i was in rio for 10 days and had been sent the route by a friend, it looked epic so i went up to have a look. it absolutely was epic, great trails through the forest to start, fun scrambling higher up the route, a little greasy on top half but nothing major. p4 (a different route on this mountain) is also worth a look if you enjoy the normal route and want more technical scrambling.
after checking it out on my second last day of the trip, i decided to have a shot at the FKT the following day. no second chances! maybe that helped me push harder?
i started from the lowest point of Praca Professor Velho da Silva, as described by Renato, just after 8am (the park only opens at 8 and i wanted to be as early as possible to avoid the heat and the crowds on the technical sections later in the day) i ran all the way to the highest point of the summit plateau as described, in 35m20s, then all the way back down to the roundabout where i stopped my watch at 56m24s.
note : about 500m into the route, as you leave the cobbled road and start onto the trails, you go through a gate into the park where you have to sign in and sign out with the guards. to avoid losing time i spoke to them and explained my intentions, and they allowed me to sign in, then walk back to the start at the roundabout, start my watch, run through their checkpoint without stopping on the ascent or descent, then after finishing and stopping my watch, i walked back up to sign out of the park. i thanked them for allowing me to do this. (this communication was done through google translate and was almost harder than the running itself!)
i carried no food and no water, i just stashed a water bottle in a tree near the start/finish point for when i was done.
like Renato, my photos were taken the day before during my recce. no time for photos on FKT day!
if you’re new to rio or visiting, you absolutely have to try this route, in 10 days of running all around the city, this was my favourite for sure!