I took another shot at this, trying to get the time under 24 hours. This time I went south-bound, which might be easier in some ways, but has it's own challenges. The main difference that helped me finish much faster then last time is: time of year. Last time in November, the leaves were extremely deep which was a constant major slow-down. Also, there is no way to run as fast at night, and I had only 9 hours of darkness this time, instead of 14 in November.
Carried about 7000 calories in various forms. Stopped to filter water about 7 times with a carrying capacity of about 1.2L. Also carried hiking poles, puffy jacket, hat, gloves, headlamp with extra battery pack, extra socks, phone...I think that's about it.
Here's the report, taken from Strava write-up:
In November 2020, I lowered the FKT to 26:15. In 2021 it was lowered to 25:30. I've now lowered it to 23:29:37. My watch picked up 19,908 ft gain, but Strava knocked off a bunch. I think the main point of difficulty on this route is the amount of highly technical terrain with large pointy rocks/boulders that need to be picked through. This was an unsupported effort with everything I needed carried in a hydration vest on my back, and a lumbar pack on my waist.
Recap: After hiking in 2 miles to the northern end, I got started around 10am. Some unexpected rain soaked me but it was warm enough that I was comfortable, and dried out by afternoon. The first 55 miles felt really good. This may have been one of my best 50 mile performances. At mile 45, just past halfway, I was at 10 hours and feeling good. This all changed at mile 58 when a seemingly never-ending climb up Mt Wilcox(?) bonked me hard and left me physically exhausted and mentally disgruntled. In darkness at this point (literally and figuratively), I had a rough night. My water filtering stops kept getting longer and I was finding excuses to stop more often. It was cold enough that I was shivering if not moving but I had a puffy jacket tied around my waist that warmed enough when needed. I was constantly calculating finish time and by halfway through the night it seemed I would not go under 24, and even miss the FKT. I thought about quitting and calling to get picked up at dawn. Physically exhausted and sore everywhere, this was very tempting, but quitting just could not happen. Part of the reason I do this is to put myself in challenging situations and learn to overcome the obstacles, solve the problems, and persevere. After a particularly long break I came to terms with seeing this thing through. I focused on keeping one foot in front of the other and kept telling myself "you are a good runner, you can handle this". I thought of past running achievements and all the really talented runners I run with, which helped prove the point and expel my doubts. I also kept in mind that there was some easy miles before the final difficult section, and I could make up time there. I trucked on this way for the rest of the night and emerged at the easy section at dawn. I did make up time over those 6 miles. Before ascending the Jug End ridge I went off trail .1m to grab water for the challenging finish. The technical parts were very hard, especially the insane descent off Mt Everett. I couldn't trust my footing or balance at this point and felt clumsy. The hiking poles were very useful here. The morning views off Mt Race were spectacular but I didn't trust myself to get close to the 800ft cliffs. As soon as the technical part of the descent was done I went into overdrive and was surprised how fast I could go. I continued to push, blasting through Sages Ravine and finishing with all I had left.