Have you ever wanted to try a challenging mountain race but without committing to training for a long-distance race? The Continental Divide Trail Race may be the perfect chance to do just that. The race is only 10k long; most runners complete the race in 55 to 90 minutes. The shorter race allows you to test your abilities in the mountains without the commitment of a marathon or ultramarathon race.
The race takes place at Laurel Ridge Camp and Conference Center in Laurel Springs, North Carolina. It is a beautiful location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, only one and a half hours from Winston-Salem, two hours from Charlotte, and two and a half hours from Asheville. The Continental Divide Trail Race has a nice mixture of tight technical trails and wide grassy paths, steep climbs and descents mixed with fast runnable sections.
Are you afraid you won’t be able to run the whole race? Don’t worry, everyone will walk some during this race. We will keep the clock running until the last runner finishes. Before you say this race is too tough, we had several 70-plus-year-old runners participate who said that they loved the course and plan on returning. But maybe they are tougher than most folks nowadays. Maybe they know the fun is in taking on a challenge.
Post-race festivities include good food, multiple awards categories (including homemade apple jam for age-group winners), and door prizes.
The Continental Divide Trail Race also serves as the 2014 USA 10K Trail Championships, attracting elite runners and top age-group athletes from across the country. So you can have the opportunity to race with them or just be running the same trails with the elites as they lay down smoking times. Prize money will be awarded to the top USATF finishers and the top North Carolina-resident USATF members in the open and masters categories.
This year we are expecting previous winners David Roche (who just made the USA Mountain Team) and Megan Kimmel (multiple years USA Mountain Team member and winner of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup). Megan Deakins (who also just made the USA Mountain Team) will be out to complete the contest for US Mountain Running power couple as she and David Roche will be running Continental Divide as part of their honeymoon. NC Mountain runner Ryan Woods (two-time member of the USA Mountain Team) returns, trying to move up one spot from his numerous second-place finishes here. Another NC Mountain runner, Amber Reece-Young (runner-up at the 2012 Xterra World Championships) returns to compete for the national championship tag. Possibly there could be a Max King (2011 World Mountain Running champion) or Joe Gray (nine-time national champion in trail and mountain races) spotting, depending on how their race schedules work out in August. Regardless, you will have the opportunity to run with and meet some of the best runners in the country.
To compete in the national championship, you need to be a USATF member; however, USATF membership is not required to run the race and everyone is eligible for the Continental Divide age-group awards.
If you want to spend more time in the mountains, Higgins Lodge has hotel rooms available or you can reserve a bunk in one of the summer camp cabins. It is also less than an hour from the mountain town of Boone, an excellent choice for a weekend getaway.
The 2014 Continental Divide Trail Race will take place on Aug. 23, 2014. For more information, visit www.mountaingoatracing.com.
