Where: Uwharrie National Forest, Montgomery County – Map
When: 1st Saturday in February
Time: 7:00 am until dark (Some people meet at 6:00 am in Troy for breakfast, location TBA). Depending on your assignment, you may not need to be at your station that early. Stations on down the trail usually come on-line as the race progresses. No station can close down and leave the vicinity until the station following them has logged and accounted for all the runners through their station. Please remain at your station and maintain radio contact until you are released by the net control station.
Equipment: Each station needs a reliable radio set-up, preferably a mobile with a large battery and an outdoor (portable) antenna. Some use home-made J-poles on stands, others have twin-lead J-poles that they throw up in a tree. You will also need a hand-held 2M radio and a powerful flashlight in case we have to search the trail for a lost or injured racer. You need a lawn chair and whatever else it takes to make you comfortable for a long day (table, shelter, etc.). You will need a pad with lined paper and pens/pencils to log the runners bib numbers as they pass your station. Also bring your refreshments, including food for lunch. Dress warmly and watch the weather for any chance of rain. Race goes on no matter what, except maybe for ice on the trail.
Frequencies: Will be announced prior to the event.
Duties: We log each runner by bib number as they run through each station. We do not have to log times, just approximate time per group of racers for our own purposes if we have to try to find someone. That way we know about when they passed each station. We have to reconcile and account for all the runners so that we know if someone turns up missing between stations. We do this only for the 20 and 40 mile runners. An Excel format list of runners for the 20 and 40 mile will be provided before race day so you can modify them anyway you want.
Below are the GPS coordinates for each aid station. If you use Google Earth, you can download this Google Earth file to view the aid station locations.
Start/Finish (Net Control) (Elevation: 468ft.)
N 35° 28′ 48.00″
W 79° 57′ 05.16″
2/38 (Elevation: 663ft.)
N 35° 27′ 44.73″
W 79° 57′ 36.89″
5/35 (Elevation: 684ft.)
N 35° 26′ 20.68″
W 79° 58′ 43.65″
8/32 (Elevation: 694ft.)
N 35° 23′ 54.82″
W 79° 58′ 54.39″
11/29 (Elevation: 725ft.)
N 35° 22′ 04.70″
W 79° 59′ 37.90″
14/26 (Elevation: 714ft.)
4 Miles from 24/27 Trailhead (20/20)
N 35° 20′ 53.3″
W 80° 01′ 08.1″
17/23 – Parking
2 Miles from 24/27 Trailhead (20/20)
N 35° 19′ 52.0″
W 80° 02′ 02.4″
17/23 – Trail (Elevation: 538ft.)
(Trail location is about 75 yards in from the parking spot.)
N 35° 19′ 54.5″
W 80° 02′ 03.9″
20/20 (Elevation: 556ft.)
N 35° 18′ 38.78″
W 80° 02′ 36.60″