Distance: 50.00 mi
Type: Out-and-back, Trail Ultra
Difficulty: 7 / 10
More Info: Visit Web Site
Filed Under: Running
An out and back along the Sauratown Trails starting/finishing at the base of Pilot Mountain with a 6 mile turn-around loop in Hanging Rock State Park. The course is something like 90% trail and 10% dirt/gravel/paved road with about twenty low traffic paved road crossings. Some portions of this trail are as rugged as Uwharrie. There is a total of about 6800' elevation gain. The course climbs and descends rugged ridges, winds in and out of pine and deciduous forests, passes old tobacco barns, skirts open fields with views, and has a few wet creek crossings as well. Something for everyone!
The course follows the Sauratown Trails 100% of the way. The trails are marked well with small white plastic disks nailed to trees, only tricky intersections and turns will be flagged with orange streamers and surveyor flags. Stay alert! Also please take into consideration that the trail is mostly on private land; in some places this is all too obvious, in others it's not.
Aid Stations: 10 stations with water, gatorade, soda, potatoes, salt, pretzels, bananas, cookies etc.; drop bags can be taken to the 22 and 28 mile station at Tory's Den. Longest distance between aid is 6 miles.
Directions to Pilot Mountain State Park
Pilot Mountain State Park is located in Surry and Yadkin counties, 24 miles north of Winston-Salem and 14 miles south of Mount Airy. From US 52, take the Pilot Mountain State Park exit and travel west into the mountain section of the park, where the park office is located. The area map shows how to approach the park from the interstates in the area.
Comments
Dave said ...
The run was unusual and alot of fun. This was the inaugural year for the Sauratown Trails 50 Mile Run. Sauratown refers to the Saura Indians who once inhabited the area north of Winston-Salem NC. The were only 36 runners because the trails were rough, like the Uwharrie trail, and the entrants were mostly hard core trail runners.
Most of the work was done by Mark Kirk and his parents and a half dozen other runners & friends from the Winston-Salem/Raleigh area. The start/finish was in a camp ground similar to Massanuten. Participants got a T-shirt (black & white) and finishers got a small wooden horseshoe on a hemp string, which was appropriate for the $25 entry fee and focus on running instead of trinkets.
The terrain was rolling hills mainly on trails in the woods or logging trails. A weather front moved through the area last Saturday producing rain in the morning and afternoon. The runners turned the trails into bogs with ankle-deep, shoe sucking mud. One day 50,000 years from now a humanoid will unearth a pair of fossilized running shoes along that trail. Fortunately (?) there were a half dozen creek crossings to wash off some of the mud. The first creek was less than a mile into the run so we didn't have to worry about keeping feet dry very long! The running conditions were definitely slow. There was as much sideways motion as forward motion. It was kind of like a 40 mile mud puddle and a real joy for old puddle splashers.
The winner had a time of 8 1/2 hours and everyone added 1 to 2 hours to their 50 mile times. The race director dropped the time limits at 42 miles (11 hours) and the finish (13 hours) because of the soggy conditions. Six of the runners dropped out in frustration or fatigue. My time was 13 1/2 hours.
Leave a Comment