I wanted to put up a solid number to start this FKT route. I also wanted to honor my friend Matt May, who passed away the previous month. I was able to do both. The day promised to be a good one weather-wise with cool temps in the morning, sunshine during the day and warming up to the mid 60s in the afternoon. As I was getting ready to start, I noticed my phone battery was at 24%, meaning it didn’t charge overnight while I had it plugged in. Luckily, I brought a battery bank that I carried around with me for the first couple hours.
I started the 12 hour challenge at 7:03am. Not many people were out as the sun was just starting to peep above the tree line. As the day progressed, more people would be out enjoying the day. At 10:00am we honored my friend with the Matt May Mile. His wife Lisa, co-workers and friends Logan and Jay came out as well. Logan stayed and helped pace me for a few hours. My cousin Jason came out after running a 5k and paced me for a couple hours. My good friend “the Bob” and his son Miles came out in the afternoon for a much needed morale boost to keep me on pace. My wife and kids came out for the last few laps to cheer me on. It was a team effort!
During my day at the park, I saw a team of cyclist training, a guitarist strumming and singing, medieval reenactors chopping away at each other with wooden swords and shields, birthday parties and a lot of walkers and runners. This time of the year, gates are closed to motorists for half of the loop to allow for amphibian crossings. We actually saw a marbled salamander during one of the loops.
In the end, I completed 64 loops doing the Supported style. All in all, a great day with great support :)