Georgia Death Race Training Camp

So, my upcoming spring A race is the Georgia Death Race. It's a 68 (ish) mile race from Vogel State Park to Amicalola Falls State Park in North Georgia.  I say 'ish' since it's acknowledged by the RD that it at least 72 miles, if not more.  This year, the RD decided to host a training camp for a few lucky folks.  We would get a bunk bed (or private room), breakfast, and transportation to/from the trailheads.  It was modeled after Western States Training Run, and was sure to be a good learning experience.  almost 30 miles on the trails the race was going to be on over two days.  I was able to snag a double room, so dragged Mark along for the fun, as it was open to anyone who paid, not just those participating in the race.

We've learned after living in OH for many years, you do not plan on flying in Feb, especially on a cross country trip.  So when we originally scheduled this trip, we fully expected to drive.  What a surprise we had when the weather was predicting temperatures in the 60's.  We decided to take advantage of the original plan to drive and fly down on Thurs afternoon.  That gave us a chance to play some golf!

Achasta Golf Course in Dahlonega, GA.

Then on to training camp. at the Hiker Hostel.  This was a cool place.  Lee and Josh thru hiked the AT a few years ago and decided to open up a hostel nearby to help other hikers get to the AT start at Springer Mtn.  Josh also is the RD for Cruel Jewel 50 and 100 miler (actually 56 and 106).  Our Cabin:

Day 1 was going to be a challenging 13 miles, with the option to go an additional 2.5 out to another gap on the course and return (total of 18 miles).  We would start at the start line and make those first big climbs up Coosa Bald to the Duncan Ridge Trail that we will not see during the race due to the the early start of 5 am.  The weather, while not freezing, did us no favors and it rained off and on for most of the day.  Trail was pretty good, very narrow in places, and there were some pretty steep slopes, both up and down, but very fun trails to run.

Day 2 had us going to Nimblewill and running to the finish (with a short detour to run the AT connector).  I started with Mark since I didn't want him to be alone today, so hiked up the road.  It will be interesting since it's a lower grade, but still uphill and mile 60ish.  Once we got to the top, it was runable and even downhill for the most part.  Mark went with one of the other RDs and continued running a different route.  He completed about 11 miles, but at his pace.

It started out a bit foggy (photo courtesy of Run Bum):

But later cleared up:

However, then we get to the really cruel part...we get to the bottom of the park and can see the finish line across the parking lot, but do we get to go there.  Nope, up to the top of the falls and back down.  Including a cumulative 600 stairs going up to the top, back down via trails.  That's going to be interesting at the end and in the dark.

View from mid-fall (courtesy of Mark):

Then the next set of stairs...

Looking back down to where we started...

Finally we must cross the river to finish (despite there being a perfectly good bridge)

This was a big week for me:  13 hrs, 58 miles and 10,100 ft of climbing.  Wow!  My quads are a bit sore this evening, but really nothing too bad.  Maybe all the squats are paying off.

Less than 6 weeks till GDR.  I've got my spike and can't wait to give it back to Run Bum for an engraved one at the end.