First off, I just want to say how well put on this race was! DUMASS events did a great job with all of the organization. Also, I would like to thank the amazing volunteers, you guys ROCKED!! The morning started off with the drive to the start, I live an hour away from Camp Morganton, so it seemed smarter to drive there the morning of after a good nights “rest” than to try sleeping in the car. Packet pickup was quick and smooth. The race started right on time 8 am. It starts out on a relatively flat road as you run your way toward Aska rd. One you hit Aska the fun begins. You start your first climb up the paved rd. It seems forever long. It’s one of those hills that because it’s early in the race you think “I can run this”, but also it’s early and you have a long way to go. After making it to the top you get a short reprieve. Then you turn right toward the Flat Creek Loop. There you hit the first aid station, Deep Gap. The loop was fully shaded and had a mix of up/downhill and “flat sections, overall run able. It is probably the longest straight stretch of run able trail. You end the loop back at, you guessed it, the Deep Gap aid station. I skipped the aid both times, I had enough fuel in my pack to keep me going and hadn’t drank much of my water yet. At this juncture you hang a left and head uphill (it always seems like you are headed uphill). Still feeling pretty good at this point (10ish miles or so in) you start to run downhill, and then continue downhill, and then downhill some more feels like 3ish miles of fairly steep terrain. So much so that I had to walk about the last .5 mile to keep from blowing out my quads. You hit the Weaver Creek aid station meet some nice volunteers who have food and water! There I ate a PB&J and refilled my water while I contemplated the climb back out. Oh, did I forget to mention that this is a pointless out and back that turns the race into into 56 miles instead of your standard 50 miler. After the walk back to the top I sat on a log for about 10 minutes (I was listening to music at this point and pretty much through the rest of the race. For this particular climb I had The Adventure Jogger podcast on). Then you start a long decent It was fairly gentle. I got a text from my crew around mile 18 down through the Stanley Creek aid down to the Old Dial rd aid. The trail was nice through Stanley Creek. I saw a king snake around mile 17 and had to escort it off the trail. It looked at me like “yea I’m here, what are you going to do about it”. After filing my bottle at Stanley Creek I headed down the busy (there is a popular waterfall just off the road) road back toward Aska. Here is where you hit the most cruel part of the trail thus far, The Toccoa River Restaurant. At mile 22ish you run directly in front of the most delicious smelling food, this was the only time throughout the race that I “considered” quitting. Once you push past you cross the Toccoa River steel bridge, hang a right and run down a dirt road for a bit before turning back into the woods. Then, of course, you begin to climb again. After reaching the summit of this fairly tame climb you are rewarded with a downhill run to your first crew spot (mile 24ish). I came in, checked in, and then headed for the tailgate of my truck where my crew man Erick was waiting for me. Grabbed some water and a uncrustable and just chilled for like 45 minutes… I lost a lot of time there, not that it mattered. After rolling out (I have one of those R8 rollers that are pretty portable) I pounded a RedBull, refilled my bottles and started back down the trail. Only 5.5 miles to the next aid and crew stop. Half of a mile or so in I ate another PB&J. Started to feel pretty strong at this point, I mean after all RedBull gives you wings right? At this point I begin to catch some of the people that passed through while I was sitting on my ass. I don’t remember much about the trail through here. Hitting the next aid station at Wilscot Gap I checked in and headed toward my truck. At this point I had to take a “shower” to wash all of the salt off of my head because it was causing some chaffing around my sunglasses and would begin to scratch me anytime I wiped off my face. When you leave this aid you head into a control burn area. This, according to the elevation profile, was pretty rough. I don’t remember it being that bad but I guess at 35 miles things get a little fuzzy. After 3ish “peaks” you complete this section running downhill into Skeenah Gap. There were multiple volunteers helping you cross the road. I made it across the road and a volunteer stuck me in a chair, grabbed my bottles, and brought me a grilled cheese. I sat here for a short time and then headed over to my truck for the last time before the finish. Sat here for 20 minutes or so, grabbed my lights (I used the UltrAspire headlamp and lumen 200 waist light), and hit the trail. Here is where the fun begins. The DRAGONS SPINE! I don’t remember much of this (or the remainder of the trail). I do remember multiple big climbs and steep descents. Fish Gap is like an oasis in the middle of the desert. They had ramen and some other snacks. I loaded up on ramen, refilled my bottles, and got back to work. It started getting dark about an hour after I left. At this point everything is a little fuzzy… The best part about running in the dark is that you can’t see the climb in front of you, you are forced to take it one step at a time. I alternated my lights to make sure the batteries last long enough. I used my waist light only when climbing. When you are going as slow as I was you don’t need to see very far. I used the combo when running. I really only remember stopping to take a picture of Blairsville lit up at night. I came up on a runner (at what my watch said was mile 48) and asking where the hell this aid station was. She thought it was 1/4 mile or so away. Im not sure if that was right or not, but if it was it was the longest/slowest 1/4 mile of the race. I dropped down into the FirePit aid station and as the name would suggest they had a fire. Took a nice long break on a log sound the fire warming up (at this point it had cooled down substantially, 50º or so). I grabbed some more ramen, a mountain dew, and refilled my bottles. Then sat back down. There were multiple runners there at the time, and I made the comment that I was trying to finish by midnight. I heard one of them say “8 miles in 2 hours, should be no problem. We should all finish before midnight”. I have no clue if he did, but I was nowhere near. I have no clue how long I sat there, but I decided to get moving when my crew man asked if I was at an aid station or just drunk because I had been still for so long ( I used strava beacon so he could keep tabs on where I was). When you leave here you begin the climb up Coosa Bald. I was warned that it was pretty rough. I’m not sure if it was the darkness or the fact that I couldn’t feel my legs at this point, but the climb wasn’t bad. Now the descent on the other hand. I believe it took me longer to go down than up. It was steep and rocky. At the Wolf Creek aid (water only) I refilled and continued walking along. Only 3.3 miles to the finish! At this point Erick is sending me motivational texts and giving me insight on the course ahead of me. I will never forget the text “last big climb”, getting to the top of what I thought the climb was and then realizing that I wasn’t done with it yet. Once you top out you start the long descent to the finish line. At this point my knees are complete trash and I’m “running” 20 min miles just trying not to fall on my face. The trail at this point is pretty technical and well its dark and I’m 55 miles in during a “50” mile race. At some point you emerge from the woods into the campground at Vogel State Park. The trails turns into asphalt and I figured there were 2 ways to finish, run it in or walk it in. I decide to run! I would like to say its because I wanted to finish strong but in all actuality if I ran I was done sooner. I crossed the finish line in 17:47.15, almost 2 hours after I wanted to finish (I’ll take it though). I had to use my poles to hold my bo body up at the finish line while the volunteer grabbed my belt (for finishing the 50 you get a laser engraved leather belt). I staggered back to my truck with Ericks help, changed clothes, and climbed in the passenger seat for the trip home. Finished my first 50 miler. I was no where near ready for it training wise (I averaged 11 miles per week starting in January). I can’t wait till my next one! I was on the waitlist for the Ga Jewel 50 and got the email notification that I was in at 10:30 the morning after CJ. Recovery sucked for 2-3 days. I took off completely 3 days then started back on Wednesday. I would like to thank the race directors, the volunteers, and Crew Man Erick for a great event and all the help I received along the way! You guys put on one hell of a race and put the Cruel in Cruel Jewel!
I finished 29th overall if anyone was wondering.
Side note: I ran in Xoskin compression socks, underwear and their form fitting shirtsleeve shirt. I never changed and finished with 0 blisters or chaffing.
Gear list:
- Xoskin compression socks, Xoskin underwear, and shirt
- Nuun hydration
- Xero Shoes Mesa Trail shoes
- Pathprojects shorts
- Nathan Trailmix 7L pack
- Honey Stinger chews and Gels
GA Runners 