100-mile ultra run through the Pine Barrens could be devil of a race

Kevin Scott, a 39-year-old emergency physician at Penn Prebsyterian Medical Center in West Philadelphia, plans to camp overnight Friday night in the New Jersey Pine Barrens and wake before daybreak Saturday.

His goal: Run 100 miles by sometime early Sunday.

Scott, of Huntingdon Valley, is one of 190 registered runners this weekend for the inaugural New Jersey Devil 100, which starts on the shore of Lake Absegami in Bass River State Forest and courses through 100 miles of sandy roads that are part of the Pinelands National Reserve.

Ultra runs have become wildly popular with runners not satisfied with traditional marathons, and there are several 100 milers elsewhere in the region. But most consist of a series of loops, often through local parks.

The New Jersey Devil race, however, will follow the 53½-mile Batona Trail out and back, keeping the runners inside the Pinelands National Reserve the entire run.

Runners will have 30 hours to complete the course, from 6 a.m. Saturday to noon Sunday. During the route, they’ll pass such Pine Barrens landmarks as Quaker Bridge, Batona Campground, and the aptly named Mount Misery. They’ll turn around at Pakim Pond for the return leg. In all, they’ll pass through Brendan T. Byrne and Wharton State Forests.

Scott thinks he can run it in 20 hours.

“What’s unique about this race is, on paper, it looks like this fairly flat race,” said Scott, who has run two previous 100-mile races. “But it’s a pretty relentless course with the sand. A lot of whoop-de-dos [bumps] on the roads because of the off-roading are part of it, too. And it’s just beautiful. It goes through cranberry bogs and other natural areas. If it’s wet out, there will be a few fairly muddy, sloppy areas.”

The forecast calls for rain overnight Saturday into Sunday, when runners will still be on the trail with headlamps.

The race is the brainchild of Vanessa Kline, a California native and former Marine, who owns Beast Coast Productions, a racing business. Kline, an ultra-runner, now lives in Hainesport, Burlington County. She hopes the event will draw attention to the Pinelands National Reserve, which spans portions of 56 communities in seven New Jersey counties, totaling about one million acres of hamlets, farms, forests and wetlands.

“My plan is to make it the premier ultra-running event here in South Jersey, and I think any exposure to the Pinelands is really helpful,” Kline said. “Sometimes people don’t even know that these things exist right in their backyard.”

Kline said the race is a family affair, run by her, her partner, John Swanson, and their children — as well as 50 volunteers who will staff 10 aid stations along the Batona Trail.

The trail has its origins in Philadelphia. In 1961, a group of city residents in the Back to Nature Hiking Club, shortened to Batona, began building a trail in the Pine Barrens with permission from the state. The trail was later expanded to 53.5 miles.

On Tuesday, Kline was busy in her kitchen, “making a million batches of chili” for post-race festivities. Kline said a previous race was run along the Batona Trail until 2019 before the pandemic, but it was informal. Kline took part in that race in 2018.

She took over the Batona race from its previous organizer in 2019 with the idea of expanding it to 100 miles, but in between has organized other ultra-runs along the trail. The New Jersey Devil 100 miler has been sanctioned by USA Track & Field and with hopes that it qualifies for the Western States Endurance Run, which claims to be the world’s oldest 100-mile race, first run in 1977. Kline had to get multiple permits from state and local governments.

“This is just something I fell into because I love running,” she said. “I do not have a college degree, but I guess I am just an entrepreneur at heart. I don’t have a desire to do any other businesses. This just kind of happened. … We run a lot of races all over the country, including 100 milers and long ultras. I guess we enjoy suffering a little bit. Let me tell you, our heads are spinning on race day. There are so many things going on.”

Scott, the physician and runner, said he’s been training by running 60 miles a week.

“I’m a full-time emergency doc,” Scott said, “and it’s about all I can handle with two young kids and the job.”

Scott said past races have taught him that just about anything can go wrong, from sudden changes in temperature, to rain, blisters, and stomach ailments. He won a 33-mile race on the Batona in November also organized by Beast Coast Productions. And he’s run the steep-sloped Eastern States 100, a 103-mile trail race in north-central Pennsylvania.

“The challenge is always daunting,” Scott said, noting that “the chance this race gives for people to see the beauty of the Pine Barrens. Having run the Batona 55 miler and 33 miler in the past, I can’t wait to go back and spend some time in this beautiful landscape.”