The Maricopa trail connects the major and municipal parks circling Phoenix, Arizona and boy, is it a tour of this city’s greatest views. I chose this specific route actually before I moved to Phoenix, back in 2021, but knew I needed more experience before I could tackle an expedition of this magnitude. After a couple years of going from no trail running knowledge to being able to scramble up and down mountains mid-long-run, I felt it was finally time. And what better time to spend days out in the desert than late November.
Honestly, this could not have gone better if I tried and it’s all because of the people who helped make this silly dream a reality. You see, I was never a runner. In fact, I hated running growing up. But, after deciding it was finally time to get my health under control, telling myself that if I could conquer running I could conquer anything, I somehow found a love for the sport and ended up losing 200 lbs along the way. And as my involvement in the sport grew, the more I fell in love with the running community.
Going into this FKT attempt, I didn’t want it to be about just me, but instead, about community and the power of people coming together with one mission in mind. I ended up having around 26 helpers, between crewing and pacing, and together, we did it.