all of a sudden I could hear footsteps coming up on me and sure enough Coree was in a nice smooth running form as he cruised on by and just kept in his flow. I did not even dare hang with him as my legs were very heavy at this point and I was alternating with a lot of walk breaks to keep making progress. Another runner caught and passed me too on this section further down. I had no idea where I sat in the race but I felt myself slipping back in terms of overall pace. I did not let it deter me though as I have been through enough of these now to know I just have to push forward and make progress no matter how slow it seems at the time (but man did it ever feel slow at the time!). After what seemed like hours I came into the town of Cave Spring where the next aid stop was. The wind was really howling now and the chance of warmth had all but faded completely for this day. I sat down and ordered yet another home cooked cheeseburger – my usual at this point – which provided great sustenance fuel. Here I had a couple runners come in behind me and it was the one runner from the pre-race dinner at Chipotle he recognized me and came over and gave me a fist bump, it was Iain Jones and he was with Chris Roche (more on these guys later). They came in and were immediately preparing for a sleep here. I was trying not to linger too long as to get chilly sitting there now approaching 30 hours into this race at essentially the halfway distance point. Only 100 Miles to go.
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| Crossing into Alabama on the Pinhoti Trail (115.90 Mi). |
I got up and reluctantly left Cave Spring following the pavement out of town for another 2.5 miles before we were gifted with finally getting back off the road and onto true trails again. Greetings from progress was also here as there was a sign pointing down the Pinhoti towards “Alabama” state line. It is always a great measure of success when you can cross state lines during a long race like this. Looking back I crossed over the GA/AL state line after completing 115.90 Mi (186.52 km). I was getting sleepy again so I planned on another stop at the next sleep station. I arrived into High Point Trailhead in Alabama where the volunteers there has another warming sleep tent set up. I opted for a longer rest and got my feet up and curled up with a couple sleeping bags again, this time aiming for a 1.5 hour sleep time. Again I awoke slightly before my alarm getting in a solid 80 minutes by the time I opened my eyes. I got up ate some pancakes and fueled up as I tried to stay warm. It was cold, dark, and super early (or late) into the morning, like 03:00 or so when I finally started moving again. I headed out on my own all bundled up for the couple cold hours to go before sunrise again. I travelled this 7.6 Mi segment alone to the next aid station where I met up with the trio of Iain Jones, Chris Roche, and Callan Hasling. This is where the Four Amigos journey began with only 70 Miles to go.
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| first light Mar-19th (139 Mi). |
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| taken around the South Fork Terrapin Creek (140 Mi). |
I tagged along as Iain encouraged me to join the group and run with them. At this time it was super cold again, although not quite in the low 30s but still not warm. Initially I was hesitant to run with a group but honestly the company was nice at this point. The group dynamics would work out nice to as it seemed to me at least we were all introverts of some degree since there was not a ton of chatter going on and it was more about just being in the presence of others sharing the common journey and goal of getting to Cheaha State Park. It was my kind of group if I do say so. As the trail continued on the Pinhoti came down into the South Fork Terrapin Creek area which had a mini natural dam type structure we ran over and the reservoir on our left hand side. I recall snapping a picture here then crossing over the final portion of the dam that was in the shade. I recall this since the grass was still frosted and hard from the freeze the night before. We then continued on back into the sunshine along the bank of the other side and starting climbing our way out of this little valley. Not far up the climb everyone seemed to have the same thoughts as we stopped and delayered as the sun was now beating down through the trees. Without saying too much we all simply just waited for each other to be ready before continuing on, it went without be spoken almost. I did not realize at the time but these three had already been pulling each other along for about 30 Miles or more at tis point, and I just kind of slipped into the group by happenstance. As we continued on the segment finally ended at Hilltop Trail (CR 500) which was 143 Mile completed at this point. We all sat down and refueled and filled up our fluids. Once all four amigos were ready we set off again.
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| 3 of the amigos: (L to R) Callan, myself, Chris | photo: Iain Jones |
This was now the third and final deviation off the actual Pinhoti Trail itself in the entire Southern States 200 route. The four of us set off working as one group making very small chat as we went, but not a lot overall. As the day started to grow I felt a renewed sense of energy myself and so I kept up the pace slightly on the next section working towards Coleman Lake. I was not alone; in fact I was chasing Callan as he was setting the pace in general for this portion. I remember following Callan into the Lake Campground aid station, know that both Iain and Chris were not that far behind overall. I arrived at the campground aid station and checked in as I ordered yet another cheeseburger. I had a nice friendly face come over and say hi to me, as it was Martin Schneekloth (@ultrakraut) who was there hanging out volunteering waiting for his runner to come in to be paced for the last portion of the run. I follow Martin and know of him from some previous 100s we ran in years back.
After some more cheeseburger happiness I took off from the aid station with a renewed energy. The rest of the amigos opted for a 30 minute nap so I decided to continue on as I was feeling ok at this point. I thought it was the right decision since I still had daylight as it was only around 16:00 which meant I could keep going now in the day hours then rest a bit next after darkness came. I made the next 14.6 Mi section to Highrock (FR-531) a solo journey. By the end of that I was sleep wobbling and having the mini sleeps on my feet. I knew I needed some shuteye again soon. Once I arrived at Highrock aid station I did just that, I got a good 40 minutes recharge here (my third sleep session thus far).
As I came around awake again and prepped to being ready to go, to my surprise my fellow amigos (Iain, Chris, and Callan) were all there now at the aid station with me. So I got layered up and warm again and jumped in as we were once again the Four Amigos heading out together into the night. Iain seemed to be always in the lead of our mini group. I called him the perpetual pacer as he seemed to never really be going super-fast, but never slow either. He had a good hiking pace that just kept the group moving at that sub 3-day pace target. Chris was quiet and most kept in the back ensuring all of us were maintaining the pace set by Iain in front. I often found myself in the second or third position either behind or right in front of Callan during these sections we all ran together. Every once in awhile I found myself drifting off the pace and would fall to the back of the group. Luckily I had them because otherwise I’d probably just sleepwalked it in, or crashed for extra dirt naps, but hanging on to the amigos and keeping up motivated me every time I fell back to run harder to catch back up and stay in line with the group.
Somewhere around 03:00 we arrived at I-20 aid station: Fay’s Blowdown. Just prior to coming into the aid station as we knew it was close Iain actually slowed us down and we walked as we discussed the game plan of what we were going to do at the aid station. It was if our group of Four Amigos was truly moving and functioning as one unit. Ultimately, we agreed upon fuel, a 20 minute nap/recharge and then carry on. We arrived and ate. The other three opted for the actual sleep tent, where as I just literally slumped over in the chair near the aid station itself and closed my eyes there. Twenty minutes was over before I knew it and it felt like nothing, but I knew it would do me good based on prior 200 experience. The four of us all readied quickly to head out into the final hours of the morning. It was in the low 40s this night, and we weren’t quite sure if it was going to dip any colder before the sunrise. I took no chances and actually layered up more than I had any other point thus far. That proved to be a mistake as not too many miles later I found myself peeling some layers back off once we were moving again.
I do not recall anyone every explicitly saying it but the 3-day (72 hour) goal seemed to be the pace and the time the four of us were on and naturally targeting as we progressed. Being able to say you ran sub 3-day is kind of cool (but really no one cares, ha!). I had to admit I was loosely keeping my eye on that goal when I did glance at my watch over that third night, but we still seemed so far away my math was not mathing yet to see exactly what would play out. I don’t exactly recall the time or what prompted the move but Callan pushed up to the front of the group and proceeded to run ahead to stay awake and run faster. Seemed logical to me, as I had tried this technique before as well. As I ran with Iain and Chris they seemed to be having slightly more issues keeping the constant pace we had been doing, so I made a split decision to go on ahead and catch up to Callan and attempt to keep pace with him into the next and final aid station of Lost Gulch. Eventually I did catch up to him and we ran into this final aid station together. Here I brought up the idea of the sub 72 hour mark and how we could still achieve it with some flawless execution of the last 9 Miles. I glanced at my watch as we took the out-and-back turn down and then up into the final aid station….08:00 (69 hours total elapsed time). This meant that with my loose estimated 3 mph pace and the 8.6 Miles left to cover there was very little room for error. The only issue with this plan was that the largest and steepest climb of the entire run was in the final portion of Cheaha State Park running up to the “Top of Alabama”.
Lessons of an Experienced Ultrarunner
Callan seemed a little less certain about the timing I had laid out, but he seemed to agree none the less. We left Lost Gulch at 08:05 and so had just shy of 3 hours left to cover the last segment. The two of us took off on this initial downhill portion back to the intersection where we left the Pinhoti. We greeted and passed Iain and Chris coming together as they headed into their final checkpoint. They cheered us on, as I think they knew our goal at this point. Callan took the lead as his youthful legs seemed to be fresher on the downhill segments. He was setting a great pace as made our way. The trail had a couple miles flat-ish section before the final 5 Miles were all uphill so our plan was to make time while we could and keep consistent. I tried to press and keep up with Callan but his pace was just a hair faster than mine. I used him as a carrot as he faded off in the distance, although I knew he was there and I was still chasing him. Sweat was pouring off of me as this was probably the hardest I had worked yet. 2 hours go to….still just barley going to make it? Not sure? Running to fast to do exact math at this point in a multiday race. I had good thoughts of Callan being able to push ahead and make the sub-72 mark. I was genuinely happy for him as I thought my chances were ever so slowly slipping away.
I did not give up full hope yet however. 1.5 hours to go….there is still a chance…
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| Final push (208 Mi) | Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
1 Hour to go. I rounded a corner and saw Callan standing there. What happened? He explained to me the sleep monsters got him and he was literally just lying down for the third time in the past half a mile or so. We’d been running so hard and it just caught up to him. He seemed bummed out, but now that I was there I told him to hop on and follow, so he did. Glancing at my Garmin I did my math our loud to explain my rational to Callan at this point. “Look, I know it is mostly uphill from here, but we have 1 hour to go and exactly 3 Miles. This is exactly 20 minutes per Mile at a hard uphill pace, Let’s go!” I then literally shifted gears and took off at a much great cadence. Callan seemed very surprised and intrigued by my remaining optimism for our sub 3-day goal. I told him that after 20 minutes I had not been able to keep pace then I would revisit my plan and just walk it in perhaps, but for now it was full gas ahead. I pushed, he pushed me from behind, we worked together with this one common goal. 1 Mile elapsed and we were under the required 20 minutes. I called out the update and informed Callan we just banked like 1min 6sec or something like that for the remaining 2 Miles to go (assuming the mileage was exact, which was a gamble being this close to a time goal). I was now dripping sweat like I was doing weekend intervals or something. I was working! I pushed. Callan pushed and he had a little more in him with his youthful legs and took the lead now that the end was in sight. I think he finally bought into my time goal and saw for himself that we had it in ourselves to make this final push, even after nearly 3 full days of running. 1 Mile to go. Glancing down now I saw I had banked even more time, which was encouraging, but I was not giving up anything yet as I did not want to risk it being that close. I knew Callan would make it now as he had gapped me enough up ahead I could no longer see him on the turns and such. I was happy to have inspired someone more than half my age do this final push to be able to make an [arbitrary] time goal and show him what is possible. You are never empty like you think you are. I was finally able to look up the mountain and see the viewing platform in the distance, I knew I was close. I had recognized that from my exploration run a few days back when I parked my car here to catch the shuttle van. I had done it, no just to run it in and finish off this strong pace I had been on. I passed a bunch of causal park hikers out for a Friday? Saturday? (what day was it…) stroll in the mountains. I understandably looked like a madman running hard uphill back towards the lodge but nothing was stopping me now. I crested the last mound and saw Pete the photographer there snapping some photos. The finishing arch was there right on the steps of the lodge itself, I had done it. This final push was over and I had achieved this mini goal coming in less than 3 days with about 11.5 minutes to spare in fact.
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| Crossing the line (208 Mi) | Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
FIN.
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| Finished! (208 Mi) | Schreiner Trail Photography, Pete Schreiner |
I stood there excited and fulfilled from my journey. It was over. I glanced around and saw Callan and immediately walked over to him ad gave him fist bumps. We had just pushed each other to make the sub-72 time a reality in these final hours. I made him a believer those last 3 Miles, it was cool to see. I caught up with one of the race directors as I got presented my buckle and a couple more official finisher photos were taken. Now time to relax. I wandered over to my car in the parking lot, not far off and got all my warm relaxed rabbit gear to put on. I had it all set out and ready for the finish, so I was efficient in changing out of my stinky running gear into some nice comfortable relaxing clothing. Now it was time to eat as I went back over to the finish area and sat down with Callan and chatted some more. I ate some lasagna, pasta, and then some pizza slices and Coca-Cola. Everything was tasting good and filling. I wanted to wait there at the finish for the other half of the Amigos to come in. We knew they could not be far behind. About an hour later their spot trackers had pinged that they were 1 Mile out. The many people at the finish cheered both Chris and Iain in as they crossed the line together.
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| Callan Hasling & myself at the finish. |
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| Iain Jones (L) & Chris Roche (R) crossing the line T-6th overall. |
Final Thoughts
The point-to-point aspect of the course is a great way to experience a 200+ Mile event (in my opinion) since everything is new and fresh scenes. The early spring weather in GA and AL had made it so a ton of leaves were covering the trail which lead to many surprise rocks and roots that were not immediately visible to the eyes, but heh that's trail running. Another unique, perhaps challenging aspect was the fat the Pinhoti Trail was often running up one side of a creek bank/ a canyon/ or side of the mountain and the trail itself was sloped down. This led to prolonged running where your feet were always being bent slightly to the downhill side. At times it felt difficult, especially later on, but this is just something you have to deal with in these long ultras (Perhaps if it was super hot or if you are not good with foot cramping, this terrain could really prove to be an issue). Overall, I recommend this Southern States 200 as a great way to experience the Pinhoti Trails in Georgia and Alabama.
The Four Amigos had worked together for the final 70 Miles and many hours to get each other to this finish, now we posed together buckles in hand and memories in our minds. (see blog photo at top of post). We were all Southern States 200 finishers. What a journey. What a great shared experience. As someone who often finds himself running alone in these ultramarathons and as already mentioned am a self-described introvert, having shared this experience with the other amigos was a great experience at Southern States this year. I know that I would not have finished as fast as I did without the encouragement and assistance of the amigos pushing the pace and the company they provided. Thank you Callan, Iain, and Chris. You guys all rock and congratulations on your finishes as well.
Results & Stats.
- 71:48:34 | 208.82 Mi (336.06 km) | 30,495 ft+ (9,295 m+)
- 5th overall | M4
- Total Sleep Time: 3h 12m (4.46% of my total race time)
- 51m @ AS6 High Point Trailhead, GA (69.4 Mi)
- 80m @ AS10 High Point Trailhead, AL (122.2 Mi)
- 40m @ AS14 Highrock FR-531 (172.3 Mi)
- 21m @ AS15 Fay's Blowdown @I-20 (183.4 Mi)
- Total Aid Station "stopped time": 9h 11m (12.80% of my total race time)
- 115.90 Mi (55.5%) in Georgia & 92.92 Mi (44.5%) in Alabama.
- This was my 123rrd ultramarathon run total & 2nd of 2025.
- My 8th 200 Mi(+) and my 45th 100Mi(+) completed
- STRAVA: Southern States 200 (5th overall), Dalton, GA | Strava
- UltraSignup Results: 2025 Southern States 200 200 Miler - Results
- The timing results here did not take into account the -1 time change going from est >> cst during the race, and so we all got a 1 hour discount on our overall times posted.
- YouTube Live Broadcast: Southern States 200 - 2025 - YouTube
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| My STRAVA race analysis. |
Gear Used
There was a requirement for some mandatory gear along with the usual recommended gear as might be expected for mountain races. Here is there required list for 2025 direct off the website:
1) Water filter bottles such as Katadyn's BeFree. LifeStraw, or Salomon's Soft Flask XA Filter.
2) 24 oz. of water at the start of all sections. Minimum.
3) 400 extra Calories
4) Electrolytes
5) A light rain jacket or poncho.
6) Space Blanket
7) Collapsible Cup, collapsible flask or water bottle.
8) Cell Phone and a method of charging (battery packs and charging cord)
9) GPS Enabled Device with the course file loaded. Since you already have to carry a smartphone, that's the simplest option.
10) Headlamp w/ extra batteries or method of charging
11) Whistle, most running vests have one attached.
12) Warm hat or buff
13) Long sleeve top
14) gloves
15) SpotTracker (we provide)
My Gear List (which covers the above required gear list from the race as well)
- [required] Jackets - rabbit Treeline rain jacket (rabbitELITEtrail team kit)
- [required] Gloves - rabbit/BOCO
- [required] Lighting setup - kogalla RA Adventure Light (waistlamp) & Nathan Sports Halo Fire (headlamp)
- [required] LS Shirt(s) - rabbit Layer One (rabbitELITEtrail team kit)
- SS Shirt(s) - rabbit High Country SS
- Shorts - rabbit 5" shredders 2-in-1 trail
- Pants- rabbit Runners (rabbitELITEtrail team kit)
- Headwear - rabbit/rnnr (rabbitELITEtrail team kit), [required] rabbit/BOCO beanie
- Eyewear - goodr
- Shoes - Altra Olympus 6.0 (brand new pair out of box)
- Socks - injinji (2 pairs)
- [required] Hydration - NATHAN Trailmix 12L race pack with x2 20oz soft flasks, & [required] Katadyn BeFree™ Water Filteration System™ (0.6L soft flask).
- Anti-Friction Lube - Trail Toes
- SPOT tracker - provided by the event
- Watch ([required] with GPX track of course) - Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition
- [required] Cell Phone - apple iPhone 8+ (also with Gaia GPS app)
- [required] Emergency Bivy - SOL emergency bivy
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| my rabbit EZ slides came in handy for my sore feet post-race. |
Post Race
I received this video from my wife shortly after getting back into cell service. I teared up. Wow! So awesome to have the full support of my wife & kids even from afar on my crazy adventures. Thank you girls!
Video: Katie Meding.
After a very brief nap and relaxing after downing as much food as possible, I decided to start back to Texas and take on the ~10.5 hour drive. I did not get too far before I had to pull over for my first nap. The next 24 hours consisted of alternating naps and short driving bursts. Eventually I made it home early Sunday afternoon (just after the official final race cutoff). I had made it home in time to take the kids to there first Spring kid's race which was my goal. No matter how tired I felt it was awesome to be there for this! The adventures of an UltraRunningDad sometimes includes the ultra-drives before and after the actual running itself.
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| Arrived home back in Sugar Land, TX Sunday afternoon. |
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| Arrived home in time for HKRS (Happy Kids Running Series) Run#1 to cheer on my little runners. |
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Feel free to check out this HappyCast (with Happey Endings Trail Crew) podcast episode I did on my journey:
Thanks for reading my race recap. I hope there is some alpha in there for any potential SS200 runners!
Next up: WSER (2025-Jun *waitlist) or Bigfoot 200 (2025-Aug)
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