August 12, 2006
Laurel Valley Whitewater Ultra

Laurel Valley is a point to point race. Unlike most, it has no aid stations. Anyone who starts is expected to go the entire 33-36 mile legth. It's advertised as 35+ miles. According to my map, it clocks in at just under 33 miles but others have determined the length to be 35, 36 and even 40 miles. The 40 mile guesstimate is most certainly off the mark but maps are often a bit off as well.

As a newby to the event, I was slated as a trail sweep as most newbies are. This means you have to stay at the back and encourage the back of the pack runners along and possibly aid or carry them or flag down a boat if necessary. The only time you passed a runner was to get ahead of them so that you could pace them.

I camped out at the finish line the night before so that I could be certain to make the shuttle to the start, which left at 5 AM. The race started at 6:30 with a steep climb up a staircase. The four trail sweeps got a briefing from Claude, the race director, and we left shortly after the others. One runner passed us 100 yards in. Last year's winner also started late.

Six miles in, we passed the first waterfall. This was about 15 feet tall and not even listed on the map. Despite hanging out for a few minutes at the falls, we came upon two runners. When they heard that we were the sweeps they took off quickly but it looked like we'd be in for a long day of primarily hiking. We hadn't run much at all and still caught up in just over six miles.

Richard, Sylvana and Dean were the other sweeps. Richard is a sub 3:00 marathoner so the pace was extremely frustrating for him. Sylvana had run two marathons with me so I had gotten to know her a bit previously. Dean is a strong ultramarathoner. I was the least experienced of the bunch. Richard started yelling. He was hit seven times by yellow jackets. I tried to avoid them but got one sting.

At eight miles we saw a very large waterfall, called Willow Creek Falls. This was the point where the run was supposed to get a bit tougher. The climbs got longer but the footing was solid. The trail wasn't as rocky as I'd expected. The run crossed four gorges, each with raging rivers and suspension bridges to cross them. The floorboards and handrails of the bridges were as slick as ice.

We heard about many steps. At the dinner I heard there were 7000 of them. In actuality, there were just 3000. Some of them were just built in to steep banks and some were more like staircases. Many were treacherously slick. Great care was necessary to prevent a nasty fall.

The rivers were spectacular! They were all white water flowing over and around boulders. The scenery everywhere was gorgeous and unspoiled. We saw a couple of boats on Lake Jocassee and luckily we didn't have to flag one down to pick up a sick runner. The weather was perfect. Last year's race saw 90+ degrees with high humidity. It was around 70 this year and felt wonderful until the rains came.

The rain came lightly at first but picked up and became a constant downpour. It never got to be torrential but we all got soaked. Again we caught up to the last runner. Going at her pace was extremely frustrating and she kept stopping to converse with us. It took an awful lot of patience but Richard and I took turns running with her and talking to and encouraging her. We had to drop back occasionally to vent our frustration. The rain only made it worse.

As time wore on, I gained an appreciation for this runner. She is 63 and has run Western States four times. That's the 100 mile race which generally draws the stiffest competition of all 100 milers. Just to finish is quite an accomplishment. She told many stories about the early days of ultrarunning. She's been an ultrarunner for 23 years. She's having to accept that her days of ultras are coming to an end because she cannot run fast enough to make cutoffs yet she can still keep going all day long. It's sad to see her career coming to an end but it's also very encouraging to see a 63 year old still trying.

We ran into some backpackers and checked out a map posted on the side of the trail. I assumed we still had a good number of miles to go, still thinking we were on a 13 hour pace. It appeared that we only had four more to go. This provided a boost and everyone picked up the pace. We came to another river but did not cross it. Instead, we followed it upstream where it crossed into North Carolina and we entered a fantastic patch of old growth forest. It stayed flat for a bit then started gaining altitude. We then came upon another fantastic waterfall. The view from the bridge was magnanimous! A boulder scramble led us to another bridge over the Whitewater river. This would be our last crossing. Now it would be just a climb out of the gorge.

The climb was arduous. It was rocky and involved much rockhopping. But it wasn't as difficult as we'd been warned it would be. Hikers from the finish area filtered down beside us. They had no idea how far we'd gone. That last climb was about an 800 foot change in altitude. At the top of the rocky section we got to the lower viewing platform for Whitewater Falls. From here it was about 200 steps to the top. This is truly a spectacular finish to a day's work. Whitewater Falls is a 400 foot cascade and is truly picturesque. After enjoying the view for a spell, Richard and I sprinted up the stairs since we didn't have much chance on the trail. We crossed the finish line at 11:50, much better than was anticipated. Next year, our entry fees will be waived as a thank you for being trail sweeps.

Raging Bull