FKT: Chase Junell - Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail (NY) - 2023-01-06

This morning (1/6/23) I parked at the northernmost trailhead at cold spring harbor. I began running at 9:02am. I flew through the cold spring harbor section of the trail, nervous that I might have accidentally set myself up for a burnout. Things continued to be smooth though. I got lucky at the several street crossings between the start and halfway. Once the trail began running along side the bike path, my plan was to put the hammer down. I was able to hit low 6s for most of the section until Bethpage state park. After doing the math and knowing the previous records splits I knew that I would likely set the record with 5 miles remaining. I was still feeling decent and had about 2 more miles of smooth trail so I tried to hold my pace. By the time I hit the rooty section in Massapequa, most of my lower body was in pain and I was cramping hard from the honey stingers. After crossing Sunrise Hwy, I had just over a mile and knew that the record was mine. The adrenaline helped to numb the pain and I reached the southernmost trailhead after an elapsed time of 2:04:16. My distance was a bit shorter than the previous record because I am very familiar with the trail and didn’t have to back track any wrong turns. Celebrated with a cheeseburger and milkshake at All American.