Race Info
Just the facts:
-135 miles in ten loops of a 13.5 mile double track trail course with 20,000 total feet of vertical.
-48 hour strict cutoff.
-One full aid station per loop at the
start/finish and another water stop you hit twice at mile 6 and 9.
-No outside help allowed. None at all. No crew. No pacers. Period.
-No non-runners on course or in aid station or personal staging area.
-Randomly assigned personal 4'x8' staging area on grass at the start/finish which only you can access. Load it up it before the start, then no returning to the car for more of anything.
-Non runners may cheer from the designated and marked off areas only.
-8:00 am Friday start. Last Friday of October.
-Requirement of at least one 100 mile finish.
-One big, beautiful buckle for all finishers.
-Trophy for first male and female.
More deets and some philosophizing:
Lone Wolf is 135 miles of trail, ran alone. No pacers. No crew. No hugs and kisses or goodies from your people until you cross that finish line or dnf. This buckle is yours and yours alone. It will be an internal, lonely battle. For an additional air of loneliness, we will limit registration to 25 runners for 2026. No conga lines on this one.
If anyone not officially associated with the race (official volunteers and bibbed runners), touches you or your gear or hands you anything, your race is done. Only official aid is allowed. If you're crewed you're screwed. There is no sharing of food or gear with other bibbed runners. Of course you can run with other runners, but not the entire time. If it becomes apparent that one runner is leaning hard on another runner loop after loop, or signed up as a "bibbed pacer" then we reserve the right to break up the pack. If you're running on trail and another runner needs real help then please help by all means. Otherwise this is a self-supported 135 miler. Don't attempt it if your strategy and intentions are something other than being a lone wolf. There will be one fantastic aid station at the start/finish of every loop of the 13.5 mile course (like a lonely gas station on a self supported FKT attempt with great pizza and biscuits). And a water stop at mile 6 and 9 of the loop. If you run low on batteries or are short on something basic, the gas station will be able to help with that. And yes, it's a loop, ten of them, this format would be pretty near impossible otherwise. But it's a beautiful loop with plenty of interest and fall colors that will change on their own with every pass. The trail never crosses itself, there are no intersections or any repeats at all on the loop. It is all well marked ATV passable trail, centered on a lake on private property designed and built for running. If you do get in a serious pickle, call and we can have help to you in minutes. (carrying a phone is suggested but not required, but in the spirit of the race, please don't call or facetime anyone outside the race during the race unless absolutely necessary, and please keep any music in the headphones and not for other lonely sojourners to hear)
Race info cont..
On that note, there is no required gear. You've done a hundo before, and signed the waiver, you know what you need. You could do a loop with just a water bottle and some granola, and on the next loop grab your pack with a headlamp and a jacket. No one cares, as long as you do it on your own.
The course has over 2,000' of vertical per loop for a total of more than 20,000' of climbing. Poles are allowed. The climbs will challenge you more than you'd think for being in middle Georgia. It surprises every first timer on this trail system. These factors and the distance alone necessitate the requirement of any 100 mile finish before registration. This is not an event for buckle virgins.
The race begins at 8:00 am Friday morning Oct 30th, with a 48 hour cutoff. That's a 21 minute mile. Walkable, sort of. With aid and potty stops you'll have to do some running. The vertical alone will slow you enough to require some running on the flats and downs. If you at least keep moving and don't park at the gas station you'll finish just fine. The slowest mile matters more than the fastest. For 2026, the second night will be the end of daylight savings which means the race will end at 7:00am, not 8:00. So the second night, after 2:00am, watch your race time, not the actual time. You'll find some Halloween treats at the aid station and along the way to help keep the log goblins away.
You will have a personal 4x8 space, randomly assigned and labeled by bib# in a blocked off section near parking and the start/finish/main aid which no one but runners and official volunteers may enter. Perfect for a couple of coolers, a pack, and a camp chair or whatever you want. If you have any gear bleeding into a neighbor's lot, even if they're cool with it, we'll ask you to contain it. Fences make good neighbors. If the weather turns severely sideways the cabin will serve as a refugio. Friends and family are encouraged to drop you off, stay and cheer from a distance, and drive your stinky, tired, accomplished self home afterwards, but may not be in the aid station/personal assigned area or anywhere on course. Nor may runners leave the course/aid station as we can only assume they are gettin' some lovin'. Runners are welcome to camp the night before and stay as long as they need to on Sunday until you are safe to drive again. Cars and tailgates may not be leveraged as aid stations during the race. Your peeps may cheer and scream and cry for you from behind the designated areas marked off on the large lawns and parking lot, but MAY NOT touch you or your gear. You run what ya brung. What is in your spot at 8:00am is it. Other than the official aid station. Any violation of which will be a DQ for the runner. With that said, you could theoretically run the entire race on the calories and hydration provided at the gas station. So bring what you want, but we'll make sure no one is hungry.
The playing field has been leveled. No runner will be sitting alone shivering, eating cold, burnt quesadillas and drinking watery broth, while another is getting a leg massage, a full service pack restock, a nappy in the camper, and a hot meal from their honey. Equal joy and suffering on this one. Elite advantages are nullified.
Think swimming the English Channel, a touch is all it takes to end the race, except from officials and high fives from other bibbed runners.
48 hours is merciful, generous, and very achievable, but it will be strictly and mercilessly enforced as most races are. 48:00:01 is a DNF. There has to be a line.
Finishers will receive one of the biggest and most beautiful buckles in ultrarunning. Every ounce of it yours and yours alone.
Race info cont..
And how sweet will be the finish. The reunion with your people. When you ran the path alone, endured the task, and are then reunited.
Some accomplishments are team efforts. But others are just you. In the end, like it or not, most of our battles are fought on the inside. All alone. Here's to building more confidence and strength in those lone wolf battles.
This is not an assault on teamwork. But an elevation of it. Teams are made of individuals. And independent, self sufficient, and strengthened individuals built better teams. Stronger wolves make stronger packs.
Simple. Gritty. Grassroots. All you.
Lone Wolf 135
Why 135? Because the half marathon course came out a little long and kinda pretty so why not hit it 10 times. And if you have an eye on that 135 mile hot as hellfire race up Whitney, or any other ultrahundo, then it's probably a good idea to wrap your brain around 135 miles in an accessible race. (And they recently dropped their cutoff from 48 to 45 hours, we'll keep the 48 cause we're kind like that.) If you usually run sans crew then this will be a routine, slightly longer weekend in the woods. If you've never not had a crew then this will be an interesting and self-validating experience. And if you can do this alone, you can do any other race with a crew. And for the most part, races longer than 135 are stage races. Which implies crew. This may be nearing the apex of what you can do in a race as a lone wolf. It also means some run junkie can fly in alone, pick up some coolers and goodies at walmart, and run the race on an equal footing as the dude in chartreuse shorts with the entourage and camper van.
Badwater 135 vert: 14,600' (crazy hot)
Arrowhead 135 vert 6,467'(crazy cold)
Denali 135 vert: 8,724' (crazy beautiful)
Lone Wolf 135 vert: 20,360' (just right)
Several 100 milers have 30,000 plus feet of vertical. (Cruel Jewel, Hard Rock, UTMB) Doing 135 miles with 20k vert may be harder. Jury is out. After doing a 100 miler with 20,000' of vert, would you rather have had another 10,000' of vert sprinkled throughout that hundo, or do another 35 miles.
One way to find out.
Might as well find out as a lone wolf.
Event's current local time: 5:07 PM ET
