Get Off the Couch & Venture Out There
A “Quick” Tennessee trip | Ultramarathon #080
Since I am drive to 99% of my events, I try to follow my own unwritten rule:
Don’t run a race that takes less time than it does to drive to get there.
BFC invitation 2021-06-05 off the waitlist.
For example, I’ve driven to Arkansas, Colorado, and the far Western edge of Texas (Franklin Mountains) to run 100 Mi events before even though these are over 12 hours driving time or more from our current place in Texas. I justify it by the amount of time I will be doing the event itself. However back in the summer months I got myself a nice email that perked my interest one day. I was drawn off the waitlist for The Barkley Fall Classic (BFC as it is known by). Honestly, I had forgotten I put my name on the waitlist earlier in the year and was super excited when reading this note. It didn’t take me long to accept via the UltraSignup page and confirm my entry.
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| Obligatory picture at "the Yellow Gate" |
I travelled after a day of work on Thursday to get to Tennessee by driving over night and having minimal sleep in my car during my travels. Friday I arrived in Wartburg and rolled up to Frozen Head State Park in awe. The lush mountain greenery and landscape was a sight to be had as only ever seeing pictures prior. I parked at the Visitor Center/ Park Office and put on my trail shoes to check out the area and shake out my legs from being in the car for what seems like forever at this point. It was very cool to see some of the park trails and then get to go over and bestow my eyes on the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, which included the exit of the prison tunnel and the bottom of the infamous Rat Jaw climb.
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| Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary | Petros, TN. |
The first time the race map is revealed is during packet pickup, which was Friday afternoon. Most people are lined up and eager to get a peek at what was about to come the next day. Not knowing Frozen Head State Park (FHSP) and the exact trail layout I was somewhat oblivious to what the map was telling me…but I was about to find out very soon.
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| My BFC 2021 map prior to opening it u and trying to figure out where I am heading in the morning.. |
Race Day
• started just before sunrise with 415 other runners all masked up just prior to sunset. Humidity was in the air along with the excitement of the start.
• lots of climbing uphill, some downhill and yet we finished at the same spot we started, but I swear there was twice as much up than down (hmmm, my math doesn’t quite work….kind of like the old folk tale of your grandparents telling you they walked to school & it was uphill both ways).
• no GPS allowed, minimal course marking, but more than enough since we were all provided a map the day before at packet pickup.
• small creek crossing early in the race to ensure no runner had dry feet.
• torrential rain made this event much more challenging, muddy, and overall interesting adventure.
• briars, “rat bites”, poison ivy, chiggers, and many scratches to my shirt and hydration vest.
• fog & rain downpour on top of Frozen Head Mountain by the fire lookout tower was just like in the videos on Barkley, but much cooler atmosphere in person when you can soak in the entire surrounding with fellow ultrarunners.
• Tennessee yellow jackets are big. I got stung once on the back of my right calf after the prior runners ahead of me stirred and angered them where they seemed to be hanging out.
• 50 km out at Frozen Head State Park is hard, no question about it.
• crossed the finish line at 11:30:23 (by far my longest 50 km time)
Thank You & Kudos
• Huge thank you to Gary Cantrell (aka Lazarus Lake, aka Laz) & Steve Durbin for putting on a stellar event. This ultra lived up to the hype and the draw that only BFC type event can create.
• Thank you as well to Larry Kelley, whom I met out there briefly in sharing some guidance to newcomers (virgins, such as myself) and helped out on course during race day at one of the junctions.
• Of course, I cannot thank the incredible volunteers who braved the relentless rain and were not even moving to stay warm like the runners. The local high school football team, Coalfield Yellow Jackets, were there running the aid stations after a stellar performance of their own the night before. Thank you to all those local boys for helping every runner in their pursuit of the BFC.
• Jenny El Tee (@luoyunghwa) for some incredible race photos of the participants crossing the creek and again up on top of the Rat Jaw climb. Photos are great and thank you for braving the weather yourself especially with all your photo gear equipment out there in the elements.
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| Photo Credit: Jenny El Tee | Jennifer Thorsen Photography | @luoyunghwa |
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| Photo Credit: Jenny El Tee | Jennifer Thorsen Photography | @luoyunghwa |
BFC
Legend has it The Barkley Fall Classic was created to allow more people to experience Frozen Head State Park and the allure of the now popularized Barkley Marathons by showing them how hard 50 km can be in this area and disincentive people from pursuing signing up for the Big Barkley (as it is referred to), but also to give people a taste of the Barkley allure itself. My opinion now that I have run BFC is that my respect level has gone up drastically for anyone who has ever toed the line at Barkley Marathons. Seeing the area, the topography, and some of the famous features out at Frozen Head State Park in person really put things in perspective that the YouTube videos & the Netflix documentary simply can not.
Ultimately, I am grateful to go into The Barkley Fall Classic classed as a virgin (first time starter) and managed to come out being labelled as a BFC veteran (50k finisher) now. The Croix de Barque is a very cool finishers medal to have earned and I am proud of this accomplishment.
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| my 50 km finishers Croix de Barque |
This race is hard. The experience was well worth the drive it took me to get there & back.
