Started at lower Hadlock pond at 6:12am on Friday Nov 6th. I was being crewed and supported by my sister and the creator of this route, Andrew. Started off in wet conditions with all of the rocks quite slick for at least the first few hours. Met my crew at Jordan Pond after about 2 hrs, then continued on. I ran solo all day and didn't see many people until later in the morning. Did end up tagging Dorr Mountain, even though it was not on my GPS route I was following. My crew had stashed a bag of food and water at the Tarn, but I couldn't find it. my crew did hike up Champlain Mountain, so I was able to get support there instead, which was helpful. The technical terrain eventually took its toll on my legs, but aerobically I was keeping it together and pushing whenever the terrain allowed. It was definitely tough to be limited to basically the same pace on the down and up, but the terrain is so rough and descending the slick rocks in the wet conditions made moving quickly downhill almost impossible. At the end I continued from the Gorham mountain trailhead to Sand Beach which is the full intended route (finishing at the beach is a nice touch, and I think there might have been a few people who have done a variation where they did not finish at the beach. Was pushing hard, especially on the last few climbs and descents to try and get under 6hrs, but it was not meant to be as I hit the beach in 6hrs2min. Overall happy with the effort considering the conditions, my fitness at the moment, and my lack of knowledge of any of the trails (first time in Acadia ever). The route ended up being 24.14 miles with 7,800ft of vert. Would love to see some other fast people throw down on this brutal, classic route! I love how this route tags so many peaks, but doesn't have any pesky out and backs to get to any of those peaks. Felt Like I definitely got a solid taste of all Acadia has to offer out there!
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Regional Editor Note: A commenter posted about some differences between this run and the Acadia Mountain Marathon course map from the website. Brian did not do an out-and-back on Cedar Swamp Mountain, nor did he go down the Beehive. The route is otherwise the same. Flagging this effort but leaving it in place as it's the only time for the route.