For this FKT, I decided to begin in Caldwell and travel counterclockwise. I really wanted to run the road section early in the morning and when I knew I had all cylinders firing. I’m glad I chose to do it that way. Have begun at 4:46 AM, I passed through White Sulphur Springs, and then I hit the trail. I was blessed with nice cool weather on the first day, thankful it wasn’t blazing hot or rainy. In mid May, however, the trail was still quite overgrown on many spots near White Sulphur and along section 3 which slowed things down at times.
I quickly discovered that there would be plenty of solitude along my journey until my pacers arrived. I welcomed it. As a remote area with no service, it was also good to have a plan (and stick to it) to restock at road crossings as they were pretty spread out. In early afternoon, I ascended the beautiful, open field on Smith Knob, and checked in at the shelter. No one had signed the register for 3 weeks. I added my trail name to it.
Mile 40 of this route was an intersection, and a great place for dinner. After that, it would be about 13 miles around sunset, and then another 13 miles to end “Day 1.” Along this section, there were places to filter stream water about every 6 miles.
This endpoint did not come easy after notable ascents and descents on loose rocks. Mile 66 for me was a great place to take a first nap, however. It was a great mental victory. We were in Marlinton, so it was nice to be close to restaurants and any other amenities the town could offer.
On the second morning, I headed down along the river until it took a right turn into the woods. There were still some overgrown sections, and the temps were hotter this day.
Eventually, we made it to the fire tower and enjoyed some smooth and gorgeous fireroads as we left the technical trails and wrapped up the day at last in Cass. After spaghetti for dinner, I headed out onto the Greenbrier River Trail (the northern section). It quickly got very dark and very chilly by the river, but hitting the 100 mile mark was an exciting milestone!
After seeing two bears a few miles apart, my pacers became hesitant, but I just powered through the miles not really caring what creatures lurked in the pitch black night.
I tried to take a nap around midnight at the car, but I was still too amped. I really wanted to get past mile 120 before sleeping again.
Extreme fatigue set in around 2 AM, and when we hit a road crossing around 3:30, I was very sad to not see a vehicle there. It was too rough of a road to get the vehicle down in enough time. Although eating and feeling hydrated, I was extremely dizzy from fatigue, and trail naps were not an option since the ground was wet from a light rain. I would just try to lie down, but started to shiver and writhe in uncomfortable pain in my hips. I kept going at a very slow pace with frequent sit-down breaks, disheartened that I would see sunrise before being able to fall asleep. This stretch was the lowest point of the whole run.
Finally, the trail spat me out back in Marlinton once again, and I planned to sleep for three hours in the car. 90 minutes later, I woke up, ready to eat and hit the trail with my newfound energy. I tended to the blisters on my feet, ate a Belgian waffle, and headed back out.
I made good time for the first hour or two after eating and resting, but then things slow down as the temperature heated up above 85°. In the afternoon, I was able to sit in the river to cool down and ice my feet and legs, which was a wonderful treat. Shortly after that, my pacers and I stumbled upon a country store where we got cold iced tea and treats. This was a huge morale boost.
Heading back out, the temperature remained very hot with the blazing sun overhead. We pressed onto another road crossing and found that our crew had not made it on time. Later, we discovered that they had missed us by just a few minutes, which was good since we were moving along.
Very thirsty, we made it another 3 miles or so, and the crew was able to catch up so that pacers could swap and we could refill. At this point, I was able to see my husband, and I was very excited to catch him up on all details. This was a great section for running, especially as the sun was setting.
Running into this third night, I had renewed energy, knowing that the finish was not far ahead. It was very dark, as there was virtually no moon in the sky. At one point, we turned off our headlamps and saw several shooting stars while passing through farms and fields.
By about 1:45 AM, I was able to take my third nap. I slept for three hours, and I slept very hard. It was difficult to wake me, but once I figured out where I was, what was happening, and that the FKT was still going on, I fixed up my feet, ate some food, and hit the trail.
Sunrise next to the river was gorgeous, and I was able to run a lot more and took fewer walk breaks. I kept hitting the cola, which helped greatly. It did heat back up quickly. Today it would be about 90°, but I didn’t want to be running after noon.
The mile markers told us exactly how far we had left, and we moved down the trail with good progress next to the bustling river and its May rapids and high higher than usual waters.
Finally, with a boost of energy the last half mile, I made it to the finish and jumped from grace to pavement with triumph. It had been a little over 78 hours. I was thrilled with a sub 80 finish for myself on this loop given the elevation gain and navigational challenges with the overgrowth. Nothing major had gone wrong, my crew was absolutely stellar, and it turned out to be an absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous loop.