Description

Welcome back to South Cumberland for the 2013 Savage Gulf Marathon!  This event is coordinated by the Tennessee Park Ranger Association (TPRA). We also coordinate the Byrd Creek 15k Trail Run at Cumberland Mountain State Park and the Bicycle Ride Across Tennessee (BRAT). Proceeds benefit the Tennessee Park Ranger Association, which provides training opportunities to State Park Rangers not otherwise available and promotes professionalism amongst the ranks.

The course will be the same as last year: Beginning and ending at the Stone Door Ranger Station, with 26.2 miles of the most brutal, unforgiving, rocky, steep terrain you could imagine in between.

Race is limited to the first 100 registrations.  To qualify, all entrants must have completed one marathon or longer race previously.  Seasoned runners earned DNFs last year...this is not the place to break into the sport.

Savage Gulf is a 14,357 acre State Natural Area that contains some of the most spectacular natural rock formations in Tennessee. Purchased by the state in 1973 to protect one of the last known stands of virgin timber in the Eastern United States, Savage Gulf has 55 miles of trails and ten primitive campsites. The Savage Gulf Ranger Station is the eastern access point to the Savage Gulf-Stone Door trail system that traverses the most rugged and scenic areas of the South Cumberland complex. The Stone Door Ranger Station is within the Savage Gulf area and is accessible off State Highway 56 near Beersheba Springs. It is named for the Great Stone Door, a 150-foot deep crevice at the crest of the Plateau. It is the western access for the Savage Gulf-Stone Door trails network.

The mission of the TPRA is to promote professionalism and raise hiring standards, improve communications, upgrade working conditions, support and participate in active training programs, and champion common concerns among the members of the Tennessee Park Ranger Association and those individuals representing Tennessee State Parks.