The race director, Richard, wrangles us runners and gets us gathered down by a gate to prepare for the start of the 2021 Beast of the East 50 Miler.

“3…2….1….Go!”

The race begins with a steep gravel climb, roughly a mile or so long before we funnel into some singletrack which quickly becomes some gnarly rock scrambles and a lot of jumping and hopping.

The URE Marathon is a free annual trail marathon that takes place in the Uwharrie National Forest of North Carolina, and it’s easily one of my favorite races to participate in. The course is roughly 26 miles with a little over 4000 feet of elevation gain and a similar elevation loss.

David created a challenge known as the 4x4x48 Challenge, or the Goggins Challenge, where your objective is to run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. I first heard about it last year, and after gaining some popularity within the ultra community, I decided to take a crack at it.

I hadn’t heard of the Shakori 40 until last month when I was telling a couple of running buddies about my recent DNF at the Bull Mountain Epic 100k. It sounded intriguing as the format seemed straightforward: 10 laps around a 4-mile course of trails and hills.