THE SMOKEY
JUNE 21, 2025
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The Smokey and the Half Smokey will be back for 2025, however a bit earlier. Both races are again designed to blend long distance running with compass navigation for solo racers (however running with others is acceptable). The courses for both distances will again be equally challenging and scenic to run on and will provide their own set of challenges based on terrain, time limits and some other things Jay has in mind to keep you on your toes. The Full Smokey will again be 10 hours in duration, however, true to the original race concept (Barkley ish), this year the course will be done in two loops. The Half Smokey will, as always, be half the distance of the full and for 2025 will run the same loop as the full.
New for this year, and as a result of the looped course, those participating in the Full Smokey will (if behind the time cutoffs), have the opportunity to still finish as a half participant. Thus, if you are on the fence as to what distance to attempt, its a win, win. You can sign up for the full and see how the day goes ;) As this is a looped course, we are starting both the full and half events at the same time this year, creating a great morning atmosphere with more participants on the course.
Like all versions of this race, The Smokey will be hot and require participant preparedness. However, as the race is slightly earlier this year, we may get a bit of a break from the heat. Similar to last year, we will have a well stocked aid station on the loop and for the full participant's, you will have a second aid station at home base prior to heading out for your second loop. As aways, you will want to be relatively self-supported and prepared for long stretches without aid.
Come experience a beautiful and challenging race with typical adventure running terrain, LOTS of elevation change, creek crossings and a whole lot of running - so lots of adventure.
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2024 RESULTS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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This years race was again one for the books! With high water in Grindstone creek and increased elevation, this course was again a test of attrition and efficient navigation.
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In the Full Smokey, the results are as followed.
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Jumping up from their combined 4th place finish at last years Half Smokey, Matt Barrett and William Maize took the overall win for the Full Smokey in a time of 8:43 and cleared all courses!
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In second place, with her best finish in all three runs at the Full Smokey, was Una Hall in a time of 8:48!
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In third place, the honour was shared by another return trip from Derrick Bessette in a time of 8:48 and Rob Howe​ in a time of 9:24 but with excellent checkpoint completion, bumping his place up! Practice good nav folks!
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Vadim Culic and Viktoria Brown also had solid days, getting the full Smokey experience while learning just how difficult the combined nav and terrain can be on this course!
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In the Half Smokey, we had another strong year!
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First place went to newcomer Vadim Aksenov, who successfully cleared the course in a time of 4:02!
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Second place went to Brendan Doogan, fresh off a trip racing in Europe
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Third place went to the very experienced Ray Kitowski, showing that navigation prowess and persistence gets you to the podium
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Fourth place went to our very own Patrick Saile
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Fifth place went to Kimberley Birch
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Sixth place went to Margaret Stefels, Chris Carella & Igor Lehnherr
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Sixth place went to David Newton
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Seventh place went to Elena Sitnikova
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Eighth place went to Alya Sharov
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Ninth place went to Davin Power & Jake St. Pierre and Alex Parent who came in only a few minutes before cut-off!
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A huge amount of respect goes to all of our other Half Smokey participants, many who made it through the course but just a bit over time or just outside of checkpoint completion ranking (next year folks!) Shout out (in no particular order) to:
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Kurt Schmidt
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Andrew Bell
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Trirell Biggart
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Scott Grieve
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Bryan Hall who had a swim and sustained an injury but still made it back on his own two feet
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Robin Hallett
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Richard Lee
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Artem Rodin
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Keith Wilson
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Ken de Jong
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2023 PHOTOS HERE
2024 PHOTOS TO COME SOON​​
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START LOCATION (TBC)
CATEGORIES
Junior Men & Junior Women (Half Smokey only), Open Men, Open Women, Masters Men (45+), Masters Women (45+)
[all ages as of December 31, 2023].
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** NOTE: THIS EVENT IS LIMITED TO 50 ATHLETES IN EACH OF THE SMOKEY AND HALF SMOKEY RACES.
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RACE DISTANCES
Full Smokey: 50-60ish (10 hours max)
Half Smokey: 25-30ish (5 hours max)
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RACE FORMATS
Full Smokey competitors will have 10 hours (or more) to run a two looped course.
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The Half Smokey course will take half the time (5 hours) and will run a single looped course.
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RACE FEE
Full Smokey ~ $170
Half Smokey ~ $125
* Race fee will include swag and post race food
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RACE DAY SCHEDULE
Full Smokey (10 hour time limit): Start at 8:30am/ Finish by 6:30pm
Half Smokey (5 hour time limit): Start at 8:30am Finish by 1:30pm
* Check-in and first map distribution: one hour prior to start. Washrooms open at 8am (FYI)
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POST RACE FOOD
Pizza and beverages will be provided following the races
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AID STATION
There will be a primary aid station at the start/finish for the full participants to visit on their second loop and an aid station on route (for both distances). The aid station on course will also be a drop bag location for full participants.
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REQUIRED GEAR - Full & Half Smokey
Compass
Hydration Pack
Whistle
Water and electrolytes (water and electrolytes will be available at the aid stations to supplement and there will be a water drop on course as well)
Appropriate nutrition for a long day on your feet (supplemented at aid stations)
Small First Aid kit
Fully Charged Cell Phone
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A really good attitude (which we had in spades in our previous races, you all were awesome!)
Full Smokey only: any other personal items you deem necessary for a full day of racing may be placed in a drop bag which will be delivered to the aid station on course.
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CONTACT
Jay Thompson
