Black Rock sits at 2,700 feet of elevation, with a steady inclination all the way up to the peak. In total, it’s a seven-mile trip up and down the mountain top. To some, this might sound daunting, but to the runners in the area, this hike turns into a challenge they are willing to take on, turning the trail into a race called Assault on Black Rock.
Held at Pinnacle Park, runners start at the base of the trail head to the summit of Black Rock, putting their endurance, strength, and competitive spirits to the test.
Race organizer, Brian Barwatt said the event started back in 2011. Barwatt says he has been using the trail for training and has hiked on the trail for the past 20 years.
“I wonder if people would actually want to run a race on this thing,” Barwatt said when recalling how he got the idea of starting the race. “And it’s been going on ever since,” he said.
This is the 16th anniversary of the race, bringing runners from nine different states to compete. During the first couple of years the event brought roughly 60 to 70 people; now, for the 2026 race drawing in around 120 people. A goal still yet to be met – the race completed in an hour. When participants complete the race, they win a belt buckle branded with the race’s title and year.
“The average (time) is probably around two hours, so I offer 101 minutes or less,” said Barwatt when referring to who will win a belt buckle. “About 20 or 25% of the participants will get a belt buckle,” said Barwatt.
The most challenging aspect of the race has always been the last stretch of the race to the summit.
“The last half mile to the summit, there’s about 650 feet of elevation gain and a third of a mile,” Barwatt said. “It’s consistently uphill from the parking lot, pretty much the whole way. And then coming down, you can fly down it…and if you don’t have good knees, it’s not easy either.”
Peter Nieckarz, who has been a race observer since the race started says his most memorable history of the race is when the belt buckles started being awarded.
“The most memorable moment was when Brian, the race director started issuing belt buckles for people who broke 101 minutes, and the race became competitive,” said Nieckarz.
Nieckarz also acknowledges the race has become a part of Sylva’s history, and is something people are willing to travel great distances for.
“When we noticed that people would make it a point to travel from great distances just to do this race. This race has become popular. Regionally, if not nationally,” he said.
The winner of the race, Phillip Morgan from Waynesville, says this is his third time participating in the race and finished the race in just around 1 hour and 12 minutes.
“I like the trail run, so I’ll try to do a trail run once every month, and this is, you know, it’s just a fun one,” said Morgan. “It’s challenging, and it’s about the distance that I like, and I ran it before, and there’s some really good runners who come out.”
For the 2026 Assault on Black Rock Race, the first 25 percent of the participants to complete the race were awarded a belt buckle, and the top three male and female finishers were awarded glasses with the race title branded on them.
