The Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race consists of three exciting days of trail running in the beautiful mountains surrounding Chattanooga. This challenging — yet attainable — series includes 20 technical but amazing miles on Signal Mountain for Day 1, 18 gorgeous miles along North Chick Creek for Day 2, and a …
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The Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race consists of three exciting days of trail running in the beautiful mountains surrounding Chattanooga. This challenging — yet attainable — series includes 20 technical but amazing miles on Signal Mountain for Day 1, 18 gorgeous miles along North Chick Creek for Day 2, and a 22 mile moderate grand finale on Lookout Mountain for Day 3.
**Please note** that the second day along North Chickamauga Creek has replaced the Raccoon Mountain day in the past. Saturday’s race is now point to point on the fairly new Wild Trails built ,11 mile section that makes an awesome 18 miles along North Chickamauga creek. If you want to take the bus from the finish to the start, you will need to drive to the finish at Lone Oak Community Center. If you have a ride and want to get dropped off at the race start, drive to North Chick creek trailhead.
This is not for beginners. If you cannot comfortably hold a 15 min per mile pace for 20 miles on moderately difficult trails, please do not sign up for this event. There will be strict cut-off time
Perhaps the best part of these three days is the camaraderie and the chance to get to know like minded nut cases. The festivities each night will be at the Crash Pad and beer provided by Oddstory Brewing Company, so you may want to grab a hotel nearby.
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Hard course. Not for weenies
This was my first stage race but not my first set of multi-day long runs. Before this race the longest it has taken me to run 20 miles was 4:43. … MORE
This was my first stage race but not my first set of multi-day long runs. Before this race the longest it has taken me to run 20 miles was 4:43. Days 1 and 2 of this stage race were only about 17 and 18 miles, respectively. Day 1 took me 5:18 and day 2 took me 5:30. On day 2 I was 30 minutes past the cutoff time.
Here are some “never before”s for me. Never before have I finished last. Never before have a finished past the cutoff. Never before have I taken 5+ hours to run 17+ miles. Never before have I gotten lost on a course. Never before have a gotten stung by a bee while running. On Day 2 I was stung by yellow jackets multiple times on three different places on the course. Never before have I DNF’d a race. I went out to run on Day 3 but turned around inside the first half mile because I was still sick from the bee stings of the day before. The toxins really kicked in hard in the afternoon of Day 2, and I was sick all evening, slept 0 minutes that night, and tried to run in the morning. It wasn’t going to happen so I turned around and headed back to the car. Too bad though because Day 3 promised to be the easiest and most runnable of the three courses. The time I have listed of 10:48, is because there is no DNF option for a race on Race Raves. I have just put my total time for the first two days.
Yellow jacket stings aside, I would not do this race again. Why? The description of this race undersells, imo, the difficulty of the course. It is basically unrunnable for the average runner like me. I’m nearly always a middle of the pack finisher but on Day 2 I was on a first name basis with the course sweeper (who got lost with me at one point). I very much appreciate what this race company is doing by developing new trails for recreational use, and I have run other of their races, but this course seemed to be chosen for no other reason than that is was insanely difficult and technical and steep.
The people who ran this race were young’ish and older. But they were super fit and smokin’ fast. I was not last on Day 1 but the guy behind me, who finished last, had hurt his leg and I only passed him on the last mile. I was last on Day 2 by about 20 minutes so I took comfort in knowing at least one other person didn’t make the cutoff. I wasn’t the only one, lol.
There were no port-a-potties at the start or aid stations of Day 2. Day 1 there was a bathroom. Day 3 had plenty of port-a-potties at the start. There were maybe two aid stations on Day 1, three on Day 2, and I’m not sure about Day 3… maybe three? But they were not well-stocked.
If I were going to suggest improvements to the RD of this race they would be these below. And for those running this race take note.
First, describe the course more accurately on the race webpage. Use adjectives that most races don’t use. Repeat them multiple times. Words like, “brutal,” “not runnable for most people,” “savage,” “primarily for elite runners,” etc. Imo, if you don’t regularly finish in the top 25% to 35% of races you enter then be prepared for this to be a long race and one you may not particularly enjoy. I generally finish in the 40% to 60% percentile range. I have finished way lower and way higher, but the norm for me is in the middle. I did not enjoy the two days that I ran. The scenery can be pretty at times but it just seemed designed to be a ridiculously hard race for the average runner. Like maybe the really just want elite runners but didn’t get their race description quite in line with the actual course. It’s not so much the net elevation gain, it’s just that it’s so steep in places, and so often just very technical whether up, down, or flat.
Second, mark the course better. I got lost once and was briefly off course one or two other times. And multiple other times I had to stop and look around to find course markers. And that’s even with the extra flags marking the course for the runners. I would have had an even harder time if I was just following the white blazes as a backpacker after the flags for runners had been removed after the race was over.
Third, have more food at the aid stations. Races like this are usually very good about loading up those aid stations. These have a few basics but were not the kind that most 30k to 50k races provide. They weren’t bad aid stations, they just weren’t the typical smorgasbord of food options I typically see on 30k runs. Lol, but maybe those smokin’ fast elite runners ahead of me don’t stop long enough to stock the aid stations?
Barring these things, at least extend the cutoff time and warn the runners on the race page that the aid stations are not the typical 30k buffet of junk foods and fuels.
As is, this race would be a truly great experience for the runner who wants this kind of spartan experience. Or a competitive runner. And I’m glad I did it and would have finished had it not been for the yellow jackets on Day 2. My legs were fine, body was fine, other than the stings. It’s just that it’s so difficult to cover a course that technical in the amount of time allowed before the cutoff. And at the end of the day I really did want to run (not walk), but so much of this course cannot be run that it was less enjoyable than I expected it to be.
With that said, I will certainly run other Wild Trails races and I absolutely support their mission.