I suppose you could say it all started on New Years Day in the year 2001. The 50k here in Memphis had been discontinued awhile ago so I decided on an impromptu 50k. I had four starters toeing the line on that very cold Monday morning. While John Scheidhauer won the race, Jim Hunter and Rodger Williams came in second and third respectively.
Phil Miller ended up running off on his own, as he often does, never to see us again or partake in the hamburgers and hotdogs as so many of us did. The race was then named Wade’s Big Adventure in 2002 and moved to the first Saturday in November. The 50k distance morphed into an 18 mile race over the next three years with an 8 miler added the last two. The hamburgers and hotdogs are still a mainstay as are all the hand-made awards.
The idea of a local trail race could never have happened without the great support I received from my good friends, the runners, et-al. May your ankle never turn.
About Wade's Big Adventure
