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Knoxville Times Story
CATHY CLARKE / NEWS SENTINEL
Bogie Dumitrescu of Boston swims to the Leatherwood Ford bridge in the Big South Fork National Park and Recreation Area. Dumitrescu was competing in the "Beast of the East" adventure race.
Taming the 'Beast'
Adventure racers converge at Big South Fork to compete in 270-mile event
By MORGAN SIMMONS,
simmonsm@knews.com
November 17, 2004
ONEIDA - The swimmers wore SCUBA fins and wet suits, and you could hear their teeth chattering as they came to the low-water bridge at Leatherwood Ford.
For Jason Coleman, a 27-year-old adventure racer from St. Louis, Mo., the three-hour swim down the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River wasn't just cold, it was downright frightening.
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"That was the most miserable thing I've ever done," said Coleman. "I got swept under one rock, and I was wondering when I'd ever come up."
This week, 70 adventure racers from around the world will be in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area for the "Beast of the East," a 270-mile event race that includes trekking, mountain biking, swimming, paddling and rappelling.
The race kicked off Tuesday at 4 a.m. with a 26-mile bike ride from Historic Rugby to the confluence of New River and Clear Fork River, where the Big South Fork begins.
At 7:30 a.m., the fastest teams finished the bike ride to begin the second leg - a seven-mile swim down the Big South Fork through a whitewater section that includes Class III and Class IV rapids.
By 10:30 a.m., about half of the 27 teams entered in the race had reached Leatherwood Ford and were preparing for the 30-mile paddle on down the Big South Fork to Alum Ford in Kentucky.
The fastest racers are expected to finish the Beast of the East at daybreak Friday morning, while the slower teams should finish Saturday morning. The competitors will race around the clock, grabbing sleep in as little as 10-minute increments.
After paddling to Alum Ford, they'll trek 45 miles back to the Bandy Creek Visitor Center. Along the way, they'll rappel down some of the river gorge overlooks that are the park's signature landmarks. They'll mountain bike over to Frozen Head State Park, where they'll navigate their way between mandatory checkpoints, and finally, they'll finish the four-day race with another paddling section and a mountain bike ride from Burnt Mill to Rugby.
Race director Joy Marr described the Big South Fork course as slightly shorter but more challenging, than most adventure race courses.
"It's going to be a technically demanding course, even for the most experienced teams," Marr said.
Odyssey Adventures of Williamsburg, Va., manages the Beast of the East, and Blue Ridge Mountain Sports and New Balance Shoes will serve as sponsors. Officials with the Big South Fork say race is by far the largest competitive event ever held in the 123,000-acre park.
Headquarters for the race is Historic Rugby.
"One reason we were interested in hosting the event is to draw attention to this part of the Cumberland Plateau," said Barbara Stagg, executive director of Historic Rugby.
Odyssey Adventures puts on a series of adventure races, but the Beast of the East is its flagship event. The race is part of an international circuit of adventure races held in Canada, Brazil, Sweden, Africa and New Zealand. The Big South Fork Beast of the East has attracted teams from all over the United States, as well as Canada, Guatemala and the United Kingdom.
On Tuesday morning, the parking lot at Leatherwood Ford was filled with tents and cook stoves belonging to the support crews. Coleman shared a tent with his teammates, Jeff and Carrie Soma and Scott Dunsmuir. They called themselves Team Gateway Adventure, and except for Dunsmuir, they were all registered nurses.
While hurriedly changing out of their wet suits, the team fueled up on hot soup and sandwiches. Jeff Soma described the whitewater swim as "fun, crazy stuff," and his team mates agreed.
"I was scared 30 minutes after I hit the water," Coleman said.
"I couldn't feel my feet," added Carrie Soma. "I felt like I was kicking with bricks on my leg."
Morgan Simmons may be reached at 865-342-6321.
Copyright 2004, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.
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