The Swamp Fox Ultra is a footrace along two sections of the Palmetto Trail: the Awendaw Passage and the Swamp Fox Passage. At its longest, the course for this event is 52.69 miles of mixed use trails and short sections of Fire Road. The event traverses through the heart of the Francis Marion National Forest.
The format for the event is very different from current ultra events. There is only 1 Aid Station with food, and it is located at Buck Hall Recreation Area, the Start and Finish of the event.
Most trail events that are currently on the market, offer fully stocked aid stations at predetermined locations along the trail. This event will not offer that. Instead, roughly every 6-7 miles, I will have a check point that will consist of a couple volunteers to check you in and out, water and Doc Scotts Recovery Water RX. That’s it, no food.
The reason…complete the event on your own by planning to have drop bags along the route. For your drop bags, there are 7 locations that are scheduled along the route that you are allowed to have drop bags. I will place them along the route as soon as we start the race. It is your responsibility to label each drop bag with your name and what location you want them placed (I will send out a participant guide 1 week prior to the event with a course map, rules and locations of drop bags). Plan accordingly and rely on yourself to either pass or fail.
The GPX file will be sent to you. It is up to you to figure out how to download this data to your phone or GPS enabled watch. You can use this data to ensure that you are on course and on the trail should you become disoriented or lost.
All participants and their families/friends will have a place to camp Thursday night, Friday and Saturday night and have access to restroom facilities and shower facilities at Buck Hall Recreation Area.
Participants of the 420 and 210 mile events are required to wear a SPOT Gen 3 GPS Tracker. This will be provided to you prior to the event. This piece of gear is required to be on you, the runner, at all times. It must be visible and not covered up. I am tracking each participant to ensure you are on course and not lost due to the very real possibility that you will hallucinate at some point during the event. Also, if you run into trouble, you can contact me with preset messages to let me know you are just not right and need some assistance.
Also, you are REQUIRED to be crewed during this event from the start, until you finish or quit. Your crew must be onsite the entire time you are on course. Participants of the 420, 315 and 210 are required to have completed multiple 100 mile races to compete in the 210 mile race. For the 420 and 315 mile participants, you must have completed at least 2, 200+ mile events prior to registering for these events.
After you return to Buck Hall Recreation Area, there will be food for you to eat.
The Trail and Use of the FMNF
You will run through the heart of the Francis Marion National Forest located outside Charleston, South Carolina. The entire event takes place on the Awendaw Passage and the Swamp Fox Passage. This course is 52.69 miles in length. All single track trail except for about 2 miles of dirt road. The trail is very technical in some areas and easy in other areas. It is a flat trail that is unforgiving. Past participants found it difficult due to the fact that there are zero hills, little elevation change and when they were on the course, they didn’t know when to walk. Please plan accordingly.
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