The most difficult thing I’ve ever done.
This weekend was humbling for so many reasons.
- I wanted to break an FKT (fastest known time on a notable route) since my last man standing race was cancelled.
- The one closest to me was the Northeast Texas Trail. At 130 miles long, it’s the longest in Texas.
- Previous FKT was 68 hours. That was done when the trail was in much worse shape.
- I started out on Friday evening and ran all night, all day, and most of the next night.
The trail coordinator, Kelly, went so far out of her way to rally troops to take care of the during the race! It was incredible and I have never experienced anything like this.
- Some notable happenings include
Me getting hit in the face with a branch while looking back to kick a dog in the face for biting me.
A downed bridge in the middle of the night.
I hallucinated all the second night, that was wild.
Knocking on doors at 2am to beg for water.
Getting caught in a freezing cold torrential downpour in shorts and a t shirt with 26 miles to go.
This trail absolutely wrecked me. I had wet feet for almost all 34 hours. Mud and water was everywhere. It was brutal. It was the only event where I seriously considered dropping out.
But the highlight were the many people who steeped up to provide love, food and drinks and encouragement along the way. I didn’t even ask for it, but I could not have done this event without it. Thank you Kelly and crew!