Running the entire ATT out-and-back has been on my mind for a few years since I saw Mark’s supported record. I also knew that I wanted to attempt it unsupported as an additional logistical/mental challenge. I’m in the middle of training for a 24-hour race and figured that going for the unsupported FKT would be a good training run, as it would be hard to motivate myself to run that far in training otherwise.
I’ve been ramping up my training since the beginning of the year, but the issue with running the ATT unsupported in the winter is the water access – many of the water points are turned off and unreliable in the cold, which makes planning more difficult. Herndon Park typically has water (unless the bathroom is closed, which has happened to me), but it’s also ~1/4 mile off of the trail, which is annoying. More water access points typically start opening up in March, but then you’re contending with hotter weather. I originally had a few days earlier in the year I wanted to attempt this using Herndon as my refill point, but there was either a combination of weather (heat, pollen, rain), work, or general life that got in the way. Weather looked good for 4/12, and I had the day free, so I decided to go for it, with the added advantage of more of the water points being open. This was the day before a 50k, but I figured that back-to-back long runs are good ultra training.
Woke up early, pounded coffee + packed my pack. 1500 kcal of naked Tailwind in a 1.5L bladder and an additional 1L of water in 2*500mL flasks. Packed a change of shirt + various toiletries + stroopwafels for the occasional solid food, though I tend to rely almost exclusively on Tailwind. All in the trusty Salomon adv skin 12.
Got to the ATT trailhead (north/downtown Durham end) and started a little bit after 7:30a. Cloudy and 45 to start – perfect weather. Side note: It’s obvious where the ATT starts, though given the new-ish construction of the little league field at the start, there is no longer any real start indicator or a 0.0 mile marker (Mark’s trip report shows it as it used to be, and you can see the new concrete in my starting photo), even though this exists for literally every other quarter-mile of the trail.
The start of any race or big run for me is always a little nerve-wracking – questioning if I have everything in my pack and worrying about sticking to my plan, and this was no different. And it always feels too easy at the start. I didn’t really have a goal pace – the previous unsupported FKT was 9 min/mile, and I figured 8:00-8:15/mile would be pretty comfortable to start. Quickly settled into a rhythm and started ticking off miles. I checked my watch early in to make sure I wasn't completely off pace (I wasn't) and then set it to display the time of day and ignored it. I’ve run all sections of the ATT multiple times but am most familiar with the first half of the trail, so this was comfortable territory.
The AM weekend start allowed for me to avoid having to stop at any of the street crossings on the way there. I felt smooth and comfortable throughout the first part of the trail, keeping my pace somewhere between 7:50 – 8:00. My first stop was at the New Hope crossing, 14.5 miles in. In my opinion, when it's open, this is the most convenient water stop/bathroom along the entire trail – fast bottle refill station right next to the trail and the bathrooms are also very close. Pit stop + re-filled my water bottles + changed into a short-sleeve shirt. And re-applied sunscreen!
After New Hope, the trail turns into gravel. It had rained pretty heavily the day before and I was worried about the trail conditions, but they ended up being (mostly) okay – a bit mushy and unstable in spots, though nothing major + I wearing gaiters as I didn’t want any gunk flung into my shoes. For whatever reason (wet gravel, running this section less?) the rolling nature of this part of the trail always just feels more difficult, though it is very beautiful, and I soldered on.
The south terminus of the trail has the 22 mile marker, but then continues for roughly a tenth of the mile to the parking lot, which I think is the agreed upon ‘true’ southern end point. Another pit stop at the southern bathrooms and then looked at my watch as I hit the lap button – 2:59:53, an average of 8:05/mi.
Started on the return trek and ate 2 stroopwafels while running as I contemplated life and why I willingly do this to myself. Breaking 6 hours at this point seemed pretty aggressive – would require basically an even split, which was also partially reliant on traffic lights. On the other hand, I realized I had a good head start on the pre-existing record and just needed to stay as steady as possible and hope the wheels didn’t completely fall off. I continued to run by feel and ignored my watch again.
The wet gravel started getting to me on the return trek – I was increasingly annoyed by the occasional unstable footing and the gradual hills. I focused on the cross-country teams blowing by me (NC State, App State, Clemson) and had fun comparing my janky stride to their effortless form.
Getting back to pavement at New Hope (mile 30) was a welcome relief for me. I re-filled my water bottles again and got back to it. While running mainly by feel, sometime after 50k (32ish miles), I felt like I was slowing down, so I checked my watch and noticed that my pace was slowly slipping (8:20+) despite the same relative effort (easy aerobic). I experimented with varied paces a little and allowed myself a couple of walk/stretch breaks to see if that made a difference, but alas, it didn’t. I don’t think it was a bonk (took in calories throughout), just think my legs were feeling the cumulative fatigue of having already run 30+ miles, many heavier training weeks in a row, and absolutely no taper for this effort. There was likely also a mental effect, as the closer I got to finishing, I realized that the FKT was more and more within my reach.
Happy to report I made it up the Southpoint hill without any issues. Continued to trudge along those final miles with the intermittent traffic light stop (not as lucky as the AM, makes sense), which I tried to re-frame as stretching time. The miles slowly counted down, and I contemplated a kick with a couple of miles to go. Aerobically still felt completely fine, but the legs said no – they were locked in at ~8:30 and didn’t want to go any faster than that. Which was fine, gotta listen to the body. Unceremoniously crossed the (lack of 0.0) finish line in 06:09:03, an average of 8:19/mi. Second half in 3:03:09 (8:32/mi). Measured as 44.41 miles on my watch. I had to settle for a tired selfie as there was no one around to take a photo of me in front of the little league stadium. Fin.
Overall, I’m very happy with this run – this is the longest training run I’ve ever done, and as I mentioned at the beginning, going for the FKT was great motivation to get out there and get in some mileage for my peak week of training. The weather certainly cooperated (huge), and I didn’t have any major issues, just tired legs. I feel like I could shave some more minutes off this FKT and I would love to give this a shot again more as a ‘race’ focus in the future (taper/decreased volume week of), but in the meantime, I encourage anyone else to give it a shot!