The 51.4-mile BADWATER® CAPE FEAR route* includes 12 miles on Bald Head Island roads and trails, then TWO round-trip runs to Fort Fisher on East Beach, making for 38 miles of beach running. This event has a 14 hour cut-off, plus an intermediate cut-off of 8 hours at mile 32 (after one round-trip to Fort Fisher) to finish officially.

Entrants who want to stop running at mile 32, or who miss the eight-hour cut-off at mile 32, so long as as they reach that 32-mile mark within nine hours, will be re-categorized as 50km finishers.

The BADWATER® CAPE FEAR 50k (32-mile) route* includes 12 miles on Bald Head Island roads and trails, then ONE round-trip run to Fort Fisher on East Beach, making for 19 miles of beach running. This event has a nine hour cut-off to finish officially. All runners, regardless of distanced entered, will begin together at 745am.

• Although we anticipate using the same route each year, the final, exact route is subject to approval from various government agencies and may not be fully confirmed until the week of the race.

NOTE: The Badwater Cape Fear belt buckle is awarded to those who complete the full 51.4-mile route within the 14 hour cut-off. Those completing the 50km route within nine hours will receive a Badwater Cape Fear medal, rather than a buckle.

Aid Stations will be located at just three locations, which will be passed a total of six times in the 50km and 10 times in the 51.4-mile:

• Start Line: Toilets will be available, but neither water nor food will be available. (But you can stop at Sandpiper Coffee at the Bald Head Island Marina.)

• AS1: Bald Head Island Conservancy (Race HQ): Mile 3, Mile 4, Mile 12, Mile 32, and Mile 51. Toilets.

• AS2: On the beach approximately mid-way between Cape Fear and Fort Fisher: Mile 18, Mile 26, Mile 37, and Mile 46. No toilets.

• AS3: Fort Fisher State Recreation Area Ranger Station (the northern end of the route): Mile 22 and Mile 42. Toilets.

Tons of more route information, maps, GPS links and more are available in the sub-menu tabs above. You may also view the GPS / Mapping / Pacing files from previous entrants’ real-time data collection during the race at these links:
Pamela Rickard: Training Peaks | Linda Quirk: Training Peaks | Tony Portera 51mi: Strava | Keith Kostman 50km: Strava | Hernan Garcia: Movescount

WHAT WE ARE SERVING at all THREE AID STATIONS
– Water
– Tailwind Endurance Fuel drink. This will be pre-mixed at the standard concentration. If you want the powder to mix up your own in your bottle or pack, just ask.
– Hammer Gel in individual serving packets in several flavors. PLEASE do not drop or throw these anywhere on the beach or race course. They MUST be disposed of properly, along with all other trash, or we will not be invited back!
– Electrolyte Capsules: Endurolytes by Hammer Nutrition.
– Mini Clif Bars
– Clif Shot Box
– Cookies, such as “Aussie Mega Bites”
– Coke
– Ginger Ale
– Ginger Candies (helps with nausea)
– Saltine Crackers (helps with nausea)
– Chips
– Pretzels
– PB Pretzels
– Trail Mix
– Bananas
– Oranges
– Pickles
– Pickle Juice
– Supplies such as Sun Block, RunGoo, Handiwipes, Hand Gel, and Tums.
– We do NOT serve Ibuprofen.
– At Race HQ / Finish Line / Bald Head Island Conservancy, we will have two big pots of delicious soup available from noon to closing: one vegan and one with meat. At this same location, we will also have various types of pizza from noon to closing. These will be made by the fine chefs at Maritime Market on the island.

PERSONAL DROP BAGS: PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY

For those of you who would like to access personal items (clothing, nutrition, special body lubes, gluten-free yummies, photos of Mommy or Honey, etc) during the race, we will offer access to personal needs (“drop”) bags at Checkpoint One at Bald Head Island Conservancy, which will be passed at Mile 3, Mile 4, Mile 12, Mile 32, and Mile 51. (This is also the location for Racer Check-In and the Social Mixer on Friday, as well as Race HQ and the race finish line.) Details:

1) Bring your own bag, clearly and securely labeled with your name and bib #. If you know you will not want your bag returned, please also label it “DISCARD AFTER USE.”

2) Bring your bag to Runner Check-In on Friday (ideally) or to the start line on Saturday morning (less ideal.)

3) If bring your drop bag on Friday to Racer Check-In, it will be waiting for you when you first pass AS1 / Race HQ at Mile 3 and Mile 4, as well as when you return at Mile 12, Mile 32, and Mile 51. But if you bring your drop bag to the start line of the race, it will probably NOT be ready for you when you pass here at Mile 3 and Mile 4, but it will be ready for you at Mile 12, Mile 32, and Mile 51.

Badwater® Cape Fear Route Preview from Badwater® by AdventureCORPS® on Vimeo.Click the map above to see a large Pdf version of it.

BADWATER CAPE FEAR takes place on Bald Head Island, North Carolina. That is Cape Fear in the foreground. It constantly changes shape and size and its shallow depths offshore have waylaid many a seagoing vessel over the centuries, hence the name “Cape Fear.” (For Fisher – the turn-around point at the far northern end of that beach – is  way off in the distance in the top right corner of the photo.)

The route features a twelve-mile warm-up on the car-free, one-lane-wide roads and maritime forest trails of Bald Head Island, followed by either 19 or 38 miles of running on the wild and secluded sandy beach between Cape Fear and Fort Fisher. The race is held along the Atlantic Seaboard with spectacular views of the Frying Pan Shoals to the east and wild and undeveloped Cape Fear River marshlands to the west. Running this remote coast is a dramatic, invigorating, and inspiring manner in which to experience the Cape Fear region in all its grandeur!

Running 19 or 38 mile on the beach against the clock, even in this absolutely gorgeous setting, is no small feat. After those first twelve miles on paved roads and trails, it will be just you and your fellow BADWATER® runners amidst the sand, wind, sun, and ocean. There will be three aid station locations along the 51-mile route (passed a total of six times in the 50km and 10 times in the 51.4-mile.) Other than fishermen, you will see almost no modernity and hear nothing but wind, birds, and waves. (Keep an eye out for dolphins and sharks, too!)

This exquisite natural setting is the perfect antidote to the “real world” and also a wonderful counterpart to the desert sands of Death Valley and Anza-Borrego Desert featured in the two West Coast BADWATER® races.

Above: View of the western part of Bald Head Island, including the Marina and the Old Baldy Lighthouse in the center of the photo, plus – in the top right – some of the north-south out-and-back along East Beach to Fort Fisher. And of course that’s the mighty Cape Fear River and associated marshlands in the left and center of the photo. Image by 2019 finisher Gregory Duckworth.

Above: 50km runners will run everything you see in red above, while 51-mile runners will do all of that, plus a second north-south out-and-back along East Beach to Fort Fisher and back.

All runners will run the same initial 12 miles together, back and forth across the island, entering south beach near its eastern end, and then heading east along south beach to Cape Fear. From Cape Fear, the runners will head north on east beach, all the way to Fort Fisher and then return south to the Bald Head Island Conservancy. Those running the full 51.4 miles – assuming they meet the 8-hour 50k cut-off – will then run to Fort Fisher and back again.

Above: View of Cape Fear and the north-sound out-and-back along East Beach to Fort Fisher. Image by 2019 finisher Gregory Duckworth.

Bald Head Island and nearby Southport, NC (featured in the film “Safe Haven”) are ideal vacation get-away spots for the entire family, located less than one hour from Wilmington, NC and its major airport with Delta and US Airways service. (Flying into Myrtle Beach, SC is another convenient option.) Due to the remarkable beauty and quaint southern charm of this area, as well as this impeccable, authentic BADWATER race experience, many Badwater Cape Fear participants are now making this race an annual pilgrimage!

Above: Your faithful race director, Chris Kostman, stands at Cape Fear during his first visit to this incredible location in May of 2013.

Above: Badwater 135, Badwater Salton Sea , and Badwater Cape Fear veteran Meredith Dolhare running the beach between Cape Fear and Fort Fisher. Come leave your own footprints on this incredible beach!