David Anderson, left, with Doug Sharp, center, and Jeremy Ellis during the 2023 Cades Cove Loop Lope.
David Anderson doesn’t need a reminder notice that registration for the 8th annual Cades Cove Loop Lope 10-miler/5K opens June 3 at 10 a.m.
“We got the clock set on June 3 for 10. We will log in at 9:59 and be ready to go,” said Anderson, 59, of Danville, Ky.
The Cades Cove Loop Lope is the only organized footrace held inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park and normally sells out quickly as registration is limited to 800 combined runners/walkers for the two events. All funds raised benefit park projects and programs by the Friends of the Smokies such as historic preservation, wildlife conservation, native plant and grassland restoration.
Anderson did the Cades Cove 10-miler for the first time in 2019 and will be doing the run for the fifth straight year — COVID cancelled the live event in 2020.
“We went camping for vacation for 10 years in Townsend. We went to Cades Cove every day. When I heard they had a race I wanted to do it and we have all decided to keep coming back to do it,” Anderson said. “We got more and more people involved and coming every year.”
Anderson and his wife, Rhonda, along with friends Crystal and Jeremy Ellis all stay in a condo owned by Jeremy’s father and make a big weekend out of the event on Nov. 10. Friend Doug Sharp joined the group two years ago and will also be back as will several others from the Danville area.
“We also go to Paula Deen’s restaurant to eat each year. Last year we went after the race which was much smarter than going the day before the race when we are all kind of scared to eat too much,” he said. “We also hope to do the Dollywood thing (Light the Way 5K Nov. 8) but also hope to do that one year.”
Anderson’s running story is somewhat remarkable. In 2010, he weighed 31 pounds. Today he weighs 172 and has done 40 half marathons (13.1 miles), including the recent Run the Bluegrass in Lexington where he just missed finishing in under two hours.
“The first year I did Cades Cove I was still kind of average. My times were not that great the first year but it was still a beautiful run,” he said. “During COVID everything was closed down and that’s when my running really picked up because there was nothing else to do. Me and Jeremy got into training pretty hard in 2020 and then I had even more weight coming off and got even lighter that let me run faster.”
He set a goal for averaging under 10 minutes per mile at Cades Cove and has done that his last three years.
“I kept thinking every year that as I got older I would slow down but I have actually gotten faster,” he said.
Jeremy and Crystal Ellis set a goal a few years ago to do a marathon (Jeremy) and half-marathon (Crystal) in every state. Jeremy has now dropped down to half marathons due to a back injury and Crystal is doing 5K (3.1 mile) events, but they are still going.
“They just did a real tin Connecticut that was their 36th state,” Anderson said.
Anderson doesn’t have that same type goal yet. He even knows of a couple of runs the second Sunday of November each year he would like to do but knows he will never do.
“For me, Cades Cove is a priority and I think once you do the run once, you just keep wanting to come back. There’s no other race quite like this,” he said.
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Carpooling is essential to maximizing participation in this race. A limited number of vehicle reservations for on site parking will be available for purchase for an additional fee. Registrants who do not purchase a vehicle pass must either carpool with a passholder they know or utilize the group transportation option from the Townsend Visitors Center. Handicapped accessible transportation will be available.
For more information on registration or visit this link.
