Mountain High Outfitters - Birmingham Stage Race

Notice anything new about the name of the Stage Race?  Mountain High Outfitters is now the official "Name Sponsor" of the Birmingham Stage Race.  We plan to put on several races together later this year and next year.  More on that later.

We are also exited about having Fleet Feet of Birmingham as a sponsor.  Greg and Brian with Fleet Feet were a huge help with the Run for Kids Challenge last year and now they are official sponsors of the Birmingham Stage Race and next years Run for Kids.

Registration is now Open for the 2012 Birmingham Stage Race

Registration is now open for the 2012 Birmingham 3 Mountain Stage Race 

to be held October 26, 27 and  28.  

On line registration is available at Ultrasignup.com or by printing the registration form on the race website.  There is also a map of the final stage at Oak Mountain.  In a few weeks I will get out with a GPS and provide a more accurate map.

More information to follow

Birmingham Stage Race Set

Everything is just about set for the race.  We felt the original date was really pushing things so we moved it back to October 26, 27 and 28.  We plan to have the first stage at Red Mountain Park and it will be in the neighborhood of 10 to 12 miles.  The second stage at Ruffner Mountain and will be about 14 miles.  The final stage at Oak Mountain State Park will be 24 miles.  We will adjust the distances as necessary to hit the 50 mile mark.  The race will be tough.

Registration will be through Ultrasignup.com and they should have everything ready sometime next week.  Runners are welcome to sign up for one or two individual stages at a reduced price however shirts are only available to those competing in all three stages.

Here is a link to the website.  Birmingham Stage Race

Announcing a new Birmingham Race - Date Change!

Marye Jo and I have had a blast putting on the Run for Kids Challenge the last two years and decided we would enjoy doing another race.  Trouble is, what kind of race do we want to put the effort and time into.  It will have to be something special.

Last weekend I ran the Chattanooga Stage Race put on by Rock Creek Outfitters.  Actually the race directors for all Rock Creek events are Randy and Kris Whorton. (They also do the Stump Jump and Lookout Mountain 50 mile among a number of others.)  On the way back to Birmingham, Marye Jo and I decided that is what we want to do.  A stage race right here in Birmingham.  We started planning and have three tentative courses in mind.

It seems most logical is to use Oak Mountain for two of the races.  Saturday I "found" a course that would be mostly on nonexistent trails.  I followed some very old mountain roads (when I could locate them) at the north end of the park, a section virtually never used.  These roads climb Double Oak Mountain to where they joined private lands owned by a local corporation.  If we can get permission to use the land this would be one awesome stage using only about 1.5 miles of the existing park trails.

Another stage would be at the south end of the park and would utilize the lake trail, used by the Run for Kids before climbing up the mountain for a tour of Double Oak Mountain.  For the third stage I would like to use more of the private land owned by the same company that is not contiguous with Oak Mountain State Park but not far away.  The total distance would be in the neighborhood of 50 miles for the three stages.  If we are not able to get permission to use the private land we will probably use Oak Mountain and Red Mountain or Ruffner Mountain.

As in the Run for Kids Challenge, we plan to have two different races in one.  The long race will be something like 14 miles, 16 miles and 20 miles with some very difficult climbs and rough terrain.  We also plan to have a short version with sections about 6 miles, 10 miles and 12 miles on less difficult terrain but still ultra length.

The tentative date is September 28, 29 and 30.  The only problem for me is this is the weekend I have signed up to runt he Gringstone 100 in Virginia.  Well, I have already run one 100 mile race this year and I could still enter the Pinhoti 100, that is, if Todd will let me!

2013 Run for Kids Challenge

We are already planning next years race.  One major change we will make is the use of Chip Timing for all three events.  The equipment is available from Ultrasignup and will elimination errors in scoring.  Also, Mark at Ultrasignup has promised he will have the software for multilap events perfected so we know exactly where every runner is each time they cross the timing mat.

Why we created the Run for Kids Challenge

Ruth Vanzandt, Run for Kids Competitor in the 12 Hour Race sent me this picture of her Grand Nephew last week and I asked permission to post it.  Here is her answer.

"Please do use the picture of Auston.  It was taken at the Relay for Life held here in Arab last weekend.  His name is Auston Cagle and you can surely put I am his great aunt and PROUD  of it!!  He and his family are actually going to Camp SAM this weekend!"

Thank you Ruth for sharing the picture of Auston and his friend Justice.  This will inspire us all.

The Run for Kids Challenge – A Run of Love

This is the article I submitted to Ultrarunning Magazine.  Maybe they will use some of it.  The first of the article is about the same as the last post so if it sounds familiar, just skip that part.

In 2007 I rode in the Ride of Love, a fundraiser for Camp Smile-A-Mile, Alabama's camp for kids with cancer. The 150 mile ride ends at Children's Harbor (the location of Camp SAM) on Lake Martin, in central Alabama. Sixty riders rode as a group, escorted by two Tuscaloosa motorcycles Policemen. The ride took 12 very long hours. That is a long time to sit on a bicycle seat. The ride was tough, but nothing compared to arriving at the camp. Seeing all those kids in the midst of a battle for their lives, realizing the suffering they and their families have been through made us realize just how insignificant our inconsequential and momentary discomfort had been. I could not help but look around and know a few of theses kids would not be back next year. That was what hurt.

In 2011 I started the Run for Kids Challenge here in Birmingham, Alabama as a fundraiser for Camp SAM. The run was small but we raised about $4,000 for the camp. For 2012 we changed the date and location to Oak Mountain State Park and apparently everyone liked the change. We sold out the run with105 total runners and 71 in the 12 Hour and 50K. The 50-K runners circled this “long” (3.4 mile) course nine times, then ran a “short” 0.7 mile final loop. The 12 hour runners ran the same “long” loop and could use the short loop during the final hour.

We promoted our race as the perfect beginner ultra. The course is a on a beginner mountain bike trail with gently rolling hills and beautiful views of Double Oak Lake. The trails are very runnable, even in road shoes. Most runners complete the long loop in less than an hour so runners are never very far from the aid station and their drop bags or coolers. Our aid station was very well stocked with a variety of bean, turkey breast and cheese & hummus roll-ups. (I read the article in the April issue of Ultrarunner) In addition, we had boiled eggs and the usual cookies, oranges, bananas, M&Ms, PBJ sandwiches, chips and so on.

At the start, the temperature was 65 deg. and mist had settled over the lake giving the park a surreal appearance. After the start, the fog burned off and, as the sky cleared, the temperature rose quickly, eventually reaching 88 by mid afternoon. Most of the run is shaded by trees with the only a couple of long exposed stretches, across the beach area and the 400 yard section across the dam. And, of course, the Alabama humidity was about average at 99.999%. At least that is what it felt like.

We had a great field of runners in both the 12 Hour and 50K races. In the 50K, the 2011 overall winner, Rebecca Massie of Robertsdale, Alabama returned to defend her title. Lisa Ievers from Auburn gave Rebecca a real run for the money. Rebecca stayed within seconds of Roy Wells, the overall race leader, for two laps before dropping back a little. Lisa was within one minute of Rebecca at the end of the first lap but slowly dropped back to about 10 minutes behind. By the end of the final 3.4 mile lap, Lisa had closed back up to within 4 minutes but Rebecca maintained her pace and held on to win by just over 4 minutes in 4:50:30. Lisa finished with a time of 4:54:40 for second. Tiffany Greene of Brandon, MS finished third.

On the men's side, Roy Wells of Brentwood, TN, national account manager for Swiftwick and former pitcher for the Seattle Mariner's, totally dominated the men's race start to finish. For a while it appeared Rebecca would stay with him but his pace was just too much. Roy finished in 4:43:20 for first place overall. Scott Weisberg finished second and 4th overall, with a time of 5:42:50. Matthew Farrar from Fort Rucker, Alabama came in third . Thirty three of the forty four starters finished the 50K.

The 12 Hour race had some pretty dramatic moments. John Brower of Jackson, Mississippi lead the first lap by about 3 1/2 minutes over Wayne Phillips of Jacksonville, Alabama and Josh Merry from Dawsonville, Georgia. John held the lead until mile 24 when Wayne took over and Josh pulled into second. At the end of lap 11 (37.4 miles) Wayne had what appeared to be a commanding 21 minute lead. On lap 12 Josh began to close, cutting Wayne's lead to 11 minutes. Wayne held on to the lead until lap 16 (54.2 miles) where he decided he had had enough and stopped. Josh continued for two laps on the “short loop” for a total of 55.76 miles to take the win. Wayne finished second and Isaac Espy of Norhtport, Alabama ran a steady race all day and finished 50.81 miles to take third.

The women's race was really close. Seven competitors were within striking distance of the lead in the early laps. By lap four Mary Valdez of Crestview, Florida had pulled well ahead of the rest of the field. By lap 6, Kellie Smirnoff of Jacksonville Beach Florida had taken over the lead and by lap 10 (34 miles) had Kelly had pulled ahead of the second place woman, Molly Freeman of Atlanta by 21 minutes. As the runners came through to finish lap14, Molly had taken over the lead and the next 4 women were within 15 minutes of each other and three of the four only 3 minutes apart.

Molly stopped at that point at 47.42 miles, leaving Kelly, Mary, Helen Summerford of Ridgeland Mississippi and Beverly Brower (wife of John Brower, early leader of the men's 12 hour) to fight it out for the top four places. Kelly completed one more long lap for a total of 50.81 miles and still in the lead but decided to stop. Helen, Beverly and Mary shifted to the short loop and continued battling for the the top spot. After three short laps all three women were within three minutes of each other. Mary Valdez stopped after the third short lap at 53.1 miles total. Helen and Beverly took off for one more lap. When they came within sight of the finish on the fourth loop both women were running almost side by side. The finish line was the scoring table (actually a trash can next to the table) and Helen edged out Beverly by three feet. Both women had covered 53.85 miles, but it was not over yet. Beverly, not wanting to give up, took off on another lap with just 6 minutes, 58 seconds to go. She had run the previous lap in 6 minutes so it was going to be close. As the clock ticked down to 12 hours Beverly was not yet in sight and missed the cutoff by just 90 seconds. A pretty amazing finish after 12 hours of running.

David Tosch

RD Run for Kids Challenge