Larry Wheat, a board member of the Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association, walks along part of a newly opened section earlier this summer. The trail is for use by horse riders, bicyclists, hikers and this weekend by runners.Race director Karen Pearson has a biblical background for the distinctive buckle everyone who finishes the 100-mile option of the inaugural Georgia Jewel will receive this weekend - and even for the trail race's name.
Beyond that, the participants may see the Georgia segment of the Pinhoti Trail as a jewel in itself, although some other descriptions may come to mind as the 100-milers total 15,000 feet in climbs and descents on a mostly single-track course filled with difficulties.
There are 125 entrants from 17 states for the endurance run that also has 50- and 35-mile options; 54, including 12 women, are registered for the 100, which will include time on five mountains. The long race will begin at 4 a.m. Saturday at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center in Dalton and end there Sunday.
The 50- and 35-milers will begin at 6 a.m. Saturday. They also are out-and-back runs, with turnarounds at the second and third of eight aid stations.
"Having 125 for the first year, I think that's good," Pearson said Tuesday night, "especially since I didn't open registration until the first of June. I didn't start getting the word out until May. I wanted at least 100-plus runners, and we got that."
Registration officially ended Sept. 11.
"These are high-endurance runs," Brett Huske, executive director of the Dalton Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a release about the race. "The Pinhoti ... is rigorous, challenging and the perfect opportunity for someone to test their endurance in the Georgia mountains."
The field includes three men who have won ultra races in Alabama, North Carolina and elsewhere in Georgia. One of those is John Dove of Macon, who won the 2010 Pinhoti 100 on the Alabama portion of the 335-mile trail in just over 19 hours.
The Georgia Jewel 100-milers will have 36 hours to finish. Their course will include about 70 miles of single-track trail, 21.5 miles of jeep road and 8.5 miles of pavement.
"Most 100s allow 30 hours. This course has 15,000-foot elevation shifts up and down, and it is a very technical, challenging course, so we're giving 36," Pearson said. "It's a tough trail with a lot of rocks, loose gravel, a lot of shale, a lot of climbs."
She was directed to the Pinhoti by a fellow Alpharetta resident, Charles Myrick, who is involved in the SORBA mountain biking organization that maintains the Georgia Pinhoti. Rick Moon of Dalton, president of the Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association, has been a big help, Pearson said.
As with the time allotment, the buckle for finishers is bigger than the norm, Pearson said. With 12 jewels, it intentionally symbolizes the breastplate worn by the ancient Israelites' high priest when he made his annual petition for national atonement in the Tabernacle's Holy of Holies.
"Everyone in ultra running gets a buckle. I wanted something unique," said Pearson, acknowledging an interest in both Old Testament and New Testament history and a belief that "fighting to finish this amazing distance" has a psychologically redemptive aspect.