How a quaint mountain town gave birth to a brutal ultramarathon

Wendell Begley
Guest contributor
The Valley Echo
Feb. 24, 2022

Scores of runners will experience the rush of scrambling up over 4,000 feet to reach the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, Feb. 26, when the 24th Annual Mount Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon get underway. Pictured above is Will Harlan, a five-time winner of the Mount Mitchell Challenge. *Photo by Wendell Begley*

Before the sun rises, Saturday, Feb. 26, hundreds of runners will gather in the center of downtown Black Mountain under the cover of darkness. As the horn sounds, the mass of ultra athletes will head north, with their eyes toward the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

The 24th Annual Mount Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon will begin as it has for decades, with a light trot along the level sidewalks and streets in town, before it unveils its true nature as one of the nation’s toughest races. The climb to the top of the 40-mile course, an astounding 4,324 feet in elevation gain, takes runners over rugged mountain terrain to the summit of Mount Mitchell. The descent from 6,684 feet, which ends with a lap around Lake Tomahawk, is no less punishing.

While the merciless reputation of the Mount Mitchell Challenge has beckoned some of the most determined trail runners since its 1998 debut, the story of the race is rooted in the community it calls home.

Wendell Begley is known for a lot of things. Shareholders at the Black Mountain Savings Bank recognize him as the president of the institution for which he has worked for 50 years. Community members with an appreciation for local history are familiar with his name through his longtime association with the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center, or from the hundreds of historical articles he has written chronicling the people and events that have shaped the region.

Begley is also one of the founders of the Mount Mitchell Challenge, and tells the stories of those who brought it to life in the latest installment of his historical series.

Our Town’s Race, Reconnecting a Century Old Heritage

As one might expect, the race is cast against a “look-back” to a little more than a century ago when downtown Black Mountain and Mount Mitchell were closely aligned both in history and national notoriety.

Time was once framed against this same backdrop in 1916, when Black Mountain was recognized in state and national publications of the day as the “Gateway” (Mount Mitchell Railroad) to one of the “Top Ten Tourist Destinations” in America (Mount Mitchell). Our race’s “sunrise start” will begin at the south end of Cherry Street. The rocky and often treacherous race course is spread out over much of that same century old Mount Mitchell Railroad rail bed that once connected Black Mountain to the East’s loftiest peak.

Backpacker names the Challenge ‘One of America’s Top Ten Toughest Runs’

The Challenge is the only running event in the eastern U.S. that places runners on a course that winds upwards over 4,000 feet through three climatic zones. Runners travel through the deep forest of Montreat's southern hardwoods to the alpine Frasier Fir landscape of Mount Mitchell on the Black Mountain Range. The mini environments in between are similar to traveling from the Swannanoa Valley to Thunder Bay on Ontario’s Lake Superior.

In February of 2005, David Howard, Senior Editor for Backpacker magazine, came to Black Mountain to cover the race and wrote an article featured on the front page of the Sunday edition sports section of The New York Times.

Among the many superlatives, he stated. “…Only eight years old, the race has already generated the sort of lore one might expect from, say, Admiral Robert Peary’s polar expeditions…” David’s reporting of our Race characterized the adventure as "Sky Running the rooftop of Eastern America".

The ultimate footrace becomes reality

Over the years, I have documented a brief history as to how the idea of an event to connect Black Mountain to Mount Mitchell was formulated, beginning with the Black Mountain-Mount Mitchell Ski Challenge, which was organized in the summer of 1982. But, how did that unique event play a role in the creation of the 24-year-old race returning to town this weekend?

To answer that question, one must go back to the summer of 1997. It was a warm Sunday afternoon in late August when I left my little log cabin along the crest of the Black Mountain Range to shoot some photographs from Mitchell’s summit.

Upon arriving in the parking lot below the peak I was met by my good friend and Mount Mitchell's newest Park Superintendent Jack “Rusty” Bradley , Jr. (pictured below), who served in the position from 1997-2011. Prior to his newest title, Rusty had worked as a Ranger at Mount Mitchell dating back to the summer of 1982, when I had collaborated with him and then-superintendent, Lew Ledford, on the original "1983 Ski Challenge".

Eager to come up with a new outdoor event to highlight Mount Mitchell State Park, Rusty engaged me in a conversation which started out … “Remember the Black Mountain - Mount Mitchell Ski Challenge that you folks ran up here in February 1983? Well, could your people in Black Mountain brainstorm another big event that would feature Mount Mitchell?”

Hastily and engulfed with enthusiasm, I told Rusty to give me a few days and I would be back in touch. Really excited that the State Park wanted us to create an event rather than vice-versa, the first thing that came to mind was a “running experience” connecting Black Mountain and Mount Mitchell along the old historic Mount Mitchell Railroad corridor. Again, as we faced in the summer of 1982, the logistics of birthing such an event were overwhelming, so I contacted my old buddy Trent Thomas (pictured below), owner of Black Dome Mountain Sports in Asheville.

Well, to tie this all together, Trent and I met, both believing we had an incredible opportunity for an "Ultra Adventure Race" nobody could duplicate, especially with the backing of the State Park’s Superintendent. Trent knew "just the duo" to put legs under our race—a father and son team right here in Asheville. Of course, that turned out to be Jim Curwen, our first Race Director, and his son, Jay.

Jim Curwen makes the Challenge happen

Jim Curwen’s organizational skills and patience for detail never went without notice. I am sure if Jim hadn’t been there in the beginning giving us experienced guidance, balanced enthusiasm and most of all practical “old school” judgement, we wouldn’t be celebrating the 24th running of the Mount Mitchell Challenge. Each year I worked with Jim, I witnessed his greatest supporter and mentor. Of course that was his wife, Binky.

Every step of the way, Binky was there beside Jim. And if there was a misstep, which I rarely witnessed, she was there to make it right. One of Jim’s proudest moments was his running of the Boston Marathon at age forty-six and later passing the Race Directorship to his son, Jay.

Our Friend Jim passed away on Oct. 7, 2016, at age 73. And yes, when Jim’s obituary appeared in the newspaper, there he was wearing his blue Black Mountain Marathon-Mount Mitchell Challenge t-shirt.

Jay Curwen: one of the country’s famous adventure racers

Now, I can’t overlook recognizing our outstanding Race Director, Jay Curwen (pictured above). Jay, with his wife and greatest supporter Monica, have been devoted to this event dating back to the initial planning stages in the late summer of 1997.

Jay is one of the most talented ultra athletes I’ve known. He is a national champion adventure racer, winning over 125 races around the world. Jim always reminded me where Jay received such good genes.

Lastly …Without the support of the Town of Black Mountain Fire and Police Departments, volunteers from the Chamber of Commerce and Swannanoa Valley Museum, Rob McGraw at Mount Mitchell State Park, The Road Show Amateur Radio Club of WNC and all of the scores of dedicated folks that line the mountainside with Jay’s runners’ aid stations year after year, this Race would not be possible.

Voila ... Our 24th Annual Race, and a stronger desire than ever to showcase our “little” historic town situated at the foot of Eastern North America’s tallest mountain range!

Echoes of the Past: The Mount Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon