january 2014 ULTRA RUNNING 20 WBM The Uwharrie Mountain Run By Amy Kilgore Mangus Spanning Montgomery, Randolph and Davidson counties, Uwharrie (pronounced you-wahr-e) National Forest covers 51,000 acres near Troy, North Carolina on the Uwharrie River in the Yadkin-PeeDee River Basin, 175 miles from Wrightsville Beach. The Uwharrie Mountains, some of the oldest in North America, boast 1,000-foot tall hills that were once 20,000-foot peaks. Its recreational trail, blazed in the 1970s by Scoutmaster Joe Moffitt to help his scouts earn their Eagle rank, is 20 miles of dense forest, streams, steep hills and rugged terrain. This trail is also home to the annual Uwharrie Mountain Run, held each February. Tough, challenging and unforgiving are the words local runners use to describe the course. Each year, more than 200 extreme runners descend on the Uwharrie Trail for a true adventure that requires intense concentration. Fallen leaves hide rocks, tree roots and holes, and part of the trail requires runners to cross several streams. White blazes painted on trees serve as the only trail markers. Two blazes indicate a sharp turn is imminent. Runners find themselves off course if they see yellow or red blazes or posted hunting signs. Bob Boeder started the race in 1991. At age 30, Boeder began running a couple miles a day for fitness. By 40, he was running marathons. While working at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for the US Army Special Operations Command, Boeder ran daily during his lunch hour and devised a plan to run four 100-mile trail races in one summer and write a book about it. His experiences became the personal narrative “Beyond the Marathon: The Grand Slam of Trail Ultrarunning.” He now lives in Silverton, Colorado. The Uwharrie Mountain Run is now coordinated by Durham’s Bull City Running with race director Kim Chapman Page at the helm. With single track eight-mile, Top: Over the river and through the woods, 200 runners pound the Uwharrie course each year. Bottom: Leigh Adams of Hampstead and Jim Hundley of Wilmington compete in the 2012 Uwharrie Mountain Run. Opposite: Leigh trains for the 2014 running season. CAROLINA SNAPSHOT SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF BULL CITY RUNNING CO. COURTESY OF BULL CITY RUNNING CO. ALLISON POTTER
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