5 Laps, 49.5 Miles : 00:10:14:57
Start 5:17:22 AM
Finish 3:32:19 PM
Started around 5:15AM on October 8th taking the counter clockwise loop around Lady Bird Lake on the Butler Trail. Our bags were packed with about 3,000 calories each, some electrolyte drinks, water and salt. We parked under the Mopac Bridge on the north side of Roberta Crensha Bridge.
This was a pretty standard run as we both have been training quite a bit on Butler Trail. Also, we took it rather easy as a slow pace training run leading up to a November 12th 100+ mile attempt we are planning. We primarily used the water taps in Auditorium Shores near the Brent Grulke Plaza. On the last couple of laps we made a couple extra public tap stops on the north side of the trail. One tap near Festival Beach and another at the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. We also ended up taking a couple pit stops at the Johnson Creek Restroom.
Changes to the Trail
The Butler trail changed in September and is slightly different than the original GPX uploaded for this loop. The trail is now 9.9 miles instead of 10 miles per loop, but now doesn't require a road crossing. For this reason we finished the 5 laps at 49.5 miles and then went for a .5 mile jog just to round up our watches.
First Lap
It was dark for almost the entire lap. We took it very easy.
Second Lap
We found our comfortable running paces were slightly different and would separate for short distances and then reconnect at the end of each mile marker.
Third Lap
Our nutrition had been going well and we were starting to feel really good.
Fourth Lap
Temperature was heating up, but we had some good energy knowing we were almost done.
Fifth Lap
Temperature got to about 90 degrees and we had direct sun. It was definitely hot and we took it easy.
Last Half Mile - Rounding out 50 miles
We made a video as we finished the last lap to document the 5 lap finish and then ran .25 miles across the Roberta Crensha Bridge and down the trail and then .25 miles back. We were jogging slowly against a sea of people crossing the bridge commuting to Zilker Park for ACL fest. Our watches both hit 50 miles as we crossed back over the bridge and head to our car. Total 50 mile time was about 10 hours and 20 minutes.
Impact of ACL Music Festival
Austin City Limits music festival was going on. There was little impact on the trail. There were fewer people on the trail than normal for most of the morning. There were generators and sometimes vehicles driving on the trail during the first mile and a half at the beginning of each loop near the Roberta Crenshaw Bridge. The generators and vehicles provided for some dusty and smokey sections of the trial. Mostly crowds were small, but there was a large crowd at the bridge when we finished as people were commuting to the festival.