The bar has been set very low for anyone who cares to take this on!
I used the prior submission by Laura Pryor as a general guideline – thank you Laura – which was very helpful.
I arrived at the trailhead around 6:30 am, and as Laura had done, parked outside the closed entrance down Highway one around one hundred yards. Before my second lap, I too ran down to my vehicle and moved it to the then open parking lot and refilled my water bladder.
The plan was to take it easy and run this at an all-day pace as a mental training run, and all of this went to plan up until around mile thirty-three, where my calves started seizing, and after some brief mental math, I realized I hadn’t consumed more than five liters of water in the first seven hours of moving. I tried in vain to rally back from this hydration bonk, but was relegated to walking, and shuffle running the last lap.
The wildlife is worth running the Mountain for at least once. Not thirty minutes in, as I crested the ridge that faces south towards Jenner, I spotted a badger that had been digging at the hole of some unfortunate creature. Upon spotting me, the badger proceeded to run away his silver fur oscillating across his back as he went. Badgers are funny runners. On this journey I also spotted one coyote, multiple deer, garter snakes, one racer snake, an alligator lizard, and numerous birds of prey.
Things I would do differently, and you can do to easily unseat this three lap FKT:
· Run this on a cooler or cloudy day. I happened to run on a very anomalous day for the coast with unseasonably high temperatures, clear skies, and no wind. The direct sun exposure all day is very wearing.
· Stay hydrated. The fresh coastal air is deceptive.
· Bring a sawyer or other small water filter. There is a small creek before the push to the summit that could have been used for refills when low on water.