This is my first time going for an official FKT and wow was it fun! It started off rough, two days of about 9 hrs of driving per day (we came from seattle) left my body tight, despite doing some jogs every day, and yoga. Before I went to bed, I had knee stiffness (my bad knee), when I woke up it was horrible, I could barely walk and thought about bailing. But I figured I might as well try… Turns out the knee pain got a lot better but it still kind of hurt the entire 37 miles, oof. Running on sand for so much of it also gave me other weird niggles, the worst of which was my inner abductor which sometimes bugs me on ultra distance runs, and it was a real mess today, I had to stop and stretch it about every 5 miles because it kept seizing up, double oof.
Logistics wise, my Dad dropped me off at Lee Pass at 7:45am. I dropped water at Hop Valley the day before. I was quite stressed about water (I drink a LOT) since you cannot filter from any creeks because of cyanobacteria, there are a few major springs along the route, but it is hit or miss if they flow. I started with 3 liters; I did a water drop at Hop Valley which is 14 miles in, refilled two of the liters. Then luckily two of the springs were flowing so water turned out to not be an issue, the main one I got water from (I took a photo of it) was Catwalk, but I think I also got water from Cabin Springs. I don't remember seeing any water at Potato Hollow. I carried all my own food in my running pack, as well as extra layers, sunscreen, and my sunglasses. I ate 5 gels, 2 PB&J sandwiches and about 6 granola bars.
In terms of crowds...I didn't see a single person for the first 20 miles, which was spooky. I started seeing people when I got towards the west crater rim, I think I saw one couple on wildcat canyon. My least favorite part was after a very peaceful 34 miles when suddenly the crowds in Zion Canyon hit, I was trying to politely run down from Angel’s Landing to the Grotto, it was crowded...everyone was nice but I got a lot of weird looks and “woah”, shout out to the one other trail runner who was running up and gave me a “whoop whoop you did it!”
I finished at The grotto then got to take the shuttle buss to the narrows at the end of the canyon and back. Picked up the car at the visitor center.
What an incredible run. Turns out running on sand is hard...but when you have such stunning views it is easy to not focus on. This is my first time going to any NP in Utah, and I am blown away. I finished the run by taking the shuttle bus all the way to the end of the canyon and back. Can't wait for the rest of the trip (Bryce, Capitol Reef, Moab, etc!). Now time to eat and rest up as I plan to do another FKT of the Bryce Canyon Traverse in two days time!