On Aug. 26 - Aug. 28, 2016, Bryan Williams and Eric Truhe set the FKT supported time for the CT Collegiate Peaks Loop (165 miles) of 62 hours and 47 minutes.
They used Garmin and Suunto watches and a SPOT with data points here:
share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0lsO1xPe7qVIG0fW4mFuT8LarQSF80etq [SPOT link broken]
However, the SPOT is "spotty" as the first day involved heavy cloud cover with snow, so the satellite did not pick up all points.
The CT travels on the west and east side of the Collegiate Peaks, connecting at Twin Lakes in the north, and south of Monarch Pass in the south. The CT travels approximately 80 miles on each side of the Collegiate Peaks, for a 165 mile loop.
Bryan and Eric's time smashed the previous FKT for the CT Collegiate Peaks Loop of 77 hours and 4 minutes, set by Eric Truhe on July 21, 2013(unsupported). In 2013, Eric ran the loop clockwise and traveled on the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) for part of the "CT Collegiate Peaks West" trail which at the time was at a lower elevation. However, since 2014, the CT Collegiate Peaks West was completed and has an established trail on the west that runs above treeline for a majority of the distance.
Bryan and Eric started on Fri, Aug. 26, 2016, at 4:50am at Willis Gulch TH (west of Twin Lakes) and ran the CT loop counter clockwise.
They finished on Sun, Aug. 28, 2016, at 7:37pm, back at Willis Gulch TH. Total time running was just over 43 hours with approximately 34,000 feet of climbing (according to the Suunto).
Their three day, two night run involved staying at a cabin each night at Princeton hot springs, as that location is roughly in the "middle" of the loop. They received crew support from Eric's father twice on Day 2 (61 miles) and twice on Day 3 (54 miles).
Day 1 (50 miles) was unsupported, with a time of 13 hours, 31 minutes, stopping only once at mile 26 to refill water at a stream.
During Bryan and Eric's run, cool temperatures resulted in minimal water consumption, which limited the stop time needed to refill water.
The CT loop is clearly marked, very runnable, with easily accessible crew points. Thus, we expect other parties to attempt the run in the next few years.
