Start
- September 12, 2020 at 5:58:13 AM EDT
- 53 deg clear and crisp
- Started on the southern end of the loop in Beals Preserve in Southborough and proceeded in the clockwise direction.
Finish
- September 12, 2020 at 10:25:50 AM EDT
- Total Time - 4:27:37
- 61 deg, sunny
Gear
- Hoka Speedgoat 4
- Salomon Adv Skin 12L
- Black Diamond Cosmo Headlamp
Fuel
- Five 500ml bottles (2.5 L). I had initially planned to do the route self-supported, however I forgot to drop water the night before, so my wife dropped two stashes for me in the morning.
- Dropped 2 bottles at Marlborough High School, and 1 at the Parmenter Rd crossing
- All liquid calories, 960 calories of Maurten, and 300 calories of Tailwind
- I finished with 2 extra bottles on me, I need a lot less due to the cool temperatures
Route
I did much better on this run than I did back in August, I didn’t make any navigation errors and I felt much more confident about the route. I had Adam’s GPX file loaded into Gaia on my phone and used this exclusively for navigation, and it worked well. I believe I nailed the navigation this time, so I suggest anyone who makes an attempt to use my GPX/TCX file for navigation. The only small issue I had was after crossing the railroad tracks in Southborough. I think the official trail goes down a fairly unused section of powerlines and the weeds were very tall, so I had to walk. There are other good trails running through here, but for some reason the Boroughs Loop trail runs down a poor section, perhaps the trail committee could change this?
The weather was perfect for the route today, so that had a huge boost on my time. Although I do believe there are a couple minutes to be had out there. Overall a great day and looking forward to them completing the trail in Marlborough!