Emily Schwab's Staging Area

If you are local to Johnson City, a very experienced trail runner, and have a crew willing to hang out all day and provide everything you need, this is probably a great race. If you are not all of those things, it’s a horrific race.
The race was extremely disorganized and relevant information necessary for planning was not shared in time to prepare for the race. For example, the participant guide was sent out at 10 pm on Thursday, before the first race starting at 6 am Saturday. That email included yet another call for volunteers; this is a red flag that anyone considering this race. The participant guide included multiple changes to the race from last year, including an update to aid stations, specifically removing one. The day of the race, 5 minutes before race start, the director announced that there would be an additional water only station (adding back the one removed in the participant guide, which was listed as a “water and ice” station).
The race had only two main aid stations, and one water only station. On a day that started in the 70’s with a high in the 90’s, the two main aid stations didn’t have any ice until after noon. The water only station was literally water only; three coolers on a card table in direct sunlight. As you might expect from sitting in the sun, the water was not cold and I don’t believe it was ever refilled.
The volunteers tried their best, but they simply did not have enough to run this race successfully. The main aid station at the start/finish had one volunteer in the morning, and one in the afternoon. The second main aid station had two in the morning, and one in the afternoon who previously ran the 25k. I suspect there were no volunteers overnight for any runners who continued on.
With as little information and volunteers as they had, the race should have been deferred for the safety of everyone involved. Instead, the race director decided to move forward without necessary supplies or volunteer support. These races have a high DNF rate for a reason.