When I originally submitted this route to be published as an FKT, there was a small oversight. There is not an easy way to get to the start point. We had to add an extra mile at the beginning. So I subtracted the first mile split from our total time. Maybe it would make more sense to adjust the FKT route. For solidarity, that first mile split was 11 minutes 35 seconds. So add that to 8:33:33 for total run time. The soul of the route is meant to be the entirety of Alabama's Gulf Coast aside from Dauphin Island. We had to start from the boat launch parking lot, just outside of Historic Fort Morgan, on the bay side of the island. We ran a mile, looping around the point, to get to the FKT start.
Due to the nature of running on sand, we accumulated another extra mile throughout the run (not the first extra mile). You just have to meander a lot to find good running lines. I'm assuming that, mixed with heading further inland for aid stations slowly added up.
It was beautiful, and fun at first. It slowly became extremely miserable for mile 5-19. There was a fairly strong head wind at first. The tide was coming in for the first half of the run. Which apparently means you can't find hard packed sand. It's either wet mushy sand, or soft dry sand. After aid #3 (mile ~18) the tide started going out, unveiling really good sand, and the wind stopped. So the last half marathon was as good as it gets on Alabama beaches, despite being pretty tired by then. We were warmly greeted by Flora-Bama staff at the finish. They gave us electrolyte popsicles, water, and some drink vouchers that we used on bushwakers!
Me (Andrew McCain), Jack Osborne, and Mark Beggs started at about 6:40AM. Mark DNF'd at aid station #3 due to an injured ankle. Jack, and I finished side-by-side at the same time.
Overall it was an awesome experience that I won't be reliving anytime soon. Soft beach running is brutal, monotonous, and feels endless. But we did it, and I hope someday someone does it better!