I found this route earlier this year while looking for good peak trails without established FKTs. About a week later, someone else added the route to the FKT site, so I knew I had to be the first to run it! Based on the Strava segment, it looked like the time to beat was 55:53 on the way up and roughly 1:43 round trip.
I drove up to Cordova Pass the night before, woke up around sunrise, ate breakfast, and did a quick warm-up. I took a picture and started my watch at the main trail sign just after 6:30am. I brought a small running vest with a liter of Tailwind and some lightweight trekking poles, which in hindsight probably weren't worth carrying.
I tried to really push the pace from the start, and quickly realized that I wasn't in the greatest uphill running shape. I made one minor but silly routefinding mistake by following an official sign for the "West Peak Trail", which just fades out after a few hundred feet and circles back to the main trail.
After finally reaching treeline and the steep uphill, I pulled out my trekking poles, and my heart rate and breathing went back to normal. According to the Strava segment, I reached the top in 54:44, barely breaking the CR.
I put away my trekking poles and started bombing the technical downhill, which is certainly not my strongest suit. After treeline, the gentle downhill felt great in comparison, then my heart rate exploded again as I pushed the final uphill/flat section to the trailhead. To my relief, I reached the sign with a total elapsed time of 1:32:22, roughly 10 minutes faster than the previous time.
Overall, it was a great route with a mix of flat, gentle uphill, and steep technical running at altitude. This time certainly can and will be beaten by someone fitter and faster than me!