The Magnificent Effort for Clean Air by Will Harlan

The Magnificent Effort for Clean Air by Will Harlan, His Wife Emily and Friends

The Story Behind the Great Smokies End to End Run of 2003

by Avram Friedman

I knew it would be a winner when professional ultra-runner and Blue Ridge Outdoor Magazine Editor Will Harlan first came to me with his idea to run the entire 72 mile length of the Smokies in one day on the Appalachian Trail for the Canary Coalition and clean air. But, I was wary of the physical stress it would put him under and, after thinking about it, I said to him, "Promise me that you won't kill yourself and you'll stop if you have to." He assured me that he would; but I didn't completely understand the nature of the adventure that would follow.

First we had to obtain a permit for the event from the Park Service. They were very reluctant to grant a permit, citing the extent of the endurance test which they said was not to be encouraged by Park policies. But, we managed to convince the authorities that Will had the right to perform his feat on these public lands and to raise money for the Canary Coalition while doing it. A phone call in support of our effort from US Senator John Edwards' office to the Park Service helped. We received notification that the permit would be granted two days before the event. I owe an apology to Park officials for doubting their concerns.

Friday night, July 18, the day before Will's self-imposed ordeal, I went to bed very early so that I could wake up at 3 AM to drive to Davenport Gap where the trek would begin. But, I couldn't sleep due to the intense anticipation of what Saturday would bring. This was not good, because I was facing at least 24 hours of physical activity, with no sleep, as a support person for Will and his wife, Dr. Emily Diznoff. I got up as planned and drove. The plan was to meet Will and Emily at the Pilot Truck Stop off exit 24 of I-40 at 4 AM and caravan from there to exit 451 at the North Carolina-Tennessee border where the trail begins. But, Will had a similar problem on Friday night having trouble getting to sleep. He managed to get some sleep but decided to delay the start by an hour. He called my home at 11 PM to tell me that they wouldn't arrive at the truckstop until 5 AM. I never got the message because I slept (tried to sleep) at my office that night. So, I waited at the truckstop until about 4:30 and then moved on, thinking they must have missed the exit and gone straight to Davenport Gap. Upon arrival at the exit I realized that I didn't know how to get to the Appalachian Trail head and there were no signs. Searching uselessly in the dark for an hour I gave up and decided to drive to Newfound Gap where Will was scheduled to arrive at noon. I drank two cups of coffee stopping for breakfast and gas along the way. The day was not off to a good start.

At 8 AM I stopped to pick up the permit, at the Oconoluftie Visitor Center at the entrance to the Park outside Cherokee, not knowing for sure what had happened to Will and Emily or if the run was still on. But, 30 minutes later as I parked my vehicle in the Newfound Gap parking lot, Emily pulled up in the Blue Ridge Outdoor Magazine car. I had to look twice because the grey, white and blue colors and large lettering on their car can easily be mistaken for a police car. Emily informed me that Will had started running at 6 AM from Davenport Gap. The day was on.

We set up an information table with the Canary Coalition banner in the Newfound Gap "first amendment" area designated on the permit. On another day I might have challenged this new federal policy of designating "first amendment" areas. I firmly believe that the first amendment area in this country stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific and isn't interrupted by National Park boundaries. But, you have to choose your battles, and this day I was there for a different purpose. And, as it happened, the designated area was in a high traffic area directly next to the Appalachian Trail entrance where Will would be arriving.

Dr. Emily Diznoff

At about 9:30 AM, Ann Riddle, a professional long-distance running champion and friend of Will's, arrived and was ready to run. She started up the trail heading north toward Will. They would meet in about ten miles and run back to Newfound Gap together. Then at about 11 AM more of Will's friends joined us. The owner of the running store Tortoise and Hare in Asheville, Randy Ashley, who was an Olympic try-out long-distance runner, arrived with his son Jaks and their friend Jenny Owen. They also brought Scott Bowers with them. Scott is the owner of Capstone Management in Asheville and also President of the Asheville Track Club. Randy and Scott started up the trail towards Will and Ann while Jenny stayed behind with Jaks. At close to noon a photographer from the Asheville Citizen-Times came to catch Will's arrival at Newfound Gap. But, noon came and went and there was no sign of the runners. 1 PM also came and went.

Several days earlier I had given Will a mouse-sized GMRS radio to take with him on the trail in case he ran into trouble. I kept one also. Will chose not to carry it in his fanny pack from Davenport Gap because of the weight. Even just four ounces begins to take its toll when you run for distances like this. He planned to carry it later in the evening, in the second half of the trek. But, Randy carried it now as he ran toward Will. These units supposedly have a seven mile range, but we were to learn during the course of the run that they are virtually useless in the mountainous terrain of the Smokies. They transmit and receive on line-of-sight and that's it. So, we were out of communication with the runners until they were very close, about two miles. Finally, at about 1:30 PM we heard a crackle over the radio. They would be at Newfound Gap in about 15 minutes. Fortunately the newspaper photographer patiently awaited their arrival.

I walked in about 1/4 mile to catch them on the trail with my camera. And then, there they were, like mountain goats negotiating bolders, roots and ditches, bounding down the trail. They looked confident and very strong. Will, with his shaved head, appeared to me like a moving rock. I was in total awe of these athletes. They had all just run over 10 miles in rough terrain, but Will had been running for 31 miles and this was his first stop. He wasn't even half-way to his goal.

Taking a Break at Newfound Gap

Right to left: Will Harlan, Ann Riddle, Scott Bowers, Jenny Owen, Jaks Ashley and Randy Ashley (squatting in the middle)

Will took his shoes off and reclined on the pavement in front of the Canary Coalition information table, raising his feet to rest on top of a cooler Emily had brought. He drank water and Coke and ate strawberries and muffins. His feet appeared to be wrinkled from moisture. There appeared to be the beginnings of blisters around the heals and toes where dark brown rims of dirt and sweat accumulated. His legs were splattered with streaks of mud. His demeanor was stoic, determined. His mind was on another plane of existence, one which I could not fathom. I asked him how he was doing and he said, "I'm feeling pretty good", in an almost upbeat but steady voice. The only other thing I remember him saying was, "The trail is rough."

Will's feet at Newfound Gap

The Appalachian Trail going through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is very rough. It begins on the northeastern corner with a 2400 ft. elevation at Davenport Gap where it ascends rapidly. 7.2 miles into the trek, at Cosby Knob the elevation is 4700 ft. In another 8.4 miles, to Tricorner Knob, the elevation is 5920 ft. Then, 5.3 miles to Peck's corner back down to 5280. Then 7.7 miles to Icewater Springs at 5920 again. And on it goes, up and down to heights as high as 6640 ft. at Clingman's Dome, through steep hills, tall peaks, deep valleys, twisting and turning on a rocky, rooty primitive path, laden with thorny bushes, sharp rocks, poison ivy, broken branches, fallen trees, mosquitoes, deer flies, gnats, occasional bears, wild boars, hikers and...a thick layer of toxic ground-level ozone, a product of heavy automobile traffic in the Park and, mostly, the burning of coal to produce electricity in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina and the industrial midwest. The higher you go, the worse it gets. Ozone is a highly reactive form of oxygen having the molecular make-up O_3,rather than O_2,the form in which we use it to breathe and survive. Continuous exposure to ozone damages lung and respiratory tissues in a manner similar to continuous exposure to sunlight on skin according to medical scientists.

Will's break at Newfound Gap lasted about 30 minutes. Then, he put his running shoes back on, greased his body and started out for Clingman's Dome, with Randy and Scott accompanying him. The weather in the morning had been mercifully cool and overcast. But, now, at about 2 PM, the sun broke through and the heat became intense almost instantly. Emily and I broke down the table and banner and drove ahead to wait for the runners. The trail passes through a point that is half a mile from the parking lot at the Dome and this presented a dilemna for me. I wanted to get some running in myself by going toward Will on the trail. But, the "first amendment area" was back in the parking lot. Will's purpose in making this great effort was to bring attention to the poor air quality in the Park and to the Canary Coalition, an organization that is working to solve the problem. So, setting up the information table, giving out information and telling Park visitors about what Will was doing, was essential. After all, if nobody knew that he was out there running, his effort would be in vain. So, I dutifully stayed behind in the parking lot while Emily brought water and supplies up to the trail.

Clingman's is "only" 7.7 miles from Newfound Gap on the trail and we were expecting to meet the runners there in about an hour from when they left. But, it took two and a half. These 7.7 miles were "rough."

When Randy came down from the trail to the parking lot I inquired, "How's Will doing?"

"He's alittle down in the dumps." was his answer. Athletes of this calibre have a way of under-stating things, I have learned. I think what Randy meant was that Will was hot and weary. His feet and crotch were blistering. Thirty-nine miles of rugged terrain had taken its toll. And he was beginning to feel the effects of pumping high concentrations of ground-level ozone in and out of his lungs at high altitudes. But, Will Harlan carried on, leaving Clingman's Dome at about 4:30 in the afternoon, three hours behind schedule. Alone.

The biggest challenges were ahead. The plan was to re-supply Will with water and food at Russel Field, 17.6 miles from the Dome. But, here our plans fell into chaos as the dangerous nature of this mission was revealed in full. We had made a serious miscalculation of timing. The original plan had Will arriving at Russell Field much earlier in the day. Emily would hike in 4.9 miles from Cades Cove to bring the supplies. She would then hike back out, drive to Fontana Dam and meet Will as he finished the marathon at about midnight. It didn't happen that way.

It would be trying for Emily to get to Cade's Cove and hike up the trail in time to meet Will. Realizing this she drove off immediately after Will hit the trail. I left about fifteen minutes later after packing up the table, food, printed materials and banner. Before I left I encountered a Park Ranger and asked him how the roads were. He informed me that there had been an accident near Cades Cove and the traffic was at a standstill in both directions. It would take at least two hours to reach Cades Cove and the Russell Field Trail. The implications of this occurrence immediately began to set in. Emily wouldn't get to Cades Cove until at least 6:30 PM, and then she would have to first begin climbing the 4.9 mile trail that leads to Russell Field and the AT. She would be hiking in the dark and would probably get there after Will had passed, making her 10 mile trek useless.

But, the trouble did not stop there. The Ranger also informed me that Forge Creek Road, the road that connected Cades Cove to Fontana Dam, had been washed out in an intense thunderstorm two days earlier and was closed. This meant that to get to Fontana Dam to meet Will we would have to drive all the way back to the Newfound Gap Road, back over Clingman's Dome all the way back through Cherokee, Bryson City and up 28 North to the Dam. We would probably arrive hours after Will, who would be exhausted, in pain and alone in the cold night with no one to lend him support.

Before leaving I spoke to Randy, Jenny and Scott and was relieved to hear that they planned to drive to Fontana Dam to meet Will that night. Randy planned to run the trail from Fontana to meet Will with water about five miles in. Will wasn't aware of this and it was meant as a surprise. Now it had become a necessity. Feeling secure that Will would be in good hands in Fontana my mission became reaching Emily to inform her about the Forge Creek Road closing and to assist her if she had trouble gettng back along the trail at night. But, after leaving the parking lot at Clingman's Dome I soon encountered the massive traffic tie-up going down toward Gatlinburg and the road to Cade's Cove. I tried calling Emily who had the GMRS unit that Will decided not to carry, after all. There was no response. There was no movement on the road. There was only uncertainty in my mind.

I shut off the engine and my car didn't move for a full hour of gnawing frustration and concern. I didn't know if Emily was somewhere down the road stuck in this same jam, or if she had avoided most of it by getting her fifteen minute head start. So, when I finally pulled into Cades Cove at about 7 PM, and saw her car parked on the road, I had no idea how long ago she had arrived or how far up the trail she might be. Should I simply wait in the car for four or five hours until she returned or should I begin walking in after her? I realized that it would be getting dark and that she would be alone on the trail. She didn't have a sleeping bag. I didn't know for sure if she had a light. The GMRS unit was not working or she hadn't turned it on as I repeatedly tried calling for her with no answer. I knew she would be determined to reach Will because he urgently needed more water and was depending on her to bring it. But, Will had probably reached Russell Field hours ago. He may have given up on her and moved on. There was no way of knowing. I thought that she might come to this conclusion herself and turn around to come back to her car. But, even so, she may be miles into the trail and in the dark at that point. So, I decided to hike in to find Emily.

I had trouble finding the head of the trail wandering around the picnic area near the parking area, asking visitors who knew no more than me. Finally, about a half hour into my search I came to a store near the picnic area. The store owner pointed me in the right direction, back a quarter mile in the direction I had come from. I found the trail at the end of the picnic area. Studying the billboard map I determined my direction and took off, feeling very ambivalent about what I was doing. It was 1.6 miles up Anthony Creek Trail to the head of Russell Field Trail. Then it would be another 3.5 miles up Russell Field Trail to the Appalachian Trail and Emily's destination. I was close to the junction of Russell Field Trail when I encountered an elderly couple in possession of some serious hiking sticks. We exchanged greetings and they told me they had been hiking all day from Clingman's Dome. They had started out at 6 AM. They had come down off the AT from the Bote Mountain Trail, that connected to Anthony's Creek Trail to this point. The Bote Mountain Trail exited from the AT two miles earlier than the Russell Field Trail. I asked if they had encountered Will running past them on the AT earlier. They said they had not. This didn't make sense. Something was wrong. Will should have passed them hours ago. Not understanding the nature of my mission, they suggested that I take the Bote Mountain Trail to the AT, warning me that the Russell Field Trail becomes more boggy and slippery at the upper end. This gave me yet another reason to be concerned about Emily. I continued up Anthony Creek Trail until I reached the hand-carved wooden sign that gave directions and distances for the meeting paths. Above this directional sign was a freshly posted notice that read, "Recent Aggressive Bear Behavior". Great.

I sat at this junction for five minutes thinking through my options. What did I know? What was the most logical next step for my actions? I knew that Will had not stayed on schedule and was hours late. I knew that Emily was on her way up the trail. Wait. Did I even know that? For all I knew Emily may never have started up the trail. Maybe she wandered around back at the picnic area and then decided not to hit the trail. No. She wouldn't have done that. She knew that Will was depending on her for water and she'd make every effort to get it to him. Maybe the best course of action at this point was to call for help. The Park Rangers needed to be made aware of this situation. I took out my cell phone. There was no signal.

My options were to either return now to the car and seek help, to stay at this junction and wait hopefully for Emily to descend, or to turn onto Russel Field Trail and continue. I can't explain exactly why, but I came to a decision to continue walking by turning onto Russell Field trail which I was reasonably sure would lead me toward Emily. I was running completely on instinct with no strong inclination to move in one direction or the other. It was growing dark. My hope was that I would meet Emily on the way down and we would at least have each other's company in the dark among the aggressive bears. I took out a whistle I carry in my backpack, remembering advice I was given to make noise when travelling alone in the woods at night. You don't want to surprise a bear. If the bear hears you coming it will run away to avoid the encounter. So, I blew my whistle at every turn in the trail. I shouted, "Emily!", hoping that both she and the bears would hear it. I hiked up about a mile and a half further until total nightfall had almost completely descended. Once again I shouted, "Emily!" hoping that she would hear my voice and was close by. But, there was no response.

There were two more miles to go to the AT. It would be dark, steep and slippery. If Emily is up there, she would probably be smart to stay on the AT over night, rather than try to negotiate this trail in the dark for nearly five miles. But, she had no sleeping bag. It would be cold. If I continued up and there was something wrong with Will, and Emily was with him, we would all be stranded on the AT for the night with no one to seek help. I would be more useful down in Cade's Cove where I could let the authorities know what was happening. So, I turned around and walked/trotted as quickly as I could three miles back to the parking lot, not blowing my whistle even once. I encountered not one bear.

When I got to my car one basic question was immediately answered. Emily's car was still there, so she had indeed hiked up the trail. I got into my car and drove toward some car lights about a quarter of a mile down the road towards Cade's Cove. A Park Ranger was in the process of arresting some teenagers who were drinking and driving. I spoke to a deputy and explained the situation. He informed the Ranger who came over to talk to me. After explaining everything a second time, the Ranger didn't seem overly concerned. He informed me that there was a hiking shelter at the top of Russell Field Trail and that she would probably stay there tonight. He said the bears never bother people unless someone is stupid enough to act aggressively toward them. The Ranger said that he would notify his office and that if Emily's car was still there in the morning they would send out someone to look for her. I asked him to radio over to Fontana Dam to see if anyone had spotted Will at that end. He radioed and they sent out a car to look for him, but nobody saw him.

I waited another hour parked next to Emily's car hoping that maybe she would show up. She didn't. It was about 1 AM, Sunday morning when I decided that my usefulness in Cade's Cove had come to an end. If Emily didn't come down in the morning, the Park Rangers would go up to get her. But, now there was another concern. Where was Will? If he never reached Russell Fields shelter, what had happened? On the other hand, what if he did get there late, didn't find Emily, who was very late, gave up on her and continued on. Then he would arrive at Fontana Dam many hours later than expected. Scott, Randy and Jenny will have come and gone, not knowing what had happened. That would again leave Will arriving in Fontana Dam, in the dark, without support at the finish, after runnng 72 miles. I couldn't let that happen. I was extremely tired. I hadn't slept the night before and this day was already 23 hours old including a couple of extensive hikes. I started the car and began to drive toward Fontana, at least two hours away.

I determinedly drove and got passed Clingman's Dome down to the Cherokee side on Newfound Gap Road. The road is narrow and very curvy. I was the only car on the road at 2 AM. And then I fell asleep at the wheel momentarily. I caught myself and realized that I'd better pull off the road and rest for a few minutes. I'd look for a cup of coffee as soon as possible. I pulled into the large parking lot of the Oconoluftie Visitors Center at the Cherokee entrance to the Park and closed my eyes. When I woke up it was 6:30 AM and light outside.

I immediately started the car and started driving toward Fontana. What had happened while I was asleep? Had Will finished the run? Was he okay? Did one of the runners meet him at the Dam or on the way? Where was Emily? I stopped for gas, coffee and a breakfast biscuit at the BP station on 28N at the beginning of Lake Fontana. "How far is the dam?" I inquired. " 'Bout twenty miles down the road." I sped.

I arrived at the Dam at about 7:30 AM and scoped out the situation. There was a cleaning lady working at the visitors center. Otherwise it was totally deserted. Eerie. The dam was more awesome than I'd imagined. The bridge across the dam is perhaps seven hundred feet long. On the lake side of the dam the water sits about 20 feet below the bridge. But, on the other side there is a steep drop-off of perhaps a hundred and fifty feet. Very dramatic. I asked the cleaning lady if she'd seen a runner this morning coming over the dam. She said she did not. I drove across the bridge, up the road to a parking area at the head of the Appalachian Trail. There were several other vehicles parked there, but they were day hikers. The vehicle that belonged to the runners was not there. There were two possibilities. Will may have finished his run hours ago, I had missed it, but everything was all right. Or, he was still out there on the trail and may or may not be all right. I tried my cell phone to call the Ranger Station. No signal.

Finally, I decided that I would once more go for a hike. I would walk in until noon, as far as that would take me. I might encounter Will or I might just be going for a useless trek; but it would be a scenic one. If I did find Will I had water for him which he might need desperately. I hiked up the first two miles of the steep trail that was working its way up to the ridge that defines the North Carolina, Tennessee border. Then, unexpectedly, my cell phone rang at about 9:45 AM. It was Jody, my wife, who had no idea where I was or what I had been through in the last 28 hours. "Did you get the message about Will?" she asked. "No, what have you heard?", I anxiously pleaded. "He was having trouble breathing and he had to stop last night", she informed me. My heart sank. No news could be worse than this. Was this feat too great for even a superb long distance athlete like Will Harlan? Had he over-exerted himself and was he having a heart attack, on the Trail, where nobody could help him? "How did you get this information?", I asked. "Some hiker who encountered Will on the Trail had a cell phone and he called here (my house in Sylva). The Park Rangers have been notified."

Since this was the first place on the trail that my cell phone was able to receive a signal, I decided to stay right there and await more information. I cleared a little space at the base of a tree next to the trail, spread out a poncho and sat down to read a book I had in my backpack. Five minutes later Will Harlan came trotting down the trail, looking fit and strong, like a mountain goat.

Will didn't want to stop for long or he would stiffen up, but we were very glad to see each other. He told me that shortly after leaving Clingman's dome he had an asthma attack and couldn't breathe well. He had never had an asthma attack before but was familiar with the symptoms. He blamed it on the ozone. His heart and body were otherwise in good shape, but he had to stop running to catch his breath. He walked into the night. He didn't have his headlamp because he had given it to Emily at Clingman's Dome. The trail was hard to follow in the dark. He encountered a bear as he approached the Spencer Field shelter 2.9 miles before the Russell Field shelter where he would have found Emily. The bear departed, but, between his breathing problem and the darkness he took it as an omen and decided to stay in the shelter for the rest of the night. A hiker at the shelter lent him a sheet to cover himself with. He awoke in the morning feeling rested and stronger. His breathing had returned to normal. He got up and continued his run. There was no sign of Emily when he arrived at the Russell Field shelter, so he just went on. At about five miles from the end he found a water bottle that Randy had left for him the night before.

Will ran across Fontana Dam to finish his epic journey at almost exactly 10 AM, 28 hours after he began at Davenport Gap. He was in remarkably good spirits and good physical shape. I had followed him down the last two miles as quickly as I could, walking and trotting. But, he went on, way ahead of me. By the time I reached my car, Will had already crossed the dam. Driving across the dam I came to Will at the end sitting with his shoes off. I expressed some regret that I didn't catch his finish on camera. He offered to put his shoes back on to re-enact, but I didn't want to make him do that, after all he'd been through. Soon he stood up and we walked over to the visitors center to use their phone to call Fontana Village to find out if there was any news about Emily's whereabouts. Will and Emily had reserved a cottage at Fontana Village that ended up being used by Randy, Scott, Jenny and Jaks. Will called the front desk and they had received a message from Emily that she was on her way. We walked back up to the dam where Will had left his shoes and daypack. He put on his shoes and re-enacted the final fifty feet of his finish across the dam so I could film it. Then we took off in my car for Fontana Village where we found the other runners and friends. Shortly after getting there, Emily drove up, and the team was once more united. We exchanged information and the whole picture became complete.

Emily had spent the night at the Russell Field shelter, as the Ranger had predicted. She left early in the morning, apparently before Will came running through, not realizing that he had not yet passed that way.

When she arrived at the shelter the night before there were two hikers already there. A bear wandered over near the shelter and then left. The encounter with the bear convinced her not to travel back down the Russel Field Trail and to spend the night in the shelter.

Randy Ashley, Olympic try-out long distance runner, had run in from Fontana Dam on the Trail after midnight to meet Will. He ran in for about 5 miles in the dark and left the water bottle for Will. But, then he decided to run further, because he was concerned that Will was so late. He ran until he had a close encounter with...a bear. The bear took off in front of him on the trail. At that point Randy decided he had gone as far as he should go that night, turned around and returned to Fontana.

Will, Scott, Randy and Jenny part ways in Fontana

* Will Harlan and all those who participated in the activities surrounding the Great Smoky Mountain End to End Run of 2003 did so to raise awareness about the air quality crisis in the nations most visited park. They were also trying to raise money for the Canary Coalition, an organization whose sole mission is to improve the air quality of the region. If you would like to contribute to the Canary Coalition online please go to this donation link. Thank you.

Return to Canary Coalition homepage