I saw that Ben ran this and thought he had too many records in the dacks for a Massachusetts boy. So yesterday I took it back in 2:05:49. I started around 4:30pm at the western trailhead and had a bit of an upset stomach and just was having trouble moving up the hill. I touched both the balanced rocks and I think the fast running there helped me recover a bit. I almost fell off the mountain once or twice while looking at the views. I tried to move fast enough on the way up and on the traverse so that I wouldn't have to hammer the shitty descent on the other side. Scared a few hikers into the bushes and got to the Eastern TH in 1:02:23. My legs and stomach felt a lot better heading up and I took a sip out of the tiny stream and dunked my head in. Power hiked the steep stuff near the top. Made very good time along the ridge but it was getting a lot cooler and some of the rocks were starting to condensate. Lost some time slipping and sliding on rocks. Started making up time on the ridge and the long descent. I tried to not hammer downhill and just kept a good rhythm but as I got closer I thought I wasn't going to make it in time so I let myself rip for a couple of minutes. Finished in 2:05:49.
I think this trail could be done in around 1:55 if you went when there wasn't as many leaves down and were a fairly good technical runner.
No, I don't have a gps track or much in the way of trail race results to prove it.
It's a really great trail with some of the best views in the dacks.
Athletes
Route
Route variation
out & back
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Finish date
Total time
2h
5m
49s
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