Today was a great day to do run every single trail in Umstead State Park! Temperature started off at 59F and ended around 79F. Clear skies and a nice breeze all day. Umstead was bustling with bikers, hikers, and runners today, especially the bridle. Lots of people I knew! I started with 1L Skratch hydration, 1.2L water, 8 gels (a variety), fruit snacks, a meal bar, and salt chews. Unfortunately and surprisingly forgot my hat and sunglasses.
I have been looking forward to completing this route since 2022, when I did majority of it with a group but couldn't commit to ending on the other side of the park so bailed on the route early to be able to finish back at my car, at Reedy Creek.
I loaded the route onto my watch the day before and wrote out shorthanded notes in my phones notes app to be able to stay on track, on top of priding myself on knowing this park well. I unexpectedly ran into several different friends out on their own runs, some of which joined me for a few minutes to chit chat. I had to jump onto Ebenezer Church Rd to avoid the out bridge at mile 18.9. Route navigation got stressful and difficult, with lots of standing at crossings, stutter stepping, and back tracking from mile 22 to 34.8. I was bummed and frustrated that I was getting confused with the North end of the park, particularly the Potts - Sycamore connection. Because of this, my time could absolutely be optimized. I stopped to use the bathroom and refill water with water fountain at Sycamore Parking (mi 25.9) and refilled water again with water fountain at park restrooms (mi 34.2). Ending going down Cedar Ridge was a fun treat. The day consisted of lots of trips but no falls.
The most stressful part was figuring out how I was going to get back to my car when I finished. Plan A was to get an Uber. Plan B was to get a taxi (carried $40 in my pack). Plan C was to ask someone at the Crabtree Creek West Trail to drive me back. Thankfully plan A worked.