Hi - I just completed a new supported FKT for the River to River trail in Southern IL. It went really well and the weather could not have been more perfect. I'm still recovering today but I'm back at work.
I was joined by two friends for almost all of the run, one friend had to leave at roughly mile 100 so they could drive to Missouri and start their own FKT attempt! That friend, Giggles, joined me for roughly 5 miles of the trail but was reserving her efforts for own FKT. I mapped out GPS access points on the trail so that my friends could access me and resupply me with food and drink. I probably drank 30-40L of water over the course of the event and I lost track of the calories along the way. I really struggled to eat on night 2.
Overall, it was an amazing experience. My legs got over the shock of the massive mileage over and over but my feet did not. They continued to balloon out of control. I had to loosen my shoelaces to nearly off my shoes all together so that my feet were not being so constricted. It provided so much relief.
I broke up my GPS into 3 efforts.
Day 1 - I went at a solid clip from 7 am to about 10:30 pm. I was then taken to a hotel to sleep and stuff calories in. We arrived back at East Trigg trailhead the next morning at 7:15am to continue where I had stopped.
Day 2 - Similarly, I went at a solid clip till about 10:30 pm. At that point, I decided I needed a nap and slept 2 hours in the car until ~12:30 am. I did not stop my watch during this period. I then awoke and got about 7 miles over the next 3 hours. I stopped at around ~3:30 am and then stopped my GPS.
Day 3 - I made a mistake here and if it disqualifies my FKT then so be it. I walked my first 0.25-0.50mi on this day with no GPS. In my sleepy daze, I forgot to start my watch when I had started walking from the trailhead. If you see the distance gap there you can see that that area is straight trail. I was too stubborn and tired to turn around back to the trailhead and do that 0.5mi again for the GPS data. There is no way I could have been carried/driven/whatever for that 0.5mi that's unaccounted for as I'm straight in the forest. It was simply a mental lapse of exhaustion - I hope my data reflects that. I've been sweating about this since it happened but I didn't have the mental capacity to continue to think about it.
I continued the rest of the day just counting the miles till the final road walk. The last 11mi was all gravel road along a levee. It was long and exposed. I finally knocked it down to 3 miles to the finish line with a tailwind behind me. I took off. I logged a 7:19, 8:35, 7:35 min/mi for my last 3 miles. I came around the corner to the sight of the Mississippi River. I cried as I stumbled down the rocky beach to the water. I stopped my watch when a small wave finally caught my finger tips. Ohio River to Mississippi River. FKT done.