Two young bothers, Noal and Trace Mitchell, ages 13 and 15, respectively, recently found the sport of ultrarunning through attending Land Between the Lakes in Grand Rivers, Kentucky with their family. In its 20th year this year, the brothers ran the 60k and 50-miler. We sat down and asked how they got inspired to start running long distances.
What is the backstory with running races as a family? I’ve seen you at Land Between the Lakes (LBL) the last two years and would love to hear more about how you chose this race, how you got into running together, etc:
Megan (Trace and Noal’s mom): In 2016, Chad’s cousin Mark Chappell called and invited Chad (the boy’s dad) on a trip to the Grand Canyon to complete a Rim to Rim to Rim (R3). Chad started training for that and though not an organized race, it started his love for trail running. In 2021, Chad went back for another R3 and I went this time to complete the Rim to Rim. Both boys were able to travel along and see us complete our goals after joining them on several trail training runs in Montgomery Bell. In 2023, Mark invited the family on another journey to LBL to complete the trail runs. Chad took on the 50-mile race, while the boys and I all completed the marathon. After watching their dad earn a buckle, both boys had a new goal for the next year: to get their own buckles.
Trace and Noal, you both jumped to ultra distances this year. Tell me a bit about your training:
Being from a small town, there isn’t much in the way of organized running and our school doesn’t have a cross-county team, so any training we take on is on our own. Training was mostly just staying in active shape after the completing the marathon the prior year. In the summer, we wakeboard and surf and then once school starts, we both play basketball and have to train for that. We took on some runs with our dad to make sure to keep our legs throughout that time.
Noal finishes Land Between the Lakes 60k with his dad by his side. Photo Micki Beth Colson
What were your goals going into the race?
Trace’s goal going into the race was to complete what he signed up for, the 50-miler. Noal’s goal going into the race was to do one more lap than the previous year and get a buckle.
Noal: “My personal goal was to reach the finish line in 10 hours or less for the 60k.”
Would you say you learned anything about yourselves during the race?
Trace: “I learned through completing the 50 miles that I can push myself beyond my own limits.”
Noal: “Yes, I learned that I can do hard things that I didn’t know I could do. My body is way more capable than I thought it was.”
What are you most proud of now that you are ultramarathoners?
Trace: “I just ran 50 miles, of course I’m going to be proud of that.”
Noal: “Joining an elite group of people that do things like this.”
What is your favorite thing about running?
Trace: “I like running because it feels good to accomplish the goal – so finishing is my favorite part.”
Noal: “Whenever you finish and you can look back and say, I did that!”
Trace Mitchell finishes the Land Between the Lakes 50-miler, his first ultramarathon. Photo Micki Beth Colson
Anything else you’d like us to know?
One of our favorite stories from the race we like to tell is that since Chad stuck with Noal to finish out the 60k, Trace was on his own for that final, brutal lap. During that lap, he would often call Chad to check in, and for motivation. On one of the phone calls, Trace told Chad that God spoke to him and had given him permission to sleep in the next morning since it was Sunday. The next day, instead of sleeping in, Trace proudly wore his LBL shirt to church, even though it was a hobble up the stairs to get there.
Our family also completed a 5k the following weekend to support a family who is dear to us that puts the race on as a memorial to their son, Joshua, who died of an overdose. The race is used as a way to remember Josh and raise money for drug recovery initiatives in our small hometown in Erin, TN. Trace took second place for his age group with a time of 21:48 and fourth place overall for the race and is now being recruited by other schools to run cross country since Houston County doesn’t have a program.