Limited Entrants!
Come experience a weekend of tough and beautiful trails in Northeast Tennessee. This run will be located in the beautiful Cherokee National Forest. The Phantom Stages will encompass a whole weekend of trail running. These runs are difficult and contain a significant amount of climbing, combined with night running, gnarly single track and lots of wildlife. Are you up for the challenge? You can register for individual runs or if you are up for it, run all 3 days!
This is an organized group run and the registration serves for runner accountability and the fees go to post-run food. There will be no finisher's medals, no t-shirts, no age group awards. We will have some sort of aid stations set up for you throughout the weekend and some post run food and drinks. This is a low key run to explore some sweet single track trail running.
History of the Phantom Plane Crash
On Oct. 1, 1976, an RF-4C "Phantom" jet crashed on Holston Mountain in Elizabethton, TN. The jet was on routine flight from Shaw Air Force Base when it disappeared off the Air Force radar around 4pm in the vicinity of Holston Mountain. The two German pilots, First Lt. Kurt Schnurer and Cadet Werner Michelberger, were killed in the crash. There is a small monument located on Holston Mountain in memory of the two pilots. There are still pieces of the wreckage on Holston Mountain.
The Phantom 5K Vertical Challenge and Phantom 15K
Friday Night will start off with The Phantom 15K and The Phantom 5K Vertical Challenge. Both of these runs will start at 7pm and the first 3 miles have over 2,000 ft of climbing. Runners will be running in the dark, so a headlamp will be required to navigate the rocky trails. The first male and female to reach the top of the climb will be named King and Queen of the Mountain. The 5K runners will stop here and the 15K runners will continue on. Both 5K and 15K are eligible for this Vertical Challenge (15K runners do not have to register for 5K separately). The 15K and 5K runs will be comprised of single track, horse trails, and forest service roads. There is a 2 hour cutoff for the 5K and 3.5 hour cutoff for the 15K. The 15K will have over 3,000 ft of climbing in the course. If you only sign up for the 5K Vertical Challenge, be aware that you have to find your own way down the mountain, either with your crew or back down 3 miles of trail. The forest service road should be open for crew to drive up to the finish area of the 5K. So it would actually be better if you just signed up for the 15K! (Be aware that this could change with the weather and the gate could be closed).
Here is a link to the Strava route for the 15K (5K follows the same course for first 3.1 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/6345488
The Phantom 50K
Saturday morning at 6AM, you will find yourself at the starting line for the Phantom 50K. This rugged and challenging course awaits you and your ankles. This is a difficult 50K with close to 11,500 ft of climbing. The Phantom 50K will be on horse trails, single track, and fire roads up and down Holston Mountain. Steep climbs (on all fours for some climbs), rocky descents, and small creek crossings will make for a very memorable run, just wait until you see the views! Cutoff time 11 hours.
Link to the Strava route: https://www.strava.com/routes/6302793
The Phantom 25K
After Saturday's punishing run, you will be allowed to sleep in a bit as Sunday's 25K doesn't start until Noon. There is a 5 hour cutoff for this race to ensure everyone is off the mountain before sunset. This 25K run will have over 5,600 ft of climbing on single track, horse trails and fire roads. Your legs will be tired and wobbly and you will find out if you are up for the final challenge. This will be a slightly less challenging run with more forest service road running. Link to Strava: coming soon.
Hotels/Camping
Elizabethton is the nearest town and there are a couple hotels there. These hotels are affordable, have a bed and a bathroom, but not much more. If you want nicer amenities, drive to Johnson City, where there is more to choose from.
Camping is allowed in the National Forest, although the average temperatures in mid-November tend to be mid-60s during the day and mid-30s at night.
Please check yes on the registration question if you are interested in primitive camping and Netta will contact you with more camping information.
Refunds/Transfers
This is a group run and all the registration fees are being used for food purposes. No profit is made off these Stage runs. If you sign up and you cant attend, just know that your fees went to help feed to the other runners. No refunds or transfers for available for this event.
Event's current local time: 10:34 AM ET
