Karla Gander, left, loves running and biking at Cades Cove.
Karla Gadner is president of the Back of the Elite, an “all inclusive” running club in Knoxville.
“We do not care if you run a five-minute mile (pace) or 20 minute. We have a group run on Monday and a handful of us run Cades Cove. For some, the early morning drive and the usually cold weather is not their favorite thing, but I love it,” Gadner said.
“I grew up in Wisconsin and moved here (Knoxville) at age 24. I fell in love with the (Smoky) Mountains and I love running Cades Cove without dealing with the traffic. I try to bike the Cove in the summer and fall whenever I can.”
Gander, 39, will be running the Cades Cove Loop Lope 10-Miler that is all inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the eighth time Sunday. She finished last year’s event in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 56 seconds — an 11.48-minute per mile pace.
“My preferred running temperature is in the 20’s but not everybody likes the cold,” she laughed and said. “I am going to sign up for this one regardless if I have friends to run with or not. I have run with my niece a couple of times but do have a couple of friends that also regularly run Cades Cove.”
Gander normally does at least one race per month and sometimes will do two or three. She’s also competed in a Half Ironman competition that involve a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run for a total of 70 miles.
“Sometimes I make bad decisions,” she said. “Even at Cades Cove, that last half (of the 10-mile course) is so hilly that I just try to block it out of my mind. But when you get to that turn at the Visitor Center, you know you are going uphill.
“I recognize the faces of people that have done it for multiple years and everybody is always so excited that morning and full of energy when the run starts. It is just different from other races. I respect the bears (runners might see) and give them the distance they deserve. Being from Wisconsin, seeing turkey and deer is pretty common, but not bears.”
Gander did not run the first Cades Cove Loop Lope in 2010 but has only missed one after it started back again in 2017.
“I was out of town one year doing a half-marathon in Arizona and missed that year. In 2023 I had knee surgery on June 1, the day registration opened. I gave my sister my phone to make sure I got registered because I knew Cades Cove always sells out (it sold out in a matter of hours this year). She got me registered while I was on the operating table getting my knee repaired,” Gander said. “I had to do the 5K (3.1 miles) that year but still managed to do it. I am a little bit stubborn and was not going to miss it.”
Gander always sets an alarm on race registration day knowing participating is limited to 750 runners. This year’s event sold out in less than 12 hours.
“I also try to buy a parking pass each year. I like to park so when I finish I can go get my sweatshirt out of the car to put on,” she said. “I don’t mind running in the cold but when I get finished I want to put on that sweatshirt.”
One Response
Have fun Larry! Cades Cove is a special race.