Finishing unfinished business. Took a shot at this route two years ago and was thwarted 30 miles in by a foot shredded by blisters after an early misstep in the surf.
Way better experience today with dry feet, better gear, and near perfect weather.
So the route - It’s a gorgeous stretch of shoreline. And an absolutely terrible stretch of terrain to run.
This route has a unique set of challenges and considerations - the timing and depth of low tides, the ever changing terrain, pools, and small rivers at low tide, the often quite decent slope of the beach close to the water line, and the constant balancing of risk between the harder sand along the water’s edge and risk of getting wet feet v the flatter but softer and safer sand higher up the beach.
Oh and the rocks. There’s a tortuous stretch of 5 miles of completely un-runnable rocky shoreline starting at the 30ish mile point from the end of Ditch Plains through the lighthouse. It is a welcome break from the sand and the perfect excuse for a walking break - but horrendous for the psyche, the toes, and the feet.
Weather conditions were nearly perfect. But weird . Temps in 50s and low cloud cover kept it quite cool. But the constant fog kept visibility to 100 feet which created a bit of a surreal featureless landscape for the entire day. The only real landmarks the entire day were the two rock walls after Georgica Pond at around 16 miles and the 5 miles of tortuous rocks starting at around the 30 mile mark.
The sun finally broke through the fog in the last 20 minutes of the run, almost eerily illuminating the finish line at the inlet from a mile or two away.
The first 20 miles or so were quite enjoyable with hard packed low tide runnable sand. The next 10 miles of softer post-low trade sand were way less enjoyable and provided an excellent opportunity for introspection.
Safe to say I’ll be taking a decent break from beach running after this.
Most importantly - I could not have taken another shot at this FKT without the encouragement and support from Andy Drake. The best thing that came of my failed attempt at this route two years ago was the friendship that developed with Andy. He is the mayor of the east end endurance community and his repeated encouragement to have another go at this FKT - his FKT - eventually drove me back to this endeavor.
I could not begin to imagine a better celebration than sharing beers with Andy at Montauk Brewery immediately following the completion of this effort.