S.C.A.R. - Smokies challenge adventure run unsupported FKT : Full report
- Deanna Doane
- 5 days ago
- 12 min read
Scroll to bottom for full stats on gear, nutrition, mileage and more.
What is SCAR?
SCAR, otherwise known as the smokies challenge adventure run is a rugged 72 mile route with nearly 18,000 feet of elevation gain entirely on the Appalachian Trail within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of North Carolina and Tennessee. This route has a long standing history of people running and setting records since the early 2000’s. It is what I would consider the east coast equivalent of rim to rim to rim. It’s not a race, will never be a race, but is exactly what it stands for — a challenge and adventure. It will test you. It will change you. It will push you beyond your limits.
On Monday, May 18th I completed this route in 17 hours 44 minutes, shaving a little over 1.5 hours off the previous unsupported FKT. I did this with zero support meaning no crew, no aid drops, no pacers, just me, myself, all my calories and my trusty water filter (which was extremely hard to come by given this unseasonably dry spring we have had. That’s another story that I’ll get to!)
SCAR is extremely remote, with only two access points to “bail out” if needed, either at mile 31 or 40. When you are out there, you are very alone, often only seeing section or thru hikers. I carried my garmin inreach mini for safety and tracking purposes in case anything happened. You can easily end up in a dangerous situation out there.
My history with SCAR and why
I was first introduced to this route in 2024 by some friends who took me out to run the first 31 miles of it, then a few months later the last 40 miles of it. I absolutely fell in love with the trail and the area. I think those runs back in 2024 really planted the seed for this grand adventure unfolding. One of those friends included Anthony Groft, who currently holds the men’s supported FKT for this route and has run sections of SCAR many times. I also felt particularly inspired by my friend Lea Mulligan who has the women’s supported FKT in a very impressive time of 15:22.
I chose to go southbound, starting at Davenport Gap and finishing at Fontana Dam. I chose this direction mainly because it felt safer to leave my car there, given the large amount of parking and reasonable traffic. Finishing at the dam also just seemed more special, with the lights of the dam reflecting on the lake and the large open sky above you. It was cathartic to get to that dam and just cry my eyes out when I finished.
I decided about 6 weeks prior that I wanted to do this. My fitness and training was going in a really good direction, with a few 50k races under my belt and a couple more in the spring. I used these races as part of my training and had a 3 week block of higher volume that was specifically focused for SCAR. I felt strong, confident, and ready to tackle something really long and hard. The more I thought about SCAR, the more excited I got. I wanted a long, challenging solo adventure in the woods that would test me and serve as more of a spiritual quest, if you will. I had nothing to prove to anyone but myself and made the experience my own.
The beautiful and crazy part about an unsupported FKT is that you are the only one in charge of your race and no one is going to save you. There’s no medal, no t’shirt, no buckle or high fives at the finish. Theres nothing on the line, it is fully up to you to push yourself to your absolute limit to achieve what you want to achieve. It’s just you versus you versus the clock out there. It takes true mental strength, physical endurance, grit, grace, and a bit of a screw loose to chase something like this. But from my experience in what I’ve found, the person that you meet on the other side is all the worthwhile. The growth and memories are some that I’ll cherish forever.
Originally, I had tentatively planned to make the attempt on Thursday May 21st. However, after looking at the weather about a week before, it was forecasting a lot of rain and lightning on the ridge for nearly ten days straight. So at the last minute, it looked like Monday May 18th was the only “clear” day that I would get for nearly 14 days. But here’s the caveat — Mondays high temp was in the mid 80’s.
So I was stuck in this weird place of either forcing myself into training for one more week, re taper and wait two weeks for the “perfect weather day” to make the attempt, or just say fuck it and take advantage of being tapered and go do it on a hot as balls day. Patience is not a virtue that I have, so I decided to just go out and do it on that hot and dry Monday. Plus, what if that perfect weather day never came and I ended up wasting three weeks just de training? Go big or go home!!
The attempt...
So on Monday May 18th my alarm went off at 2am. It’s go time motherfuckers!! Somehow I had roped my friend Scott Abshire into being my shuttle that morning and drove me to the start at Davenport Gap. We both slept in our cars at Fontana Dam that night before, that way when I finished I would have my car right there. I officially started at 5:22 in the morning.
No matter which direction you start from, you begin a massive climb up into the smokies. The first 5 miles had a 3,000 foot climb which I did mostly in the dark. It was immediately warm and I was already sweating. The timing was almost perfect for the sunrise though, as the first overlook on mount Cammerer gave me a breathtaking view of the sun peaking over the mountain landscape. What a beautiful start to the day!
I decided to wear both my Raide waist belt and my Salomon hydration pack. I had not trained much wearing a pack, so I wanted to redistribute some of that weight from my back into the waist belt to help reduce fatigue in my back/shoulders. It definitely helped. I started with two full 500ml bottles with Skratch super high carb mix (1 liter/ 400 calories / 100 grams carbs) . My first water filter stop was around the 8 mile mark, so I wanted to reduce carrying unneeded weight. The two bottles was just enough to get me to that stop.
When I got there, I realized how dangerous the water situation was. The “stream” was barely a trickle, and it set the bar for how hard water was going to be to collect this day. It was enough to fill my bottles and took about five or so minutes. It has been a very dry spring in the southeast, so I went into this attempt knowing the risks and challenges of collecting water.
The difficult part about predicting the reliability of these water sources is mainly because the bubble of thru hikers were here well over a month ago. Most of the updated notes on the FarOut app were over a month old, so it was hard to trust what was truly accurate or not. In a lot of ways, I definitely winged it and took some big risks. For the most part I got lucky, but for a couple circumstances I got screwed. But hey, at least I didn’t die!
At mile 14 I had a water stop, so I collected and filled my bottles. The next “reliable” water stop was 13 miles away, which I knew I could trust according to the most recent FarOut notes. However , there was one water stop 9 miles away that I was unsure about but had a small chance to collect water. I took the risk, and instead of filling three bottles I only filled two, to save having to carry extra weight. When I got to the “water source” 9 miles away, it was bone dry. “FUCK”… I thought to myself. I was not completely empty but now I had 4+ miles to get to the next one and had to ration my water and get slightly dehydrated.
When I finally made it to that “reliable” water stop, it was barely a trickle. Someone previously had put a leaf on the rocks to create a spout where water would flow. It was extremely helpful, but it took 15 minutes to fill my three bottles. I made sure to chug an entire bottle, then left with two full bottles to get me to the next stop.
In total I spent about 1.5 hours stopped, collecting water or shuffling through my pack. All water sources had a very slow flow if any, and a couple I had to walk off trail to get to a spring which added extra mileage and time. All things considered I was extremely lucky to have gotten away with this effort with some of these sections and the low water situation. This route is already remote as it is but the low water adds a much more dangerous element to it, it’s not something I would recommend to an ultra runner unless you are experienced with long unsupported efforts. The struggle was real!
The longest stretch without water was 18 miles, from mile 35 to 53. I knew about this section going into it. When I reached the last spring before that stretch, I made sure to fill all four of my bottles and drink an entire bottle before leaving. This was the most water I carried with me and the heaviest my pack was for the entire effort. 4 bottles / 2 liters that lasted me the 4 or so hours on this section.
Once you knock out the first 3,000 foot climb, you are mainly on the ridge and it’s a constant up / down never ending climb and decent. The climbs range from 200-1,000 feet at most and are never ending. The entire route is extremely technical by nature which makes it even more challenging.
The first half
Miles 0-31 things felt good. I was keeping up with my fueling every 30 minutes and was just cruising. I got into a good rhythm of power hiking the steep climbs and running the downhills, using my poles and putting them back in the quiver. Once I reached Newfound Gap at mile 31, I started to feel the heat of the day get to me. Once I left Newfound (my only optional bail out point), it was all hands on deck to keep grinding out there.
Miles 31-40 I continued to cruise and felt good. As I was getting away from the crowds of tourists, I was able to focus more on the trail and go inward. I really enjoy my time alone out there to just think, reflect, and appreciate the beauty around me. But damn, it was getting really hot!
The last half
Once I reached Clingmans Dome around mile 40, this is where I would say “the wheels started to fall off.” Nothing in particular was going wrong. I was still eating my gels, I was still drinking water and had no GI distress or issues. My legs had just started slowing down significantly, climbing and descending got slower and more difficult. Those next few miles from 40-43 you go over several balds that are fully exposed in the sun. That was brutal, but thankfully it never got to me too bad, it was just uncomfortable.
Once I got out of those sunny spots I was mostly in the woods for the rest of the effort. Thankfully it was getting later in the day anyway so I was getting closer and closer to darkness. I was slowing down, but I was still moving and reducing my stops as much as possible.
Those last 20 miles are what I would consider the most difficult. Maybe it was all the accumulated fatigue from all the climbing and descending already on my legs, but damn everything was starting to hurt, and with water stops being few and far between making it all the more difficult. The stops I did get, took up to 20 minutes.
At mile 58 I decided to take my waist belt off. I was about 14 hours in, and it was starting to feel really uncomfortable and tight around my hips. I could barely take a full breath in anymore, and my hips were starting to feel bruised where it was sitting. Thankfully at this point I had eaten most of my calories so I was no longer worried about carrying extra weight on my back. So I took it off and put everything into my Salomon pack. Immediately I started to feel better and breathe better, but that was another five minute delay.
I was gifted with a beautiful sunset, but once the sun went down things started to get interesting. For those last three hours that I finished into the darkness, I had three bear encounters on the trail in the dark. The first one was in a tree and their glowing eyes were staring right into my headlamp. The next two I never saw but could hear them very closely i the woods next to me, one of them definitely being a mama with cubs that got way too close for comfort. They were grunting and making a lot of noise! Anytime I felt uncomfortably close I would just start yelling “Sweeeeet D” really loud. Not sure why I chose that but it was fun to yell with a high pitched voice. It worked and would run them off while I also continued running.
The final miles
The last 7 miles going southbound is a gnarly 4,500 foot descent with about 500 feet of climbing mixed into the descent. If i’m being honest, this was the hardest part. Those steep and technical downhills felt absolutely awful on my quads, and I could barely shuffle a 15 minute mile at this point. I knew I was going to get the FKT, but I was disappointed that I did not hit my sub 17 goal. Physically my body felt like it was breaking down and I just got slower and slower. I kept eating and drinking, barely, but just grinded it out to get it done.
Once I got off the trail and entered Fontana, I had one mile left on the road to get to the dam. I was finally able to run about a 10 minute mile pace to bring it into the finish. Scott had come back to the dam to surprise me and watch me finish, that made me really happy!! But man I felt bad that he had to see me in such a fucked up state (Well, he did crew me for the Florida Trail so he’s seen me at much worse) He is a true friend and one I wouldn’t trade for the world. He’s also a pretty awesome photographer and makes pretty funny reels, so you should follow him on instagram @scottapants
Stats:
72 miles
17,900 feet elevation gain
18,200 feet elevation loss
17:44 finish time (Previous FKT time 19:21)
4,680 calories consumed
1,210 grams of carbs
250 mg caffeine
3,100 mg of sodium
Fueling strategy
Breakfast was oatmeal and a banana, then I ate PBJ Bobo bar on the car ride and a coconut water.
I drank 1 liter of Skratch super high carb mix in the first two hours that was 400 calories / 50 grams carbs. After that I had my timer go off every 30 minutes. I alternated between having one CARBS gel (50g carbs) and either one Neversecond gel (30g carbs), Precision (45g carbs) or SIS beta fuel (40g carbs). So I fluctuated between having 70-80 grams of carbs per hour average.
My sodium intake averaged to about 150 mg per hour.
I took three caffeinated gels. Starting around mile 40 with a Neversecond 75mg, then two hours later another Neversecond 75mg. Then lastly taking my final caffeiene gel aout three hours before finishing with a CARBS 100 mg.
Gear:
Salomon hydration pack (Sense pro 10- discontinued)
Raide belt 1.5 liter
4 x 500ml soft flasks
Life straw water filter
3x ginger candies (In case of tummy aches - never needed)
Sun bum 50 spf face sunscreen stick
Alba botanicals 25 spf chapstick
2toms lube wipe
trail toes sample packet
Garmin in reach mini
Petzl Actik core headlamp + backup battery
Upf 50 arm sleeves - never used.
Ziplock for wrapper trash
Normally I would have carried a little more emergency gear such as a space blanket and a windbreaker, but knowing how hot of a day it was I did not want to carry the extra weight. Thankfully I never was in a situation where I would have needed those items.
I finished with 5 extra uneaten gels. I packed about 3 hours worth of extra calories as a buffer, which I am glad because I finished an hour after my goal time. I fueled this entire effort with nothing but gels — switching it up between precision, neversecond, carbs, and SIS beta fuel. It’s a dang miracle that I never got sick or to the point where I could not eat these, since they were all that I had. I was definitely excited to be finished and not have to eat them anymore though!!
Final thoughts
All things considered, I am still very proud of this effort. While I did not hit my initial "A goal" time, I still accomplished the womens unsupported FKT. This was easily the most phyiscally and mentally demanding and stressful thing I have ever done in this short of a time. Doing something of this nature completely unsupported was damn hard but oh so magical and rewarding.
It's still tough to put it all into words as I am only a day removed from the run. The brain fog and fatigue has been very real, so I may update this as I am able to continue processing and reflecting on it all. But I wanted to put this out there as soon as possible while it was still fresh.
If you are ever looking or an adventure of insane and epic proportions, definitely consider SCAR -- but don't tread on this lightly. This is a very serious and demanding ultra to conquer.
Feeling thankful for such a success, my health, and the wonderful people in my life who support me and were cheering for me all day while following my tracker. Until the next time! (Yes I'm already thinking about going back and doing it again, but I want to try it from the other direction... Fontana to Davenport... TBA )
Sweet D