McLemore Cove is a 15 mile long valley in the “V” between the Lookout Mountain to the west and Pigeon Mountain to the east. It is about 45 minutes from downtown Chattanooga, TN and Fort Payne, AL and about 1 hour from Dalton, GA. Like most beautiful places it is …
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McLemore Cove is a 15 mile long valley in the “V” between the Lookout Mountain to the west and Pigeon Mountain to the east. It is about 45 minutes from downtown Chattanooga, TN and Fort Payne, AL and about 1 hour from Dalton, GA. Like most beautiful places it is a little out of the way. Its unique location between Pigeon Mountain and Lookout Mountain makes it geologically a transition between the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains.
The races will start in The Cove at the beautiful Mountain Cove Farms and quickly climb up Pigeon Mountain for all race distances. Pigeon Mountain is famous for Rocktown and Ellison’s Cave. It is also home to the ghost town of Estelle. We will keep you well clear of the dangers of Ellison’s Cave. Both the 30K and 50K routes will get to go by Rocktown. 50K runners will go down the Estelle Mines Trail past (or possibly through?!?) the old railroad tunnels.?? The 50K will also pass Pocket Falls and the High Point Overlook. 10K- 650ft of elevation gain 30K- 2,500ft of elevation gain 50K- 5,000ft of elevation gain There is a 10-hour limit for the 50K.
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My First Ultra
So this was my first time running this race & my first ultra ever. I did packet pickup early, which was at the pavilion by the store. I advise doing … MORE
So this was my first time running this race & my first ultra ever.
I did packet pickup early, which was at the pavilion by the store. I advise doing that if you are local, & so you can see how beautiful the area is.
On race morning we parked at the small airstrip & met at the pavilion. The race starts at 7AM so it was pitch black outside. A few minutes before race start we walked down the road to the dove field where we start the race. The RD started talking before we all got there and I couldn’t hear half of what he was saying. The start of the race was lackluster. Just the RD saying “go!” No sirens, noise makers or anything to help pump you up.
As for the course, you ran about a mile before making the big ascent up the first hill. Some parts were pretty steep with power hiking definitely being needed. About 2.5 miles in, there was a water only aid station. After the first full aid station about 5 miles in, the course was more rolling hills but there was a good number of stream crossing. The downhill was very rocky but ended when we went over a waterfall and made our way to the tunnels. The tunnels were very cool but the long steady ascent afterwards was not. This was about halfway through the course & this long ascent can make or break you. Aid stations were set up in great places & the volunteers were awesome!
Pretty course with some steep sections
This is a small race in a super rural and charming location. I have done this race over both years that it has been held and I'll be back next … MORE
This is a small race in a super rural and charming location. I have done this race over both years that it has been held and I’ll be back next year.
There are some steep hills in the first few miles and the last few. The first few miles are steep up and you are coming back on the same trail and it’s steep going down. There are probably 3’ish miles of dirt/gravel road running, and several miles of flat’ish trails. Some of the trails were clean and wide, while others were more technical and covered with leaves. I broke my ankle seven months ago on a trail run and so have slowed down a lot when I am on technical trails, particularly when they are covered with leaves.
This year the race started on time despite a hell of a lot of lightning strikes in the area. I arrived at the race an hour before start and the number of strikes was just something else… and I grew up here and am used to lightning and thunder. But this storm was intense. I thought / hoped they would delay the start time for an hour or so to let the intense part of the storm that was over this region pass by. And it wasn’t a small storm. This storm system killed 36 people over a 24 hour period throughout the South, and in the area where this race was held. So if you run this course, and if it is raining or storming, trust your gut. My gut (and my wife) said I should not run. I ran anyway. To be fair, although it was raining off and on throughout the race, the radar showed the heaviest part of the storm to be just a couple of miles to our west. And so I’m guessing the RD decided the storm wouldn’t come over the ridge and hit us. It turned out he, or she, was right. Thankfully. The RD did alert runners, however, and said anyone that didn’t want to run in these conditions could collect their t-shirt and be taken off the participant list.
What I like: there are indoor bathrooms at the start, parking is easy and a short walk to the start line, and the course is really pretty. The volunteers are super, as is typical with most races, and the aid stations are full of anything you could want to snack on. Soda, sports drink, water, candy, chips, PB&J, pickles, fruit, etc. I am local and drove from Chattanooga, so I don’t know if there are any nearby hotel options or camping. I didn’t see any campers, but that would be a nice option, and if it were free, I may just come the night before and camp just for the fun of it.
What could be better: Not much, actually. But here are a few things that would make it a better race. You have to walk about five minutes from the finish line to the start line. I don’t know why they do that except perhaps to keep you from running on the road itself. But that seems like not a good reason. Start the race at the finish line. Make the start line also the finish line. It only adds two-tenths of a mile or so to the total distance and that’s not going to upset anyone.
Also, not a complaint but a suggestion. Have lettuce, onions, and tomato for the burgers! The burger lunch, with beer, pie, chips, and whiskey is a really nice touch to the race. But add the veggies to the burgers and it will become epic. 🙂 Also, thanks for the Beyond Burger option! Much appreciated.
I don’t recall port-a-potties on the course at the aid stations, but I wasn’t looking. It’s a long way to run to not have a toilet, although most people probably just step off into the woods anyway.
Reviewer Joerobe’s comments from last year seem to have been mostly addressed. There were plenty of confidence markers this year, although I did see one lady run past a turn off and did not respond to my yells. She must have had headphones on, and was too far ahead for me to sprint up and catch her around mile 9. I had no problem following the course this year, they even had orange duct tape on some rocky areas that, last year, did not and I recall having a hard time finding my way through the first time around. This year, no problem.
As for swag, this year was a shot glass. I don’t use these, so I’m not sure it’s a useful thing to give most people. I suspect most people would probably be happy with a pint glass, or maybe a pair of socks or headband, or something. There was no medal this year, or last year. Which is fine with me.
Overall, it’s a great race. Change the start line location, though. I’ll be back, anyway. It’s not the kind of race you’ll travel across the country for, but it’s a good regional race to travel for. But it is steep. Joerobe mentioned his IT band’s bothering him on the way back down the steep parts in the last few miles… my left IT band was killing me as well in that last mile or two of steep downhill. And my IT band doesn’t usually cause me any trouble.
Great small race
This was the first year of this race and it was relatively small. I think about 50 did the 30k and maybe not quite that many did the 50k. It … MORE
This was the first year of this race and it was relatively small. I think about 50 did the 30k and maybe not quite that many did the 50k. It is in a beautiful setting! Parking is easy (on an old paved airstrip), check-in was fast, and everything about the start of the race was great. The little old country store where you check in was about as charming as they come.
The aid stations were placed perfectly, there were enough of them, the volunteers were super helpful, and the menu of food was great. I don’t know if there were toilets on the course; I didn’t look for them and didn’t notice them. I might have seen one, but there could have been more.
The course itself was harder than it appeared. The first mile was flat and along an old dirt road through a field. After that you had like 2 miles of steep uphill. Then down, and some up and down, and then maybe three or so miles along an old dirt road that was mostly up. But there were flat’ish sections that I ended up walking. Not sure why? Maybe because the hills I’d already run had beat me down. I was walking some of these and felt like I really should be running. The 30k is really a runnable race, with a few exceptions. But the fastest time was just over half of my time, so that gives you an idea how quickly the elite runners will tackle this.
The post-race food was good, and they had veggie burgers. Yay! They didn’t have any buns or tomato or lettuce, onions, or the things that make a burger, so I just squirted a bunch of mustard on my plate and dipped the burger in mustard. Not great, but at least it was some protein. They had a huge apple pie, chips, beer, soda, water, and Powerade, all for the post-race meal.
Nicely done! I’d recommend this one. I drove an hour to get there. It might be worth a two hour drive, but not much more than that. Great regional race, but not a bucket list race. Yet. But this was it’s first year, it will grow and get better, I think. Clearly the RD for this race has run these races and knows what it takes to run a good race.
Caution: Extreme Hills!!!
Overall Rating: It was really good for an inaugural run. Course Difficulty: Although the course only had a couple of miles of pretty technical trail, the amount of power that … MORE
Overall Rating: It was really good for an inaugural run.
Course Difficulty: Although the course only had a couple of miles of pretty technical trail, the amount of power that had to be exerted on the hills was extremely difficult. While I was walking, I remember thinking that most people I know (non ultra runners) would not be able to walk this trail, it is just that tough.
Course scenery: Excellent. Ran past a couple of waterfalls, through some old mining tunnels, and some rock formations. Good view of the cove from the top.
Race Production: I’m a little mixed on this. For the inaugural race, it was excellent-everything when and where it should have been, plenty of communication, and an on time start. The one area that seemed to be lacking was trail marking, most trails that I have run as complex as this one have a general rule that you can see the next confidence marker from the current one, that was not the case here. There were people lost and taking wrong turns all day. While I personally didn’t get off course, there were several times I had to stop to try and see a flag, and at the end, a couple of miles where I had no idea if I was on the right trail. This could be improved.
Another thing that was odd was the lack of attention at the finish line. As I came in, there were spectators, but no one to say ok, you’re done. You just kind of stand there…eventually a guy came over and asked if I got a jar. I took one, grabbed a burger and took off. I think this area could use some work.
The aid stations were excellent!!! Wide variety of fuel, and the volunteers were helpful and attentive. They led you through every step from checking in to heading out.
Race Swag: You know, there is just kind of a standard that when you finish a race, you get a medal or a buckle; I know that ultras do things differently, but the finisher gift for this one was a glass jar with a leather wrap…that’s going to be tough to hang next to the other medals. I’m sure that some people like jars or pottery or wood carvings or whatever, I’m just not all about that. The other stuff – drop bag, shirt, sticker, head band were all good.
My Performance: Not bad. I knew going in that this would be a vertical challenge so I was hoping for a finish around 8 hours. I was shocked in the last few miles when I was trending for a 7 hour finish. This time definitely doesn’t reflect how difficult this course is (I had some 21 min miles), but there were some pretty fast downhill sections to make up for it.
Final notes: This is a hard course, physically. Your bones, joints, and spine will hurt. At times you will feel like you can’t walk anymore from the steepness of the hills, and on the way down, you will feel like your IT bands are going to snap. You’re feet will get wet in the creek crossings, and if it rains up to a week before the race, you will be in a muddy sloppy mess for part of it. Much of the rocky part of the trail also had a 4-6” leaf covering over it, which made a nice mine field for the ankles.
Just being real with this assessment, but if you feel up to the challenge, this trail will take you to some beautiful places you would otherwise never see.