Paved mountain roads and wide gravel trails that wind through the majestic wooded forests of North Carolina’s Black Mountain area, which lies near the southern edge of the 510,000-acre Pisgah National Forest, await runners at the Downhill @ Dawn Half Marathon. This point-to-point race starts as dawn is rising over the mountains, at 6:01 AM to be exact, and takes runners from the starting line at the Ridgecrest Conference Center campus all the way into the town of Old Fort, where runners finish the race at the Old Fort Baptist Church on East Main Street.
(MORE: Downhill @ Dawn Half Marathon event details)