A Pack and a Bear – Mount Airy News
A Pack and a Bear Mount Airy News
LINVILLE — Nearly 300 runners, 26.2 miles and one black bear—just another Grandfather Mountain Marathon. The marathon, part of the 64th annual …
Former Surry Central athlete Kevin Pack, 23, finds a bronze medal waiting for him at the finish line as he completed the Grandfather Mountain Marathon on Saturday, June 13, in a time of 2:58:59.9. Now in its 52nd year, the marathon is part of the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. – Skip Sickler | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation
A black bear was seen around mile 21 of the Grandfather Mountain Marathon. – Skip Sickler | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation
Caleb Bowen, 25, of Huntington, W. Va., completes his first Grandfather Mountain Marathon on Saturday, June 13, finishing first with a time of 2:51:58.1. – Skip Sickler | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation
Shenna Patterson, 36, of Charlotte, completes her second Grandfather Mountain Marathon on Saturday, June 13, finishing first for the women (14th overall) with a time of 3:30:53.5. – – Skip Sickler | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship FoundationLINVILLE — Nearly 300 runners, 26.2 miles and one black bear—just another Grandfather Mountain Marathon.
And one local coach who showed the athletes under his charge that he still knows how to do what he teaches.
The marathon, part of the 64th annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, took place Saturday, July 13, and saw 286 runners assault a grueling course, spanning from Kidd Brewer Stadium on the Appalachian State University campus in Boone, to MacRae Meadows at the base of Grandfather Mountain in Linville.
One runner, Zack Barricklow, was in for a surprise.
“So about at mile 20 or 21, we came up on the backside of a giant black bear,” he said. “The back of it was definitely shoulder height to me (Barricklow is 5’11’’). We decided to let it do its thing. Eventually, it ventured back up into the woods.”
Needless to say, the bear didn’t finish the race. The top honor went to Caleb Bowen, 25, of Huntington, W. Va., who was first to cross the finish line with a time of 2:51:58.1. This also marked Bowen’s first time running the Grandfather marathon.
Another first-time competitor was among those who gave Bowen a run for his money. Kevin Pack, 23, of Dobson, entered the Grandfather Marathon for the first time and finished third overall, in a time of 2:58:59.9. Bowen, runner-up Christopher Rayder of Collierville, Tenn. (2:58:44.4) and Pack were the only three competitors to complete the distance in under three hours.
Pack, who ran for Surry Central High School between 2011-14, continued his competitive running career in college at Western Carolina University and beyond. He has been outstanding in the past two years. He won the Running the Vines 10K at Shelton Vineyards in each of the last two years, as well as in 2016, and won the 5K version in 2014. On Feb. 9 of this year, he ran off with the win in the Frigid 2019 10K in Charlotte, beating the field by more than four minutes. He competed locally in the Mayberry Half Marathon last Nov. 17 and finished second by 41 seconds to a runner from Charlotte. He entered and won the Mayberry 10K in 2015 and finished third in 2017. On April 27, he took part in the SCS Educational Foundation 5K and won by 87 seconds.
After graduating from WCU, Pack returned to Central as a teacher and is now the head women’s track and field coach at his alma mater.
However, last Saturday’s race belonged to Bowen, who had never run at Grandfather before but who had more experience in ultra-long distance running than his rivals. He said he wasn’t sure what to expect in the beginning of the race, but decided to take it slow.
“I just went out a little bit conservative, and they went out really hard,” Bowen said when asked about the competition. “I really didn’t think I’d catch them, but then I saw them and was like, oh cool.”
Bowen, who works as an assistant coach at Marshall University, admitted he wasn’t as prepared for the marathon as he hoped to have been.
“I trained for a 40-mile ultra race back in June, and then from then on to now, I didn’t really do much,” he said. “So, it wasn’t exactly the greatest.”
His favorite part?
“Probably the Blue Ridge Parkway,” he said. “That was beautiful. And then by mile 18 and 19, you could just see the mountain. It was just beautiful.”
For Bowen, the 26-mile marathon was something of an early celebration.
“I turn 26 tomorrow, so I thought I’d do 26 miles for my 26th birthday,” he said.
Shenna Patterson, 36, of Charlotte, was the first female to finish the 2019 marathon (14th overall), with a time of 3:30:53.5 — just over four minutes faster than her 2018 outing. She was followed by Jen Helmer, 33, of Greensboro, with a time of 3:36:09.7 (21st overall) and Deb Yannessa, 34, also of Charlotte, with a time of 3:47:33.7 (34th overall).
In order to prepare for the marathon, Patterson trained on her treadmill.
“Well, we don’t have as many hills in Charlotte,” she said. “I’d get on my treadmill and just put it on the highest incline and run intensely uphill.”
The course didn’t change much from last year, according to Patterson, but instead, it was the competition.
Patterson, who works at Duke Energy and attended Dublin City University in Ireland, had a little extra motivation when it came to finishing the marathon.
“Well, my husband is running also, but he’s back there a little bit,” she said with a laugh.
According to the officials, 26 states were represented in the race, while two racers hailed from Sweden and Brazil.
The 64th Grandfather Mountain Highland Games took place July 11-14 at Grandfather Mountain in Linville. For more information about the Highland Games, visit www.gmhg.org.