Tales from the Big Schloss Trails

2023 Big Schloss 50k
I actually signed up for this race at the extreme last minute. On the way to Tennessee for the Barkley Fall Classic my friend Erick Kuhlmann mentioned it and I had a revelation. I didn’t have my daughter that weekend and my girlfriend had to work! Boom! It was happening.

I got on the waitlist and sent the RD Cara Mason an email asking if I could get in to the race. She was super cool!

An Incredible Fatass Experience
Before we get started on my race recap I want to point out some things. This is probably my favorite local 50k. First off, it’s fully marked with confidence markers, not just streamers but also the “do not go this way” markers. I’ve done races that I’ve paid for that don’t do as good a job. Also the 3 aid stations are so good you really don’t need to bring stuff. In fact, if the volunteers hear you are using GUs they get offended. The aid stations have real and delicious food. Grilled cheese with Gruyère, amazing soups and pulled pork BBQ sandwiches!!

If you signed up for this race and didn’t show, shame on you!! Thank you to Cara, the VHTRC, all the volunteers and the runners that ran this amazing event!

Race Morning
I had to wake up really early to get there on time. I always like to give myself a buffer for this one because GPS is useless once you get close to the race start.

I made the long drive there and sure enough once I got close my GPS had a meltdown. I ended up driving all over near the start, but I made it! I had just enough time to get ready, and the bathroom building near the start is amazing!

I said hi to everyone, listened to the prerace brief, we took a photo and…

Go!!!
The beginning of this race is pretty fast. I don’t like running fast on trails but this was nice. Even after doing Barkley last week I was feeling good. I ran with Erin Altemos initially, then I went ahead. I was talking on and off with different runners. I had to stop to tie my shoe and Erin had caught back up to me, so I ran with him for a bit more.

Aid Station 1: Bucktail Trailhead
Erin and I rolled in and were amazed. So. Much. Food! Lots of bacon being cooked, delicious guacamole wraps, and mega-stuffed Oreos! Just amazing stuff here. It was pouring rain so we had to get moving, but I didn’t want to leave.

I definitely was not hydrating enough during this race, but it was cold and raining. This next section got much more technical and slower-paced for me. I lost Erin here. I hung out with Jesse Fuller for a little bit; he’s such a fun dude. I got ahead of him, then when it got rocky again he passed me. After a lot of rocks and climbs I finally got to some nice runnable downhill that led into the next aid station.

Aid Station 2: Stony Creek Trailhead
Wow. I thought that the 1st aid station was good. Josh Howe was out there being all gourmet chef and serving multiple types of delicious soup and grilled cheese with Gruyère! I got a cup of soup and dipped the grilled cheese in it. So amazing. Because of my lack of hydration, I also drank an entire container of coconut water. I ate a bunch more snacks, then headed out.

I jogged up the gravel road then started the climb. I like this part of the course because it reminds me a lot of The Wild Oak Trail. I moved with purpose up and ran when it was possible, grinding away. I didn’t really bump into anyone here at all until I got to the out and back to the Big Schloss overlook. I then talked to people coming back down.

I normally love going up there but I wasn’t feeling it this time since it was so windy, rainy and foggy that you couldn’t see anything. I got to the turn around and booked it out of there. Saw a bunch of friends as I headed down and was happy to be able to get some faster pace. There’s a really nice section here to get some faster miles going into aid station 3.

Aid Station 3: Wolf Gap
This aid station was top notch. Pulled pork BBQ on mini Hawaiian sweet rolls, peanut butter M&Ms, more coconut water. I pummeled the snacks, then headed back out with Barry Hauptman. I love running with Barry we talked a bunch headed into the rock scrambles, climbs and rocky areas up to Tibbet’s Knob. I also enjoyed some downhill miles with Alisa Springman and Jim Daniels. I actually ran with them a couple years ago when I did this race, so it was cool to see them and run the exact same section together again.

We cleared the trail and got to the gravel road section. They were ahead of me this entire portion so I just tried to keep them in sight. I was surprised how fast I ran here; I felt good. We made the right at the trailhead, and got to the final big downhill on the trail. Barry flew through here. I was going pretty fast, too, but I couldn’t see Barry, he got so far ahead.

Bonus
I passed a young woman and I was thinking to myself: “I hope I don’t get lost at the end, that would suck,” but I didn’t share these thoughts. I got ahead of her and we were running pretty fast, until we got to Barry looking around. I was like damn, because I already knew we missed a turn. So, we turned around back to the last blue flag we saw and got off the white trail. Barry figured out that the flags across the field must have blown away, so we figured it out and headed to the finish. The funny thing is that where we found Barry, we were like feet away from the finish but we wanted to do the course the right way. So we ran around the lake, got on the road, started hearing the bells, and we pushed it and made it in!

Finish!!
We got our BS stickers, a burger, swapped war stories, and bailed!

I really wanted to get out of the wet clothes I was wearing, so I grabbed my bag and went to the bathhouse and got cleaned up. We were so lucky to have that bathroom; it was great to have a shelter.

I had such an amazing time at this race. It’s unbelievable how well organized it was, the unreal aid stations, the superbly marked course and the incredible volunteers.

Thank you to everyone involved. As bad as the weather was, there was so much love out there. I had an incredible time. I’ve done Big Schloss three times now and I hope to do it many more.