Description:

The Fierce Dragon 200, an H9 event, involves 10 traverses of the main ridge line of the Duncan Ridge for the equivalent of 5 laps between Vogel State Park and Skeenah Gap. The outbound traverse goes over the Wolf Creek river crossing. The inbound traverse uses FS Roads 108/107 to reach Burnett Gap (Hwy 180). A short loop around the Park lake is required on each lap to reach a total of 40 miles for each lap. Only full laps, Vogel-to-Skeenah-to-Vogel, will be counted. The race has no entry requirements because the course is fairly well contained and if the runner can no longer continue under their own power, then he/she will be shuttled back to Vogel to turn in their bib. The course will be relatively well marked, so for the navigationally challenged most of your worries should be minimized. If you have on occasion reversed direction because you were disoriented at a stop point, then you will be turned back around at the last aid station that exited from – less than 5 miles.

Minimum Progress
Runners are required to do a minimum of 1 lap per 24 hours (40 miles per day). Failure to complete the minimum distance ends the runner’s race at the last full lap. The 24 hour cutoff time per day is a practical limitation in a runner’s race progress; however, if a runner is a half a mile from the end of a lap to complete the minimum, then this is close enough to count. The final cutoff of 120 hours to complete the 200 miles will be strictly enforced.

Start/Finish
The race takes place over most of a week. Check-in for the event is Monday evening 4 to 8pm. The event will start on Tuesday at 8am. The event will finish on Sunday at 8am. Race flags will mark the start/finish area in the vicinity of Campground Area 1 on the main road. Everyone must check-in before 8pm at the Group Shelter. Period. No exceptions.

Support Points
The support location are Vogel State Park, Calf Stomp Gap, Bryant Gap, Fish Gap and Skeenah Gap. Support at Vogel will be at the main dining tent that will have hot food and drinks. This may involve serving yourself. Support at the other 4 aid points will be provided by hardy volunteers who like seeing people suffer. The support points are roughly 5 miles apart; plus or minus a mile or so.

Crew
Participants are allow to use crew. Crew vehicles are limited to one vehicle per runner to limit congestion on the Forest Service roads. Crew are allow to meet their runners at Vogel State Park, Bryant Gap, Mulky Gap, and Skeenah Gap. Crew vehicles traveling to Vogel or Skeenah Gap do not require placards indicating a crew vehicle. However, crews intending to travel to Bryant Gap or Mulky Gap must obtain a crew placard. Crew vehicles will be inspected to verify adequacy in terms of ground clearance and size. Large crew vehicles (RVs, dual wheeled trucks) will restricted because the road is narrow; and rough and steep in places.

Pacers
Paces (safety runners) are allowed on the return traverse from Skeenah Gap to Vogel. For most runners this section most likely will be traversed at night. Pacers are responsible for their own transportation to arrive at Skeenah Gap.

Staking-Out
Staking-out is taking time away from the course to rest or find food and water. Staking-out (and back in) is only allowed at Vogel State Park. Staking-out does not stop the clock, so runners must still meet the 40 miles per day minimum to complete the race. Runners are allowed to access and rest in a crew vehicle at crew aid points. If a runner meets crew, then staying with the crew is allowed provided the runner remains at the meeting location (i.e., cannot stake out).

Tokens
Three (3) token locations will be placed where runners must take a token to show they have passed thru that point. The tokens will be numerical pages designated for removal as assigned by the aid station prior to the token location.

Clock Stop
If the weather forecast shows an intense squall line with high winds, a Race Clock Stop may be issued 24 hours in advance. Depending on the weather forecast, this Clock Stop could be 2 to 4 hours. Weather conditions persisting longer than 4 hours will be considered a normal race condition. For a Clock Stop, runners will be gathered at aid station locations starting about 2 hours in advance of the Clock Stop; their arrival time will be recorded. After the Clock Stop, runners will be released in the order they arrived. If the Clock Stop is long, then the layover time may simply be deducted from the runner’s overall race time (all runners would be released at the end of the Clock Stop).

Cutoff
Other than the minimum progress requirement, the only cutoff is the final cutoff. This a strict cutoff at 8am Sunday morning + any Clock Stop time. The final cutoff is not negotiable. Based on prior year experiences, runners will have a very good understanding of their progress by the end of the 4th lap, so a failure to meet the final cutoff will not be a surprise.

New to H9?
If you are new to the H9 experience, then first make sure your will is up-to-date, then embrace the circles of hell that you are about to enter. All things considered, it is an easy race.

H9 caters to hardy runners. We don’t go as far as the Barkley and consume our young, but completing the 200 miles does require runners to “bank some miles” on tough terrain in difficult weather conditions. A talent for trail running is a good start, but it is not the only criteria.

Just for fun, some labels may apply to early drops. Human Sacrifice – failure to proceed passed Bryant Gap (~10 miles). Shazam Failure – dropping at Skeenah Gap on the 1st lap (~20 miles). Epic Failure – failure to complete one lap (<40 miles). Napping Failure – failure to complete two laps (<80 miles).

Lodging
Vogel Park and Blairsville have lodging. The cabins at Vogel are not inexpensive, but if shared, then the cost is not too bad.

Bunking
Hot and Assigned Bunks. There will be hot bunks for roughly 20% of the runner field – available at Vogel on a first-come-first-napping basis. At an extra cost (that includes a hot meal) an assigned bunk with some pack space can be purchased for the duration of the race.

Daily Hot Meal
A hot meal (basically breakfast) will be available to runners from 4am to 10am daily. If the runner purchases an assigned bunk, this will be a part of the deal. This meal can also be purchased each day (price to be determined, but less than $15.01).

Parking at Vogel State Park
Parking at the Georgia State Parks is $5 per day, or you can purchase an annual pass.

100 Mile Options
After 1 October 2019, any remaining 200M capacity will be opened to a 100M option. This would be a 48-hr event starting on the morning of the 4th day and finishing at the end of the 5th day. The course would be the same, except runners would only do 2.5 laps. The last half lap would turn-around at Mulky Gap.

A bit of history…
The year 2020 marks 10 years since the inaugural H9 50-miler. That time began a renewed trail running interest in the Duncan Ridge Trail that led to the establishment of several races (Cruel Jewel, Duncan Ridge 50k, Georgia Death Race, and the H9 insanity) that use all, or part of the Duncan Ridge that is commonly known as the Dragon Spine.
There were earlier events, such as the Georgia Loop runs-races that used the DRT, BMT and AT to create a roughly 60 mile loop in N Georgia. Those activities have partially faded into the mists of yester-year. Richard Schick is probably the most knowledgeable about those events and will happily spin a tale or two if you ask. They pre-date ultrasignup and the inter-webs, which means they never actually happened (smiley face). The DRT at that time was wild and woolly and was not well maintained. The trail maintenance has improved, for many reasons, but suffice to say the interest of the trail running community has played a large role in that improvement. This RD’s first memory of the DRT was of Brad Goodridge wandering out of the wild from the other side of Coosa Bald, machete in hand…surely the lair of a Dragon did lie in that direction. H9 attributes the origin of the term Dragon Spine to Andrew Powell from sometime in the 2000s. He noted that the sharp ups and downs are like climbing the back ridges of a dragon. The Dragon Spine likely had other names – most unprintable, no doubt – but the Dragon seems to have stuck. The Creek Indians who traversed these lands in earlier centuries most certainly would have been astounded by our foolishness to cross the worst part of such awful terrain.