Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock (PM2HR) 50K

 
Location: Danbury, NC; Pilot Mountain SP to Hanging Rock SP via the Sauratown Trail
Date Run: 10/15/2016, 0730 start
Duration: 4:21:21
Place: 1 out of 126
Average Pace: 8:24
Elevation: 750' to 2050'
Weather: 50-70F, clear
Race Website: http://pm2hrultras.com/

About a two hour drive north of Charlotte, 12 miles south of the border with Virginia roughly halfway between nowhere and someplace is a little town called Danbury. It would be unremarkable were it not in the shadow of two impressive state parks - Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain. Both have rapids on the Dan River, multipitch sport and trad climbing, and an impressive trail network connected between the parks by the Sauratown Trail.

I stumbled upon the race website while perusing runningintheusa.com. It had a couple main draws. 

Of the dozens of race formats I've done, my preferences go:

1. Point to point (Imogene Pass Run in CO)
2. Loop (Breck Crest in CO)
3. Out and back (Cloudsplitter in KY)
4. Repeating sections (I avoid these)

PM2HR is a point to point between state parks and it looked scenic based on the cherry picked photos from the website. In person it equally really impressed. Pilot Mountain rises slowly from the valley like most other Appalachia humps but the top is capped by an almost perfectly cylindrical shear rock wall. Hanging Rock has beautiful waterfalls in the valley floor of the park, while 1500 feet above and a 2 mi hike away are shear cliffs with unobstructed views of the surrounding countryside.

I met my college friend Aaron in Danbury the night before the race. We stayed at a cozy 2 bedroom called the Wren Roost in the Whippoorwill Inn. There was no front desk, didn't see the owners once the entire weekend; but there was key underneath the doormat and the place was clean. The town really had limited dining options. I was thrilled to find hot cheetos and takis at the corner market but would have preferred a banana. The River Rock Cafe on the outskirts of town had a decent pasta dish adequate for a pre-race meal.

The race was a point to point from ::drumroll:: Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock, so for $10 a bus shuttled runners from the finish to the start. Within five minutes of departing HR at 0630, our bus was pulled over. Turns out the driver, in addition to not signaling, was also going the wrong way so the officer kindly escorted us to the start. Despite it being 0715, dawn had yet to arrive. There were only two urinals available for the 135 50k runners. Usually I try to take care of business before arriving at the start but the coffee failed me so I was resigned to waiting in the dark line for half an hour. The rising sun moved in sync with the line illuminating Pilot Mountain in the distance. 

After a brief pre-race meeting lamenting the closure of portions of the Sauratown Trail and reroutes on pavement, the gun went off at 0745. The 50k started in Pilot Mountain, but only the 50 milers actually ran in the park. The 50k just skirted the edge of the park quickly jumping on the Sauratown on a fast descent leading out of PM. Four of us charged down the wide trail going sub 7:00 for the first mile. Once the trail flattened so did the pace. The pack dispersed and after the first four miles I was alone in the front where I remained through the finish.

Sauratown Trail was primarily rolling technical single track with one significant climb starting at mile 10. The trail had a lot of flow to it but also had infrequent road crossings and portions that ran along the road. It was less than optimal but unavoidable because of trail closures. Mile 17 through mile 20 just before entering HR Park consisted of a long climb along the road. The pavement was warm and draining.

There was an aid station before leaving the road and entering the HR trail system but I didn't take in enough electrolytes. After the 1000' climb from the road to the race's highest point in HR, I was left with an electrolyte imbalance. On the rapid technical descent from Moore's Wall, I took a digger on the technical downhill and both of my hamstrings locked. One of the race organizers marking the trail climbed toward me from the opposite direction but hadn't seen me go down. After telling me I was crushing it from a distance he broke mid sentence asking "Uhhh... doing okay?" Guess I looked off balance and shaken - the blood dripping down my leg might've been a clue too. He quickly rifled through his pack leaving me with pretzels and a bottle of water on the fly. 

His gesture really saved my race. There wasn't another aid station for 3 more miles of steep quad crushing downhill that transitioned from single track to crowded concrete walkway. My handheld was drained and I was running on fumes by the time I rolled into the aid station at the parking lot of the HR visitor center. I had a PB&J, drank half a liter of water, and for the first time in my life, I downed a salt tablet. It actually worked and the intermittent cramping in my hamstrings eased. The aid station volunteers informed me I was out front by 20 mins. I relaxed my pace some as I descended further through HR. 

The trail from the visitor center gave way to steep stairs that navigated through beautiful waterfalls near the floor of the park. In light of my lead, I decided I wanted a picture taken in front of the falls. I failed to bring my phone so I asked a random park visitor for assistance. The man hesitantly admitted to having a phone. After I explained I was running a race and didn't want to miss the chance to take a picture in front of the falls he quickly acquiesced. I passed off my phone number on the fly and continued down the stairs to the base of the falls.

Knowing I was about 26 miles in, I conserved energy through the flats to avoid a late race bonk. An abundance of stream crossings peppered with picturesque fallen autumn leaves kept my pace in check. When the course finally emerged from the underbrush of Hanging Rock onto a gravel road, my GPS put me at 29 mi. The course ended rather abruptly a half mile later 1.5mi short of 31. I crossed the line in 4:21, first overall. The next finisher came through in 4:55 so I was alone with the volunteers for awhile. I grabbed the free finisher beer and hobbled down to the Dan River adjacent to the finish line. There was a raft put-in providing a convenient spot to hop in and soak my legs. As more runners finished, the riverside bar at the finish line provided the perfect spot to unwind and hang out. My buddy Aaron finished in the front end of the pack in around 6 hours. Wasting no time, we grabbed more beers and got back in the river making a perfect end to a great race.

Ratings

Race Organization (5=phenomenal, 1=atrocious): 4/5
The good: Well marked, plenty of food at aid stations, diverse beautiful course with a great finisher area.
The bad: Did I mention the shuttle driver was pulled over on the way to the start?

Course Difficulty (5=Pikes Peak Ascent, 1=a flat dirt road): 3/5
I took a digger. I never take diggers. The technical downhill sections were fast requiring focus. Though the road sections - not so much. The climbing was moderately challenging but not demoralizing.

Course Scenery (5=engagement proposal backdrop, 1=concrete walls): 4/5
A point to point in the fall with plenty of elevation changes and a diversity of terrain I rarely see in the east.

Schwag (5=a tech T, embroidered towel & warmup pants, 1=a cotton shirt): 4/5
Unique finisher medal, framed plaque for winning, free finisher beer, and a sweatshirt

Overall: 5/5

The brief road sections and bathroom line at the start were the only drawbacks of this race. Even getting pulled over provided quality conversation fodder. Courses like this are why I love trail running.