40 Mile Event Info
The 40 Mile course will start beside Shelter #7. Athletes will run up the road and exit the park onto Owls Roost Rd. Approximately .6 miles. At mile 1.1 athletes will turn LEFT onto the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway. Athletes will turn LEFT onto Little Loop Trail and take it back to the Greenway where they will turn LEFT again and head to Big Loop Trail on the LEFT. Athletes will complete the big loop and come back to the Greenway and turn LEFT. Athletes will then turn RIGHT onto Piedmont Trail - a nice wooded, mostly flat trail with a few boardwalks and roots, but lots of pine needles too.
At the end of Piedmont Trail runners will cross over Lake Brandt Road (police officer here) and onto Reedy Fork Trail – a semi-technical mountain bike trail that is wooded and bumpy with short, steep ups and downs.
At the end of Reedy Fork Trail runners will turn RIGHT onto N Church St for just over 0.1 miles and then turn LEFT onto Crockett Trail – a short, relatively flat connector trail with many roots.
At the end of Crockett Trail athletes will turn LEFT onto N Church St for about 0.13 miles and then turn LEFT onto Osprey Trail – a technical trail with some rocks and tons of roots. Bridges and boardwalks will be crossed.
At the end of Osprey Trail athletes will cross over Yanceyville St (no police officer) and onto Townsend Trail – rolling hills with a couple of short, steep climbs. Runners will follow this trail for about 5.5 miles before making a U-TURN and retracing their steps all the way back to N Church St…which they will cross over and onto Laurel Bluff Trail – rocky, woody, with usually short, steep climbs.
At the end of Laurel Bluff Trail runners will cross over Lake Brandt Road (police officer here) and onto Nat Greene Trail – another wooded, mostly flat trail that is one of the oldest and most popular of the City’s watershed trails. One highlight is a 200-ft boardwalk that allows runners to traverse mud flats and bogs where Horse Pen Creek feeds into Lake Brandt.
At the end of Nat Greene Trail runners will turn RIGHT again onto the sidewalk beside Old Battleground Road for almost a quarter mile before turning RIGHT onto Palmetto Trail – relatively easy trail with just a few rocks or roots.
At the end of Palmetto Trail runners will turn LEFT back onto the greenway for about a quarter mile before turning RIGHT onto Owl’s Roost Trail – a traditional single-track mountain bike trail with lots of roots and short, steep climbs.
At the end of Owl’s Roost Trail runners will turn RIGHT onto the greenway and head back to Big Loop Trail for another loop of that. Exiting Big Loop for the second time, athletes will turn RIGHT on the greenway for a short stretch before turning RIGHT and running up the hill to the finish.
This is a course map on Strava. You can view the course and elevation, as well as download a GPX file from this link to use with your running watch.
