The first time I was at Bent Creek was a couple months ago when my sister and grandma came to visit. We stayed at a hotel only a mile or so away, so I sneaked out early in the mornings before they woke up for my trail-run-fix. Never thought I'd be visiting again so soon but I am not complaining.
The Globbler started in 2006 and this year we had 14 runners who participated in either the 16-miler or the full 50k. The course is a figure-8 loop with the first loop being slightly longer but much easier to follow. Adam, the organizer of the run, handed out maps and instructions at pre-run briefing. Looking at the directions, the directions for the second loop was at least three to four times longer than the first. I am convinced that if I were to do the second loop, it'd be a 50-miler, not 50k.
The run started out on an uphill gravel road. We climb and climb on which seems like forever. At one point, I spotted a bright orange jacket in the woods. As I got closer, I realized it was a man who had a rifle and was waiting patiently and quietly for his next victim. He must have hated us -- the 14 runners who had spread out a couple seconds to a couple minutes apart. We finally hit some downhill and after about four miles on the gravel road, we reached the shut-in trail where the single-track began.
The whole course was very scenic. Unfortunately, none of us had brought either a camera or a phone with us. I had to say though, I hadn't gotten much time to look up as most of the single-tracks were very rooty and rocky. I rolled my ankle a couple times but nothing too embarrassing happened.
After Shut-in was the Sleepy Gap trail. The guys were making fun of the trail but I'd leave that to your imagination. Up and down, and up and down we went until we finally hit the gravel road again. From that point on was all down hill. I'm not much of a downhill runner, especially not when my feet were hurting. When I finally got back to the parking lot, the first thing I did was take my shoes off. Putting my insoles back in was a poor decision, though well intended. I was hoping the little extra padding would prevent further stone bruises but little did I expect that the shoes were a tad too small for me. This is my first pair of Montrail and I have taken the insoles out since day one. Lesson learned. The price was a couple blisters with one like a red jelly bean. At any rate, can't wait to do it again next year!
Here's the course map & profile:
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