I found this route on the FKT website the day before I decided to go for it. I love a good loop and this one includes some of my favorite trails around Flagstaff - and a few sections of the AZT I've never been on.
I decided to start at Walnut Canyon and go counterclockwise. The first handful of miles in that direction parallel the railroad tracks and are generally not that pretty, so I wanted to get that out of the way early in the morning before it got hot. I started just after 6:20am. I arrived at the trailhead earlier but was trying to charge my watch (which hadn't charged the night before). It ended up only getting to 5%, so I tracked my run using Gaia GPS.
The weather for the first several miles of my run could not have been better: low to mid 60s, cloudy, with a light rain to start. I cruised through the first several miles. I had initially planned on having my boyfriend crew me, but around 5-7 miles in, I realized the loop probably wouldn't take me all that long and I had enough food on me for the day - and planned to fill up water at Buffalo Park. So I told him it was going to be a solo adventure!
The miles ticked by quickly until I made a wrong turn in the Schultz Creek area and added on at least 4 miles on the Dog Food/AZT trail. I love that trail and was just in autopilot mode. Oops! That's why my mileage is close to 50: I think with the new AZT reroutes, this route should be around 45 miles.
It got pretty hot midday for a few hours. I got to Buffalo Park around 1pm and filled up my water at the drinking fountain there. After that, it started to rain - a much-welcomed reprieve from the heat - and then DOWNPOUR and hail, thunderstorm, etc. The storm lasted about 2 hours. I kept moving pretty well, with the exception of a couple breaks underneath bridges or in tunnels. It finally let up on my climb up to Fischer Point. After that, I had to hustle the last 8 or so miles through Walnut Canyon.
It was a super fun day around Flagstaff! For the most part, I even enjoyed the storm (we need the rain so bad!). Lots of beautiful, very runnable sections of trail. Had I planned to go solo/unsupported ahead of time, I probably would have brought a little more food and a phone charger (I ended with 5% battery).
Someone could totally CRUSH this FKT and get it sub-7 - especially on a better weather day and not taking a wrong turn. Excited to see!