Denise Davis gets SCAR'ed

photo: Denise Davis

On March 21-22nd, Denise Davis completed the Smokies Challenge Adventure Run, also known as SCAR (see also here, here, and here), joining a small but growing group of adventurers who have met this formidable trail challenge.

Make certain to read Denise's report of the adventure, it's one of the best accounts I've read of this challenge. As an enticement, here are some highlights:

SCAR is the acronym for the unofficial Smokies Challenge Adventure Run, a one-day unsupported 72 mile run on the Appalachian Trail across the crest of the Smoky Mountains National Park. It gains over 18,000 feet in elevation and you only have one opportunity for aid or to quit. What first got me interested in this run was an article a friend had sent me years ago, about a woman who had run across the Smokies in two days, stopping at Newfound Gap and then coming back the next day to finish it. This was before I started trail running and I knew most hikers took five days or more to cross the Smokies. I was impressed and that article stuck with me.

I decided this year that I would try SCAR as a training run for the Massanutten. After I finished it yesterday, in retrospect I realized that I should have done the Massanutten as a training run for SCAR.

There is some interest in organizing another attempt at SCAR the first week of May. Please let me know if any of you are interested. Also see the SCAR entry at WNC Trailrunner.