The hardest trail climb at The Whitewater Center is seeing more foot traffic this month.
Goat Hill, a 0.8-mile black diamond trail of Whitewater’s 40+ miles of mixed use trails, is the subject of a new challenge hosted by HOKA, called Be The Goat Challenge. Whoever completes the most repetitions of the Goat Hill segment on Strava will not only win a pair of HOKA Speedgoat 6 trail running shoes, but also gain entry into a US-based UTMB race of their choice.
Locals will know that Goat Hill is a little bit spicy: it kicks off with a 96-foot climb in the first tenth of a mile and features up to 16% grade. From there, runners can take a left and complete the full loop (which includes another descent and climb), or they can skip a section and go back down the hill.
Pro tip: the Strava segment only includes that first 0.1-mile climb, so take option two if looking to rack up the maximum amount of repeats for the Be The Goat Challenge. To join the Be The Goat Challenge, log into Strava and click “Join Now” on the challenge homepage. Goat Hill is located at The Whitewater Center at 5000 Whitewater Parkway in Charlotte, North Carolina. To get to Goat Hill, take the South Trailhead, and after running on South Main for one mile, you’ll see the Goat Hill trail marker. And while you’re there, you can also check out the other 40 miles of trail at The Whitewater Center.
There’s also an opportunity to run Goat Hill during River Jam Run Club. During a special edition of the run club on July 25, representatives from HOKA will have shoes, including the all-new Speedboat 6’s, available to demo. The run club meets outside of the Trail Center at 6:30.