The Buff Betty is back and it is heading to the mountains!  We are excited to offer two new awesome courses this year for all level of racers—from beginners giving the sport a try—to seasoned racers looking for a challenging day in the woods!  The original all women’s adventure race in the country, this is a race for women designed by women, and while it won’t be easy—it shouldn’t be, it is adventure racing!!—our goal is to continue introducing the sport to women with fun, challenging, safe and creative courses that inspire you to keep adventuring and challenging yourself! 

Nestled in the mountains of Southeast Virginia lies Hungry Mother State Park, one of the largest and oldest parks in the state, built in 1933.  One of only two VA state parks listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Hungry Mother has been attracting visitors for nearly 100 years with it’s beautiful mountain lake, woodlands, old growth forest, and stunning vistas throughout the park—several of which have views of Virginia’s highest peak, Mt. Rogers!

Bordering the Jefferson National Forest and with 3300 acres of land to explore, 20 miles of one the best multi-use trail systems in the park system, a beautiful lake, and the famous Molly’s Knob at 3,200 feet, we can’t think of a place more fitting to host our favorite race of the year! 

Pick your adventure, get your friends together and get ready for an awesome day of adventuring! Over the course of either a 6-7 hour beginner-friendly race, or a 12 hour longer, harder, much more advanced course (especially in regards to navigation, strategy and foot travel), soloists or teams of 2 and 3 will hike, bike, paddle and navigate their way through a course exploring this amazing state park and all it has to offer. 

Visiting the park and lodging for the weekend.

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We are extremely grateful for the support of the park and their willingness to work with us on this race. The weekend of the race is the start of high season for this particular park, due to leaf peeping and a wedding venue located on the lake. With that said, the park is already almost at full capacity for cabins and camping. You are welcome to try and book a site or cabin for the weekend (immediately!). There are also numerous hotel options and AirBnB’s in the area along I-81, specifically in the town of Marion (just outside the park). 

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With the prospect of no lodging in the park, we have arranged a large group camp site that the park has set aside for us. This camping, car camping, or camper-vanning, will be FREE, however it will be primitive camping in a large grassy field with no access to power or water. There are several picnic tables and fire pits that will be available to use. Campers will also have access to a bathhouse and bathrooms located across the road in a different campground. This campsite will be reserved for racers only and will not be open to the public. You will be able to stay in the site both Friday and Saturday night. We will provide more details and directions to the group campsite in our final email and pre-race brief the week of the race. 

12-Hour Race