The Bear is a famous 5 miles uphill race in the mountains of North Carolina held during the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. The race starts in Lineville, NC at the intersection of Hwy 105 and 221 at 7pm. The course goes to up the McRae Meadows where the Highland Games are held and continues up to the top of Grandfather Mountain and finishes at the "Mile High" swinging bridge. The race has a total elevation gain of 1,641 feet with 900 feet gain the last two miles. The race fills up in under an hour every year; it is that popular! I heard about The Bear through friends who had done it and I knew I wanted to do it. I'm a good uphill runner, especially for someone who grew up at the beach. The only hills I had were the high rise bridges and I have spent countless hours running them in my life.
Being a good uphill runner helps with a race being all uphill but as my Coach Philip Latter said it's more about overall fitness. So far 2017 has been a good year running and racing for me. I've had some of my best race times in years while also competing in more competitive races.
Even though my overall fitness was fine going into this race I made a couple trips out to Blowing Rock, NC to do long uphill runs I couldn't replicate in the Triangle. My favorite route is running to the top of Flat Top Tower at Moses Cone Memorial Park from the Bass Lake parking lot. By parking at Bass Lake, you can get in 5 miles of all uphill running to the top, 10 miles total counting the return trip. I usually do one or two laps around Bass Lake as a warm-up before starting the climb up. If you want to cut the run in half you can park at Cone Manor, the halfway point up. The 5 miles from Bass Lake up to the Tower has 1,000 ft of elevation gain. Not as much as The Bear but it's close and the two routes are similar as the last 2 miles are the steepest. The surface is all bridle trails which is rocky in some sections and more packed in dirt in other sections. My friend Pat Price first took me on the route in 2011 and I've loved it since. You get some amazing views along the route that are worth the uphill run.
Being a good uphill runner helps with a race being all uphill but as my Coach Philip Latter said it's more about overall fitness. So far 2017 has been a good year running and racing for me. I've had some of my best race times in years while also competing in more competitive races.
Even though my overall fitness was fine going into this race I made a couple trips out to Blowing Rock, NC to do long uphill runs I couldn't replicate in the Triangle. My favorite route is running to the top of Flat Top Tower at Moses Cone Memorial Park from the Bass Lake parking lot. By parking at Bass Lake, you can get in 5 miles of all uphill running to the top, 10 miles total counting the return trip. I usually do one or two laps around Bass Lake as a warm-up before starting the climb up. If you want to cut the run in half you can park at Cone Manor, the halfway point up. The 5 miles from Bass Lake up to the Tower has 1,000 ft of elevation gain. Not as much as The Bear but it's close and the two routes are similar as the last 2 miles are the steepest. The surface is all bridle trails which is rocky in some sections and more packed in dirt in other sections. My friend Pat Price first took me on the route in 2011 and I've loved it since. You get some amazing views along the route that are worth the uphill run.
Me and Lucy at Bass Lake I took my friend Jason's dog Lucy, a German Short Haired Pointer, on the Flat Top Tower Run in April. She loved it and pulled me uphill the whole way! Wish I could have ran with her in The Bear Race because she would have gotten me a faster time. I went back to Moses Cone two days later for another run through the famous Maze. Moses Cone is a great place to train and you'll likely see the Zap Fitness Elite Team training there too. Bass Lake is one of the few flat routes in the area and is great for intervals and tempos.
My goal for The Bear was to get one of the famous Mugs! You typically have to finish in the top 10% to get a mug. They are handmade and coveted awards. My other goals centered around beating friends. I wanted to beat some of my friends who had previously done The Bear before by at least a minute a mile. I also wanted to beat my friend Jason Tischer, Lucy's Dad. Beating Jase was going to be the hardest as I know how good of an uphill runner he is from all the runs we've done together. He's also an accomplished trail runner and winner of the Umstead 100 miles in 2015.
I went up to the mountains the day before the race to get mine and Jase's packets at Kidd Brewer Stadium on the Appalachian State University Campus. I met up with my friend Jerry at packet-pickup and we then headed out to dinner at the famous Coyote Kitchen. Race day arrived and I was ready to go but had to wait until the evening. Evening races are tough because of all the waiting to run.
Jase and I were able to park very close to the starting line. After I ate half a bagel we set off for an easy warm-up run. We ended up meeting our friends Matt and Amanda who decided to run that race as well. Matt is one of the Zap Fitness coaches and his wife Amanda has been one of our regular training partners when they lived in Cary. After that I did a scoop of Generation UCAN about 30 minutes before the start.
My goal for The Bear was to get one of the famous Mugs! You typically have to finish in the top 10% to get a mug. They are handmade and coveted awards. My other goals centered around beating friends. I wanted to beat some of my friends who had previously done The Bear before by at least a minute a mile. I also wanted to beat my friend Jason Tischer, Lucy's Dad. Beating Jase was going to be the hardest as I know how good of an uphill runner he is from all the runs we've done together. He's also an accomplished trail runner and winner of the Umstead 100 miles in 2015.
I went up to the mountains the day before the race to get mine and Jase's packets at Kidd Brewer Stadium on the Appalachian State University Campus. I met up with my friend Jerry at packet-pickup and we then headed out to dinner at the famous Coyote Kitchen. Race day arrived and I was ready to go but had to wait until the evening. Evening races are tough because of all the waiting to run.
Jase and I were able to park very close to the starting line. After I ate half a bagel we set off for an easy warm-up run. We ended up meeting our friends Matt and Amanda who decided to run that race as well. Matt is one of the Zap Fitness coaches and his wife Amanda has been one of our regular training partners when they lived in Cary. After that I did a scoop of Generation UCAN about 30 minutes before the start.
It was a little warm for mountain standards when we lined up for the 7pm start. It was sunny and breezy. I felt great and was ready to go. I lined up right at the front with Jase and Amanda. The gun went off and the fun began! Several people from behind darted passed me but I knew a lot would go out too fast and quickly die at this race so I just settled in and kept a steady effort. Jase and I were side by side for the first half to three-quarters of the first mile but I started to pull away some without realizing it. I opened with a 7:28 first mile that included 341 feet gain according to Strava. The Grade Adjusted Pace (GAP) for that mile was 5:43. Grade adjusted pace estimates an equivalent pace when running on flat land, allowing you to compare hilly and flat runs. Uphill running requires more effort so GAP will be faster than the actual pace run. GAP will be slower than actual pace when running downhill. It's a handy piece of data.
I felt good and just focused on maintaining my effort while holding something back for the last two miles. I knew miles two and three would be the "easiest" of the race as they had the least elevation with 250 feet. I ran mile two in 7:45, 6:32 GAP. I could have ran that mile faster but I was picking off runners who went out too fast and gaining on more so I felt fine with that. The flattest part of the race is the track at the Highland games at about mile 2.5. Once you come off the track you have a steep grass embankment to climb before you hit the asphalt road again. I picked the pace and effort up on mile three and ran mile three in 7:15, a 6:13 GAP.
I felt good and just focused on maintaining my effort while holding something back for the last two miles. I knew miles two and three would be the "easiest" of the race as they had the least elevation with 250 feet. I ran mile two in 7:45, 6:32 GAP. I could have ran that mile faster but I was picking off runners who went out too fast and gaining on more so I felt fine with that. The flattest part of the race is the track at the Highland games at about mile 2.5. Once you come off the track you have a steep grass embankment to climb before you hit the asphalt road again. I picked the pace and effort up on mile three and ran mile three in 7:15, a 6:13 GAP.
With three miles down and two to go the real work began. The last two miles are the steepest with 900 feet gain and they include plenty of switchbacks. Several friends told me not to hug the tangents on the turns and switchbacks because it would make it even steeper. I stayed in the middle of the road and passed another runner around 3.2 miles. I looked up to see who my next victim would be. My effort was high now and getting higher as was my heart rate. I don't wear a HR monitor but I knew I was getting close to max.
I think I walked for the first time a little before mile four. Most people have to walk in this race at some point and usually multiple times. You really shouldn't be walking before 3.5-4 miles though as it's not bad until then. I hate walking in a race but knew I could get up the climb just as fast walking as I could trying to run at this point so I saved my effort and walked for 30 seconds. I actually passed a guy who was trying to run while I was power hiking. I started running again and ran mile four in 8:49, 6:18 GAP.
During the course of the last mile I did a couple more 30-40 second walk breaks and they helped a lot. At this point you're just trying to get to the top as soon as you can. I did look behind me a couple times and saw Jase wasn't far back. I had to hold him off and not let me by me during the final mile. To keep my focus on finishing strong I looked up to the top which may not have been a good thing cause it's a steep final climb. I was focused on catching more runners though and needed someone to focus on.
I think I walked for the first time a little before mile four. Most people have to walk in this race at some point and usually multiple times. You really shouldn't be walking before 3.5-4 miles though as it's not bad until then. I hate walking in a race but knew I could get up the climb just as fast walking as I could trying to run at this point so I saved my effort and walked for 30 seconds. I actually passed a guy who was trying to run while I was power hiking. I started running again and ran mile four in 8:49, 6:18 GAP.
During the course of the last mile I did a couple more 30-40 second walk breaks and they helped a lot. At this point you're just trying to get to the top as soon as you can. I did look behind me a couple times and saw Jase wasn't far back. I had to hold him off and not let me by me during the final mile. To keep my focus on finishing strong I looked up to the top which may not have been a good thing cause it's a steep final climb. I was focused on catching more runners though and needed someone to focus on.
Finishing! Photo by Debra Thompson I ran the last switchback and was headed straight for the finish line. Despite finishing uphill into a headwind, this part of the race was the best because of the crowd support on both sides of the road. It was like a cyclist in the Tour De France with the crowd so close they can touch you. Thanks to saving something for the last two miles I was able to finish strong. I finished 20th overall out of 787 in 37:42! I got my Mug! Jase finished just 12 seconds behind me but his final two miles were faster than mine. Amanda finished 29th Overall and got the Win for the women! The overall winner was Johnny Crain in a New Course Record of 30:18! Johnny said afterwards that he too had to take a couple walk breaks.
Amanda, Me, Jase, Johnny I was very happy with my performance. I want to do it again and break 37 minutes. Some people say treat this race like a 5K and just hold on after mile three. I wouldn't recommend that. Yes the last two miles suck for everyone but you want to hold something back so you can manage those final two better. You can pass people during the final two miles if you leave something in reserve. I'm pretty sure Jase and I were not passed the whole race but we did plenty of passing. Oh, I was able to beat the friends I wanted to by five plus minutes too so that was an added bonus.
RSS Feed