Athens/Big Fork 2011

Well as promised, Here is my story and collection of pictures from the Athens/Big Fork race.A good contingent from Tulsa journeyed over into Arkansas to run this difficult trail race put on by AURA. This is my 8th year to start this race, with only 4 marathon finishes. Once, I tweaked a knee and turned around at mile 10 for a 20 mile out-and-back. One year, I opted to drop down to the 17 mile Fun Run. One year, I dropped at the halfway point and begged a ride back to the TATUR aid station, and this year, I decided to just enjoy 17 miles with my friend Tom.
Stormy drove his massive Ford Excursion and hauled me, Tom, Jason, and Janeen. Alex rode down with Brian towing the TATUR trailer. Tom Brennan came over again from Poteau and brought several friends with him. Tammy Winn and a friend and Michael Scoggins rounded out the Oklahoma contingent.After checking into our rooms, it was time to chow down. In Mena AR, there is no better place to stuff your face than the Chopping Block Steak House.
The food was delicious. I opted for the New York Strip, and blew my entire expense account on it!! Polk county is a dry county, and there was no carb loading via beer. :-(

We rolled into Big Fork at 6:30, and ambled into the community center to sign our waiver, put our $5.00 in the donation box, and then spent some time catching up with old friends. The RD Steve makes a few announcements and warnings about the course--the usual "the course is hard, don't get lost, etc."

This pot bellied stove was fired up and felt really good on this 30 degree morning. Number 449 is Tom Brennan, who set the course record last year in the marathon running a 4:26:30. Now I know someone will read this and think that's nothing. HAHA! This course is very technical running over jagged rocks and scree, and 9,200 feet of elevation in the 16 mountain passes. This year, Tom Brennan shaved a few minutes off his record running a 4:22:55!! He just floats over the rocks and hills.

My friend Tom Robinson, styling a matching vest and visor, is secretly about to throw up fretting the torture he is fixing to endure.

No fretting for Jason. Jason ran a good time last year (7:10) was primed to run a PR for this course. He did just that, shaving exactly one hour off his time!!

A couple of friends in this pic. In the Western States jacket is Stan Ferguson--Co-RD of the Arkansas Traveller (along with his better half Chrissy.) Stan and Chrissy are the only husband and wife to complete the Grand Slam of ultrarunning--finishing the Vermont 100, Western States, Leadville, and the Wasatch 100 all in the same year. They're rock stars! Number 263 is Pete Ireland. I have ran many races with Pete, and usually he beats me, although every now and then I come in a few minutes before him. This was a lucky year for me as I bested him by 2 minutes. If he had another mile, I bet he would have passed me.

At exactly 8:00 am, we were sent on our way. Running east right into the sun was actually a pleasure since the past few years have been cloudy/foggy on race day. The first mile is on a paved two-lane highway....

....and turns onto a gravel road. This road goes along for a mile and a half before reaching the trail head.

Tom stopped for a brief rest on the porch of this abandoned house near the road. Had he sat down here on the return trip, I might not have been able to get him going again.

After 2.6 miles, we reached the Athens/Big Fork trail head. This trail was a mule trail used by the postal service over 100 years ago and crosses 8 mountains. The marathoners turn around and endure the 8 climbs on the way home. Those doing the 17 mile fun run cross 5 mountains before coming back. I love the tall pines--the sound of the wind whirring through the branches and boughs.A look back to the east (although I lose any sense of direction on this race.)

The first climb is a doozie. There were several blow-downs on the way up, and the trail was covered by leaves. It seemed like it might be a long grueling day.

I'm nearing the top. Not feeling all that great about my efforts at this point. I had forgot my Garmin, but it was just as well as it would have had bad news for me.

A view from the top. Notice all the briers and the blow-down. This section was not fun, although after a quarter mile, the trail was actually much better.

Some nice downhill running. If you can't run the downhills well, it is impossible to finish this race in the time allotted.

At the bottom of nearly every valley, there is a water crossing. It's possible in places to hop-skotch over on rocks, but by the end of the day, there is no getting out of having wet feet.
Tom brought his filter bottle--just to try out. I have drank straight from streams just like this out of extreme necessity, but given the choice, I would prefer not to. Tom took a sip or two, and stuck to safer water for the rest of the day.

Then it was time to climb. It is hard to capture the severity of the inclines in a picture. Suffice to say that most climbs are over 500 feet, and some are closer to 1000 feet.

Not every step is as rocky as these pics show, but the course is rocky enough to chew up a pair of shoes. I had decided to run in my Montrail Hardrocks one last time and left my Hokas in waiting, as I need those to get me through a couple of long races in February and March.

The third decline runs along the edge of this mountain, and the loose scree always makes falling a real possibility. And fall I did! I took a dive and scraped my hand a little. Blood was shed, but not so much to make a good picture.

I kept running the downhills, but Tom was a little more cautious. (Smart man.)

Another water crossing. I just plowed through this one. Blaylock Creek was coming up and there is no way to cross it dry-footed.

That mountain over there--yup, we gotta climb it.

Love me sum pines and blue sky!!

Here's a rare flat section of trail. Actually, there are a few stretches where the trail runs along a stream and the course is fairly flat. But most is either UP or DOWN.

Tom is enjoying a run section just before our turn-around.

We were near the back of the pack, and the aid station fare was pretty picked over. However, the peanut butter and saltines really hit the spot. I walked out with a triple decker sandwich made of two peanut butter cracker sandwiches with a brownie in between. YUM!

The climb out of Blaylock Creek is maybe the steepest on the course. This mountain usually kicks my butt, and we definitely did not set any speed records, but I felt like I made it up and over in better shape than in previous years. Of course, those doing the marathon would have been climbing this having crossed six more mountains than we had at this point.

One of my favorite sections is alongside this creek where the trail is carpeted by a coat of moss. Makes for some nice soft footfalls.

Climbing the next to the next to the last mountain, Stan, who was running the full marathon, passes us by. Tom Brennan had long since passed us (at our 9 mile point, and he was on his 18th mile!)

This is another booger of a climb. The next one after this was even worse.

The end is near. Tom is on the last descent. We finished in 5:56. Maybe not too impressive timewise, but it was a great day of running, and I felt strong even in the final few climbs.


This race has never had a t-shirt or awards, but this year, t-shirts were available for purchase. Stormy sports the shirt, having finished his first A/BF 26.2. He loved it, and I'm betting he'll be back next year.
This is the back of the shirt--it's the warning about the race that is on the website. Actually, I think this warning makes more people WANT to do it. There were 93 runners in this race--the largest turnout ever. There were 100 shirts printed. Tom and I finished way ahead of a lot of the marathoners, and the shirts were gone. Tom had made arrangements for someone to buy him one, but I was dissappointed to not get one. There is a list of folks wanting a shirt, and maybe they will reprint some.
This is the elevation profile of the 17 mile Fun Run (which is actually closer to 18 miles by Tom's garmin.) Ouch!
Results can be viewed HERE.

Athens/Big Fork 2010

For seven years now, I have made a trip over into Arkansas to do the Athens/Big Fork Trail Marathon. This tough trail race begins in the community of Big Fork and crosses over 8 mountains on an old mule trail used a hundred or so years ago to get mail from Athens to Big Fork. It is an incredible trail, scenic, steep, technical in places, and the hardest race I have ever done. Yet each year, I drag my bones back for another dose of punishment.

Big Fork is not much more than a wide spot in the road if even that. Big Fork boasts the Big Fork Mall.Twice now, I have intended to take a picture of the mall, but we always seem to be anxious to get to the race start, and afterward, we are too beat to stop for a photo-moment. This pic is obviously taken by bicyclists in the warmer months. This store has sodas, and a few snacks, and not much more. The owner (Raymond I think) has half of the store devoted to paintings, and he'll give you a tour to show off his work. I have not stopped to visit the store in the past few years, so if things have changed, so be it. The other building in town is the Community Center where the race begins. After checking in, getting our race numbers, catching up with old friends and such, we pose for a group picture.This picture at times has been helpful to identify missing runners as it is easy to make a wrong turn in the mountains. What should be a 26.2 mile trek for some ends up being 30+ miles. I had made the trip down with Jason and Lisa, and we met Bill Richardson, another TATUR in Mena at the Sun Country Inn to get a sleep the night before. TATUR was also represented by Randy Ellis and Tom Brennan.The race started at 8:00 (8:01 by my watch.) I had started my Garmin whilst inside, and it was slow in getting a signal, so I cleared the mileage and started it just as the race started thinking it would pick up soon. But of all the rotten luck, the memory was full! I was having trouble reading the numbers and could not seem to figure out how to delete laps or clear the memory as I had lost my glasses the day before. Sux to get old! I decided I would just have to go data-less and rely on my watch for my time. The time I had spent jacking with my Garmin had put me about 1/4 mile behind all the runners....but no worries--this is a race where a slow start is beneficial.I settled into a steady zombie-shuffle and gradually caught up with a few of the runners. The plan was to run with Lisa, but she ran her pace and figured I would catch her later, which after about 5 miles, I finally did. A/BF begins with about a mile of pavement, and then turns onto a gravel road for about 1.6 miles before reaching the trailhead. That's where the fun begins. Below is an elevation profile borrowed from Arnold Begay's blog from last year.The profile should be symmetrical, but on the right side of the graph, you'll notice a discrepancy where Arnold made a wrong turn and added about 3 bonus miles. This race is one where a wrong turn can be costly. If one does the marathon, he/she will have climbed about 9,600 vertical feet. That's like climbing the Empire State Building 6 times. This amount of climb would take you from the base of Pikes Peak to the top with 1400 feet to spare. I did get the memory cleared on the Garmin just before I reached trailhead, and at least had a hint of how slow my pace really was. Sometimes the only good thing about a Garmin is hearing the darn thing beep at each mile.
It's hard to capture in a snapshot the severity of the slope of a climb. Not every uphill is as steep as climbing stairs, but some inclines are almost at a 45 degree slope. Most of the trail is nice single track--some pine needle blankets like pictured above, some craggy rocks, some nice soft dirt, some green meadows strewn with rocks--a nice mix.This year, the saw briers were not as bad as in past years, but the top of the first mountain had a bad patch.
My ability to make good time going up needs work, but my downhill running helped out. Often, well about 14 times +/- I was able to bomb the downhills and make up a little time. A couple downhill slopes were rocky to necessitate a slower pace.
While descending one mountain, the next one seemed to rise toward the sky. At times, I wondered why I was back here again. A glutton for torture....yup, I is dat.
After 5.5 miles, I finally caught Lisa, and we stayed close for the remainder of the race. She is better on the uphills than I was, and I would catch her on the descents. (Gravity is my friend while going down.)
There were several water crossings. At first, most people try to step across on stones or fallen trees....gotta keep the feet dry. But soon enough, it made more sense to just plow right through the water. Blaylock Creek had to be waded, and some years it is knee deep. This year, it was mid-calf deep....and icy cold!
This was where the second aid station was, and also the point where the 17 mile fun-runners turned around. Neither Lisa of I wee thinking about turning around early....gotta go for the full monty!A cold day--ice on the Icebreaker hat.
So Lisa and I are about 9.5 miles into our race, and Tom Brennan comes flying down the hill in first place....no surprise there. At our 9.5 mile point, he was over 7 miles ahead of us. Humbling! Tom held the course record here, running it in 4:34 a few years back. Today, he smashed his record by clocking a 4:26. Studly!
Another mountain to climb.
Not all of the trail was straight up and straight down. There were a few stretches that ran along streams for as much as a mile....very scenic and very runnable.
Next Tatur to pass us on the way back was Bill Richardson. Bill finished and was gone when we finished, some 4 hours ahead of us.
Randy was next. Lisa thought Randy would be miffed at her for doing the 26.2 instead of the 17 mile fun run. But I am sure randy was more impressed than miffed.
Please disregard the likeness of Oprah in the rock to Lisa's left. It is there because of a quirky requirement for one of my other blogs (Faster than Oprah). Hope I don't get sued!
Then we saw Jason and of course he and Lisa have to play kissie face.
Last mountain to climb before the turn-around.
Last descent....but of course, we have to make the return trip!
After refueling with some chicken noodle soup, we were heading back. I was beat down, dog tired, but very determined to get a finish.

On the way out, mountain #6 was a steep mile long climb....really socked it to us. On the return trip, the climbs were getting harder due to general fatigue.

The climb after the Blaylock Creek aid station though was off-the-charts steep!!

I would climb and count my steps, trying to make 100 steps before stopping to breathe.
I would grab a tree and hang on.
I also took several pics trying to capture the steepness.




Despite the temps starting out at 27 and maybe warming to 33-35 degrees, I was soaked with sweat. At the top of this climb, there were 4 more mountains, and the next climb and the last climb were not as severe. :-)
The mountain before Brian's aid station was long, very rocky, and possibly as steep as the hill I was whining about a in the previous paragraph. It was a tree hugging climb. I wonder if Tom Brennan just trotted up this hill? Tom? The next to the last one on the return trip....all running, some walking, some stops to catch your breath? Inquiring minds want to know!
Finally, the last stream crossing........and the last aid station, manned by the Head Tatur himself. After some M&M and peanut butter covered Oreos, and a handful of Cheese-its, and a swig or three of cold beer, I was ready to tackle the last mountain. Actually, the last climb was the second easiest one, except for a few saw briers. Then it was a half mile of rocky technical trail with a few blow-downs to jump over or under. It was getting late in the day, but I knew we would make it. One needs for sure to be off the trail before dark, although Lisa did have a headlamp. Once off the trail, there was the 2.6 miles of gravel road and pavement, but that could be negotiated even at night. Picture taking became a lesser priority and possibility as the sun set. We ran most of the way once on the roads, and maintained a 12 minute mile pace including a few short walk breaks. Can't say our pace for the whole day was anywhere that fast, but it was enough to get to the finish line.

I Now have 4 finishes at A/BF. 2004 I ran it in 7:20, and have came nowhere close to that since. The next year I twisted a knee and turned around after 10 miles for a 20 mile run. I finished the next 2 years, and changed to the fun run in 2008. 2009, I was having a good race but tweaked my back 12 miles in and dropped at the halfway point. I really was wondering if I had what it takes to even finish this run again....after all, I am getting older. Although my time was slow, I felt great the whole day, and ran strong on the downhills. I never fell, and I have no boo boos or blisters. Vitamin "I" and I have this thing going, but after tomorrow, I will go without. Right now, I feel certain that I will be back next year for the fun run, or maybe the whole enchilada again. Anyone wanna join me?