Nitty gritty:
Unsupported FKT. No crew assist during the run. No cached food or water.
Paddle boarded with friend from Harborside Bar & Grill near West Ocean City Boat Ramp to the start on the beach at the very northernmost tip of Assateague at the inlet by the jetty. Start @ 7:04 to nail the low tide at half way for a 5 hour to 5:15 finish. 9 gels. 9 salt tabs. 5 17 oz bottles 2 with water 3 with electroytes. Entire run on the beach finishing at the old Coast Guard tower south of Tom's Cove in VA by the southern end of the Island.
Beautiful day partly cloudy turning into thick fog. 56 degrees with a 6mph head wind.
This has been something that I've been eyeing for a long time and am grateful to Gabriel Matyiko for establishing the route and for the greater Eastern Shore running community. Assateague is a very special place to me and is thick with meaning, memorable experiences, and continues to be an object of inspiration of a spiritual category. The paddle began with admiring the working fishing fleet of W OC. Dolphins met me at the jetty just moments before the start. A blister in the center of my right foot cropped up mysteriously at mile 6 and persisted till the end. The fog was so thick during the middle portion that it altered my depth perception to the extent that I thought a seagull standing on the beach was a full sized human. The last 15 miles were a bit of a slog as I struggled to keep my 1:20- 1:30 pace watching the 10ths of a mile tick away bit by bit. The finish was glorious as I gazed up at the historic watch tower after running under surf caster's lines one of which nearly nocked my hat off. And then, after the finish, the one hour walk to the car with my good friend Mike Keene during which we saw a man building (with masonry tools) a perfect 4 foot tall sand pyramid. I'm honored to have had this experience.