The wife and I stayed in Cadillac the night before. I hit the hay around 6 pm and was up without an alarm just after 2. I had originally planned to do the JVP first and then work my way back down towards home, but after seeing the amazing photos of the JVP on AllTrails and it being the only one of the three loops I'd never fully covered, I decided I'd rather not do it in the dark, so I headed to the MRL. I happen to be pretty familiar with the MRL, and have ran it a half dozen times in the last couple of years. This paid off, and I was happy with my decision to do it first, as it was dark for my entire run there. I parked at the dirt lot just north of the suspension bridge, and with the waning crescent moon rising just above the treetops, I headed out clockwise at 3:46 am. I was completely by myself for all driving, running, and prepping in between loops.
Everything went well for the first loop. The skies were very clear, and the stars were out in full effect. I saw lots of deer, heard many sugar gliders overhead, and came across four porcupines right on the trail; there were also much fewer backpackers than normal due to it being a weekday. In the end, I went a smidge faster than I had planned, but everything worked out. After a brief reset and change of clothes, I poured a cup of coffee and headed to the next loop.
It was about a 35 min drive to the roadside park where US-131 crosses the Manistee River. On the way, I hydrated, charged my phone, and smashed as much food as humanly possible. It seemed to be much colder now, and my car thermometer was dancing between 29 and 30°f. I promptly changed into a long sleeve, and adding a knit hat and scarf/bandana, I headed out clockwise on the Fife Lake Loop at 8:46 am.
This was definitely the "just grind it out" loop of the three. It is relatively flat, and consists of a lot of ATV trails and two-tracks. I popped in a podcast, and before I knew it, my hat and bandana were off, and my sleeves were rolled up. I was just happy to be running in the daylight and able to see things around me, such as a massive Great Horned Owl that I spooked up. I hit a pretty hard mental low around miles 8-16. Everything was starting to hurt, and the fact that I was only halfway done was playing with my mind. After that though, I crawled out of it, crushed some calories, and busted out the last 5 miles. Knowing that my remaining loop was the prettiest and the shortest (not by much) helped my morale.
Little did I know, the JVP would be the hardest of the three... I changed out of my sweaty clothes again and headed out. A bad accident had US-131 completely shut down at the Fife Lake roundabout, so after a brief detour, the drive was just under 1 hour. Again, I charged my phone and slammed as much food as possible, including my 20 oz Coke which came in clutch. The parking lot to Deadman's Hill Overlook was absolutely packed with color cruisers and I almost had to park outside the entrance. Luckily, I got in the lot, and after a slightly longer gear reset than before, I started my final loop at 2:43 pm going counterclockwise. The temp was in the low 60s now.
The giant downhill at the beginning was quite painful on my joints, so I had to take it slow, but once down in the valley, I started plugging away the miles one by one. The trees overhead were in peak fall display. This trail was much rootier and technical than the first two, and that combined with it being much less traveled, made for a tough run. The first 10 miles just kind of plugged away, but once I hit single digits remaining, every mile seemed like an eternity. There was a plethora of steep vert, and the fresh leaf litter was thick, covering every rock and root. I'd walked every hill all day, but as the afternoon slowly turned into evening, the slope of what I considered walkable steadily declined.
With around 7 miles remaining, the daylight began to wane, and I wondered if I was going to need my headlamp by the end. Each mile was a battle to keep running. Luckily I got a few good flat/gradual downhill spots to help me out. Every so often there was a sign reminding me of my remaining mileage. 6.6, 5, 3.3, 2.2, and so on. Once I hit 1.3 it was gametime, and I started really going for it, knowing that if I just ran like normal, I would be done in 12-ish minutes. My headlamp was on now. I passed a few normies going for a walk in the dark woods, and I knew I had to be close to the lot. It ended with a small hill leading up to Deadman's Overlook and I was able to catch a short glimpse of the last light from the setting sun. I wasn't going to stop and soak it in; I finished the short run down to the starting point in the parking lot and was done. What a relief it was!
I limped my way down towards the car, and cracked a celebratory Athletic Brewing NA beer. What an amazing way to spend a day, and I sure am glad I don't have to work until Monday. Thanks to everyone who cheered me on remotely, and a big shout out to my wife, who always let's me do the required training, even with a newborn baby at home. Cheers!
Gear List:
Osprey Duro 1.5, Topo Terraventures and Altra Lone Peaks, Garmin Instinct 2, Black Diamond Headlamp, UltrAspire Waist Light.
Nutrition and Hydration:
LMNT, Tailwind, salt tabs, coffee, boiled potatoes and salt, ham/salami sandwiches, many caffienated GOGels, meat sticks, Tootsie Pops, 20 Oz Coke, granola bars, apple sauce squeezers