Skunk Ape Night Run

Distance and Aid Stations

Distance: 30K Race

Aid Stations: Will be every 4 to 6 miles
Aid Stations will be stocked with Soda, Pickles, Skittles, Swedish Fish, M & Ms, PB & J, Pretzels, Cookies, Produce, some brand of powder electro's.

Finish Line: Will have all of the above, and burgers, brownies, soup, and potatoes.

Drop Bags: There will be one drop bag zone roughly just more then mile 7 1/2!

Post Race Pot Luck Party

For a total price of $15 and a Pot Luck... Boom!! Let’s add to the fun and share some of our favorite foods with each other. Bring something fresh like a a fruit dish, pasta salad, or a raw vegetable side dish for some variety... Lasagna, baked chicken wings, casserole, or mashed potatoes. Cookies, Brownies, Fudge, or Banana Bread....
Bring your families favorite recipe or that secret craving you always have after a race. That will make a lot of people happy.
We all love to eat, drink, and “recover”. And after running a 30k, you will be hungry, hangry, and so will the volunteers! Last events Post-Race Potluck Party was a blast!

The Course

What else should I say? This is a classic Florida race that covers almost all of the terrains Florida has to offer. From pasture lanes, mug, dirt roads, single track trails on the Florida Trail, some hills, to sugar sand, fire berms, and more!

You’ll be listening to the drone of frogs from all over, hoots from the owls, calls from birds, buzzing of bugs, and the yips of coyotes in the distance. Part of that sound and also silence, will make you wonder if “just that sound” was from something else... perhaps, the Skunk Ape.

The Start will be between Ranch and Cumpressco Road. You will take off down Cumpressco Road, which will turn right onto a lane between two pastures that turns into a dirt road called Rangers Landing Road. You will follow this road for a few miles until you reach the Big Foot BSA campsite (just under 3 miles). Once reaching that point you will follow the loop and come back the way you came until you are directing to turn right onto the Florida Trail. There are two Florida Trail entrances, you will taking the second one that you will come across on the way back from the loop. (Both will be marked to not enter or enter).

Once on the Florida Trail you will follow the course markers (flagging, glow sticks, and tape). Watch out for the Skunk Ape, according to research it is “highly likely” that he roams the land.

This will then bring you across the Cumpressco Road and then over a small bridge, still remaining on the Florida Trail.

Nearing mile 8 you will cross Ranch Road and follow the markers turning onto the dirt road called Cedar Pocket Road.

Following that road for around half a mile you will then turn onto a pasture lane. This is where you follow the fire berm for mile 9 to 11. There used to be a ranch located here in the 1940's and is now long gone.

Then turning right back onto Cedar Pocket Road you will follow the road until meeting back up with the Florida Trail. You will again turn right and follow the Florida Trail until roughly mile 14 when you'll turn left back onto Cedar Pocket Road.

Following Cedar Pocket Road you will follow it as it goes from gravel and grass going straight. Then around mile Mile 17 you will turn right onto a grass horse trail and follow it for the last mile and a half of the course.

As you leave the grassy horse trail, you will be directed by tall flagging for the final turns and loop in the open fields until going back onto Ranch Road to the finish line.

Course Marking

Biggest issue with the 2019 was course markings; this years race will seek to solve that issue with Military Grade 12 Hour Chem Lights; Reflective Tape/Flagging, and “turn here” signs. I know we all love an adventure, but, maybe not a guaranteed one.

Restrooms and Water

ADA accessible portable toilets available at campgrounds.
We will have water on site. Nonpotable water available at River Road entrance and equestrian and primitive campgrounds.

We will have two Port-o-Potties on site!

Camping

Camping is FREE in the Green Swamp.
Sites have picnic tables, fire rings and/or grills.
A free reservation is required and must be displayed or available at campground.

The Ashley Campground or Cumpressco Campground would be the way to go.

Youll need to create a login at the Southwest Florida Water Management District website;
https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/user/login?destination=/recreation/green-swamp-west-tract/activities

Awards

There will be hand-made finisher awards and Top 3 Male and Female awards made from recycled material or “up-cycling” as it is also called. This will be a hand-cut and painted trophy of the Skunk Ape riding a unicorn!


No age-group awards, no t-shirts, and no special accommodations.

BEER AND WINE GLASSES!! For all finishers!!

Did you know...

Did you know? Skunk Ape sightings date back hundreds of years, including during the Seminole Wars. During the Seminole Wars, people ran into Skunk Apes in their battles near the Miami River and Big Cypress. The same goes for the Green Swamp - West Tract near Dade City, Florida.

Reports of the skunk ape were particularly common in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then, there have still been many sightings of a large, foul-smelling, hairy, ape-like creature, which ran upright on two legs in the Green Swamp area near Dade City, Florida.

The evidence comes in form of photos, audio responses from wood knocking, and also some other sounds that many Paranormal Investigators and Professional Bigfoot Hunting Teams believe, could be the Skunk Ape. They have also found what appear to be nests of some kind, made by a large animal in Pasco County’s deep woods... bears can also be seen, but rarely inside of Pasco County. How the Skunk Ape interacts with local wildlife is unknown.

Tracks were also observed as well. At the current time the creature in the Green swamp is still active according to researchers and locals there. Footprints of the Pasco County Skunk Ape have measured 17 inches in length and their depth implied a creature of tremendous weight, perhaps in excess of 600 pounds. There are other reported foot prints which claimed to be as large as 24 inches long and 8 inches wide.

The Green Swamp WMA has long been known to be home to the Florida Bigfoot, or Skunk Ape. Several investigations in many specific areas inside of the Green Swamp, have concluded that several investigators are “pretty sure” and are “very certain” that this creature does dwell inside the Green Swamp WMA, and has for a very long time.