Runners Guide 2016
The route is a point to point course mostly single track, double track and gated forest service roads in the Cherokee National forest in eastern Tennessee (a one hour drive east from Chattanooga). This guide is broken down into six sections. We recommend linking to the overall ViewRanger map as well as the individual sections by clicking on the names.
101.6 miles - 18,711 feet of total climbing 18,105 feet of descent
River Crossing
7.7
9.4 7.7
7.6 17.1&.4
Chilhowee - First 18 miles Starr Mtn - 18.2 to 36.8 Cherokee - 36.8 to 49.7 John Muir - 49.7 to 63.1 MacKaye - 63.1 to 81.4 Tanasi - 81.4 to 101.6
8.2 25.3
9.9 33.5
6.8 43.4
5.8 50.2
Aid Stations
7 56
9.7 63
8.6 72.7
9.5 81.3
3.9
6.9
90.8 94.7
Aid Station
Mile
Mile to Next
Crew / Drop Bags
Notes
Mulepen Gap
8.63
8.47
No/No
Gee Creek
17.10
8.14
Yes/Yes
Iron Gap
25.24
7.42
No/No
Bullet Creek
32.66
8.44
No/No
Sunset for 30 hr pace - LIGHTS!!
Firehouse (Crew Only)
41.10
2.92
Yes/No
Crew access - No aid. Safety Runners allowed
Manning Cabin
44.02
6.60
No/Yes
Cut Off Time 11:30
Coker Falls
50.62
6.73
No/No
Sunset for 17 hr pace
Powerhouse
57.35
6.96
No/No
Reliance
64.31
10.47
Yes/Yes
Deep Gap
74.78
9.27
No/No
Thunder Rock
84.05
5.60
Yes/Yes
Cut Off Time Noon Crew access
Whitewater Center
89.65
2.92
Yes/No
Cut Off Time 2:00 PM Crew access
Upper Put-In (Crew Only)
92.56
0.74
Yes/No
Crew access - No aid
Boyd Gap
93.30
7.64
No/Yes
Cut Off Time 3:00 PM Crew access
Cut Off Time 4:15
Cut Off Time 5:30AM Crew access
Thunder Rock 100 Pace Chart Aid Station Mulepen Gap Gee Creek (crew) Iron Gap Bullet Creek Firehouse (Crew Only) Manning Cabin Coker Falls Powerhouse Reliance (Crew) Deep Gap Thunder Rock (Crew) Whitewater Center (Crew) Upper Put-In (Crew Only) Boyd Gap Finish Surface Legend 1 - Pavement 2 - Maintained Dirt or Gravel Rd 3 - Rough Dirt Rd / Forest Service Rd 4 - Double Track / 4WD Trail 5 - Single Track - Easy 6 - Single Track - Technical
Mile 8.63 17.10 25.24 32.66 41.10 44.02 50.62 57.35 64.31 74.78 84.05 89.65 92.56 93.30 100.95
Miles to Next 8.47 8.14 7.42 8.44 2.92 6.60 6.73 6.96 10.47 9.27 5.60 2.92 0.74 7.64
Elevation in feet 1927 Start-866 720 1930 1212 942 1299 1344 843 799 2130 1130 1296 1391 1733 1479
Surface 6,5 2,5 4,5 5,3 4,2,1 1,2 3 6 5,1 5,6 4,6,5 5 5,1 5 5,6
Pace min/ mi 11 8 11 9 8 9 9 10 11 11 9 11 11 11 11
17 Hour Hours Between 1.6 1.1 1.5 1.1 1.1 0.4 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.9 1.4 1.0 0.5 0.1 1.4
Sunset Sunrise Moonrise Moonset
Total Hours 1.6 2.7 4.2 5.3 6.4 6.9 7.9 9.0 10.3 12.2 13.6 14.6 15.1 15.3 16.7
Pace min/ mi 14 10 15 14 11 13 13 15 14 16 14 15 15 16 17
24 Hour Hours Between 2.0 1.4 2.0 1.7 1.5 0.6 1.4 1.7 1.6 2.8 2.2 1.4 0.7 0.2 2.2
Total Hours 2.0 3.4 5.5 7.2 8.7 9.4 10.8 12.5 14.1 16.9 19.1 20.5 21.2 21.4 23.6
Pace min/ mi 16 13 18 17 14 16 16 19 18 20 19 20 20 20 21
30 Hour Hours Between 2.3 1.8 2.4 2.1 2.0 0.8 1.8 2.1 2.1 3.5 2.9 1.9 1.0 0.2 2.7
Total Hours 2.3 4.1 6.6 8.7 10.6 11.4 13.2 15.3 17.4 20.9 23.8 25.7 26.7 26.9 29.6
Cut-Off Times 4:15
11:30
5:30 Noon 2:00 3:00 6:00
Time Hours In 8:37 8:37 6:35 18:35 4:55 16:55 6:52 30:52:00 8% Illumination…No Help.
Shaded ares above depict night running. If more than one surface type is listed, the first number listed is the most prominent.
Chilhowee: 0.0 to 17.10 +3291ʼ -3357ʼ
The first section of the Thunder Rock 100 is a rather rough warm up with a 1000 ft climb in the first 3.3 miles. At 7.5 miles youʼll run near the Chilhowee Recreation area which includes many camp sites and a nice lake. Great place to park it on Thur and Sat night. One sad note is the you will run near and likely hear Benton Falls, one of the prettiest waterfalls anywhere. Unfortunately there is no way to get you close from this trail. After the aid station at Mulepen Gap youʼll climb another 1000 feet over about 6 miles and then make a quad crushing 2100 ft descent in under 3.5 miles. While youʼre descending, you can see your next climb, Starr Mountain ahead. Before making that climb though, a waist deep ford of the 100+ft wide Hiwassee river awaits. We guarantee your legs will feel much
better after a cold dip and you can be thankful itʼs near the beginning of the race and still early in the day. Youʼll find a fully stocked aid station with great Crew access and drop bags on the other side. The crossing is not the traditional hand over had rope but a cable with a rope attached to a trolley...basically a zip line. There will be safety boats present and if you are not comfortable with the rope we will ferry you across by holding onto one of the safety boats, but youʼll likely get wetter using this method. This crossing may look intimidating, but it is not difficult. The aid station on the other side is close to the water and the crew access area, which is a big group camp site that the trail runs through is .4 miles down the trail. Starr Mountain 17.10 to 37.38 +3206’ -2799 This mountain was named after Caleb Starr who was of Pennsylvania Quaker descent; he moved to Tennessee country around 1775, along with friend and future governor Joseph McMinn. Caleb and his wife Nannie worked with and for the Cherokee nation for 30 years. Caleb was involved with at least three treaties on behalf of the Cherokee. While he certainly left a legacy, the mountain is most commonly associated with Belle Starr (1848-1889), the notorious outlaw who married one of Caleb and Nannie s great grandchildren but likely never visited the area. One of the more exciting features of this section is the healthy population of black bears, wild boars, deer, and about any other type of woodland critter you can think of. The climb out of the valley is a bit more than 1100 in 8 miles on a rocky mix of single and double track/4WD road to Iron Gap aid station. Next, you ll run on forest Bullet Creek service road for 1.7 miles and then on single track up to Iron Gap the ridge where you ll be treated to awesome views of the Conasauga valley and the small historic town of Etowah off to the left of the trail and the Cherokee National forest back country to the right. After 1.4 miles on the spine of the Starr Mountain ridge you ll jump onto Bullet Creek a steep single track leading back down and across the Starr Mtn road. At the end of this short downhill you will Hiwassee River run downhill (left) on the Starr Mountain road for a whopping 500 feet to turn right on the Hogback Ridge trail. Good stuff for 3.1 miles to dead end into the Bullet Iron Gap Creek aid station run by the Pistol Ultras team (they offer a great run on New Years day). It will be getting dark or already is dark for most of you and now a mix of Forest service road and gravel road for the next .9 miles and onto a real treat for night running. 3.8 miles of totally flat single track trail. Other than two small creek crossings (dry feet) there should be easy running to the road section.
Cherokee 37.38 to 50.62 +1984’ -1797’ I guess you could call this the “road section.” The entire 13+ miles is on road but only 3.5 of them are paved; the bulk of this section is on remote forest service road and some on rutted out single lane.
Hwy 315
Hwy 315
Manning Cabin
Coker Falls
Manning Cabin
The condition of the “road” and the lack of parking are the reasons weʼre not allowing crew anywhere beyond the two locations along Hwy 315. Please do take caution running along this road. Keep in mind you ll be way out in rural easter Tennessee on a Friday night and these mostly kind people donʼt see runners often; you never know what they ll thinking about why you re running, especially if they learn how far. John Muir 50.62 to 64.31 +2487 -3099
Coker Falls
It is safe to say that all of you will be running this section at night and it s bit of a shame because it s so beautiful. But the good news is that the rest of the course is mostly on really stunning single track. The Coushatta indians lived in this valley until the late 1700 s. Hawses is the Coushatta word for copperhead and this area is still know for its many copperhead snakes. I would say to pay attention, but fear not they ll be sleeping, or hunting down in the rocks where it is warmer. Other than the Coker Creek section at the beginning and the short road/bridge section at the end this portion of the race is all on the John Muir National Scenic trail, which follows the route taken during Muir s travels from Kentucky to Florida. In his book A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, Muir wrote: My path all today led me along the leafy banks of the Hiwassee, join the Muir a most Trail impressive mountain river. Its channel is very rough, as Towee Creek Powerhouse it crosses the edges of upturned rock strata, some of them standing at right angles, or glancing off obliquely to right and left. Thus a multitude of short, resounding cataracts are produced, and the river is restrained from the headlong speed due to its volume and the inclination of its bed. All the larger streams of uncultivated countries are mysteriously charming and beautiful, whether flowing in mountains or through swamps and plains. Their channels are interestingly sculptured, far more so than the grandest architectural works of man. The finest of the forests are usually found along their banks, and in the multitude of falls and rapids the wilderness finds a voice. Such a river is the Hiwassee,
Powerhouse
Towee Creek
join the Muir Trail
with its surface broken to a thousand sparkling gems, and its forest walls vine-draped and flowery as Eden. And how fine the songs it sings! The next aid station is at the TVA powerhouse. Much of the water you have run next to up to this point was a fraction of what it was before the dam 12 miles up river was built in the early 40 s. The water over the dam travels through the 8 mile Apalachia tunnel conduit. When the water is released, it drops 200 feet through two steel penstocks (see photo) to the powerhouse turbines below. You can see it all from this aid station. The next 6 miles are on much less steep and technical trail. After you leave the John Muir trail head you ll have a mile on the road to get to and cross the Hiwassee river again...dry this time. Please take care here̶there isn t much of a shoulder. There will likely not be much traffic, but again keep in mind this is Friday night way out in rural back country. Pay close attention to the course marking on the far side of the bridge. You will loop under the bridge to the right. The aid station will be right on the edge of the river about 100 yards before the crew access point at the big boat ramp and picnic parking lot. MacKaye 64.31 to 84.05 " +4580 -4187
Reliance
Lost Creek Road X
The trail you have been running on from Coker Creek and most of this section is named after Benton MacKaye...the BMT for short is 300 miles in length and connects to the Appalachian trail on both ends. This guy was kind of a big deal; he helped pioneer the idea of land preservation for recreation and conservation purposes and we all have the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful area and these great trails due to his work. A co-founder of The Wilderness Society, he is likely best known as the originator of the Appalachian Trail.
There are several highlights of this section. The first is the Lost Creek trail that you ll be running up and therefore will be looking into the countless mini cascades. You ll continue up Deep Gap Road because no competitive events are allowed in Wilderness areas, so we ll be skirting the Little Frog Wilderness Area. This gated service road is in fantastic shape and will be a Deep Gap Aid great place to run as the sun is coming up for most of you. At the bottom of this road you ll encounter a unique challenge...no trail at all. You know you like to bushwhack. Think of it as pre Barkley training. Donʼt fret to much, this section is only 1/4 mile long and should be overly obvious in its reflective ribbon markings...unlike Barkely. You ll emerge Deep Gap Aid onto single track and then come out at a multi-lane paved road crossing. Take caution when crossing the highway as you head across the Ocoee river (on a bridge) toward the Thunder Rock aid station. Tanasi 84.05 to 100.95 +3310 -2953 The Ocoee river is a 93 mile long river that flows mostly Northwest. It s called the Toccoa river in Georgia and the name changes at the town of Copper Hill, TN. This section of the river is famous for whitewater rafting and kayaking. There are at least 20 class III rapids here and one of them is called Thunder Rock. There is a great campground with showers adjacent to the Thunder Rock aid station; this would be a perfect place for your crew to set up camp. This aid station and the next two have fast and easy crew access. The next is at the Ocoee Whitewater center, site of all whitewater events for the 96 olympic games.
All of the trails from this point are non-technical other than a second, short bushwhack close to the finish. The scenery and the ease of the running surface should be just the ticket to get you to the finish but we ll also have a pack of support at each aid station to do all we can to get you across to the end. Stay focused, in the moment and continue the relentless forward motion and we ll look forward to seeing you at finish.
Thunder Rock Ocoee Whitewater Center
Raft One
Boyd Gap
Finish: We ll have full aid, heat and medical staff available at the finish, as well as a full on celebration, with great food choices, showers, Ocoee bunk houses to take a nap and more comfortable Whitewater Center recovery options. Visualize this, after coming through the finish chute and receiving your Boyd Gap medal. At this point you can turn left to enter the party with food, adult beverages (after you rehydrate) and a warm fire, or turn right where you ll find your finish line drop bag and can go down a slightly down hill trail (no stairs) to the showers, or go straight to the bunk houses where you can take a much needed nap. We won t have one award s ceremony; instead, it ll be a continuous finisher s celebration until the last runner is taken care of. When you re ready, we ll announce your name and have you come up to the stage to receive your finisher s belt buckle and surprise gift and we ll take your photo for accomplishing something that most can t even imagine.
Sponsors:
We could not make this happen without the generous support from our sponsors: The North Face, Fast Break Athletics, Chattanooga Brewing Company, Goodhew, Luwazo, Chattanooga Track Club and please give a huge thanks to Raft One for they have gone far beyond what we hoped for with opening up their home for us and refuse to take anything in return other than the joy of helping and watching you all finish. Please visit all of our sponsors and thank them for supporting this great lifestyle we all love so much. 100% of the proceeds of this race will go back into improving the trails and trail access in the area.
Volunteers: Not only without them, there would be no race but they take great joy in helping you no matter what happens. Please thank them every chance you get. Also, as smelly as you will likely get, they enjoy hugs.
