The towpath is one of my favorite things in New Jersey. So, with great running weather this weekend, it was the perfect place to attempt my first 50+ mile run! My first goal was to see if I could run that far, and my other goal was to see if I could do it in under 12 hours to set the overall female FKT. I've run all of the canal path between Trenton and New Brunswick before but a lot of the Delaware River loop was new to me.
I parked behind the ACME in Lambertville then walked across the bridge to New Hope, where I got started at 6:36 AM. I ran a counterclockwise loop, starting out headed towards Trenton. I don't think it's possible to have better trail conditions: it was sunny, about 40 degrees, and I was surrounded by singing birds and flowers and green everywhere in the quiet early morning. The air smelled so good. At about 9 AM, I crossed the bridge from Morrisville to Trenton and navigated through the streets for a bit back to the gravel trail. Closer to Washington Crossing, I passed a parcourse 'fitness loop' and made time for one 'log hop' before continuing on my way. My only annoyance in this first half of the run was trying to figure out how to use a water bladder, which I was doing for the first time. Usually for long runs I'm out in the mountains and just filter, but for the sake of saving time and also avoiding canal water, I was carrying a 1.5 L bladder to start out in addition to my usual 2 500 mL soft flasks. I had to stop a few times to fiddle with the drinking hose which was determined to have a kink in it. Other than that, it was smooth sailing at a 9-10 minute pace. At roughly the halfway point, I stopped by my car which allowed me to use it as a stash point for water and snacks. My fuel strategy was to eat one snack every hour (granola bar or packet of cracker sandwiches), which worked well.
The trail around Lambertville was filled with groups of people strolling, jogging, and biking, enjoying the gorgeous day. It was probably 60 degrees by midday, but afternoon clouds rolled in and kept things perfect for running. As I got further north in New Jersey, the trail emptied out again, and it was pretty much just me and the green tunnel between the canal and river.
I crossed the bridge from Frenchtown over to Pennsylvania at about 2:40 PM. The Pennsylvania side felt less used, with a bit of bog serving for the canal and mostly running between farms and houses, though I still saw a few people out fishing. There was a color change too--the dirt on the Pennsylvania side was red. At mile 46, I called up my parents (who live about 45 minutes from New Hope) and asked if they wanted to join for dinner when I was done with a long run. My dad said yes. I noticed about this point that my pace slowed down, to about 11-11:30 miles, for the same level of effort. It was interesting, it felt like my body was shifting into a lower gear; this is about as far as I've run continuously before and maybe that had something to do with it. Reaching 50 miles felt like a big milestone. The celebration though was dipping down the slope to the canal and scrambling back up a bit later to detour around a construction site, one of several on the Pennsylvania side of the river. Though fortunately none took me far out of the way. At mile 55, I reached a bridge that was fully out. I saw a good way to navigate down to the river and rock hop across a creek that fed into the Delaware. My legs were a bit more tired than I accounted for, though, so I ended up with soggy feet for the last few miles.
With just 4 miles to go I came across a couple who told me 'bald eagle!'. Sure enough there he was, perched on a branch across the river. A washing-machine-sized nest was woven high in a tree not too far past there. Definitely a highlight of the day!
I cruised up to Bridge Street to the sounds of downtown New Hope on a Saturday night. Made both my goals! The timing was perfect that my dad had just arrived to a nearby parking lot. We drove back over to Lambertville, I stopped at my car to pull on a sweatshirt and some pants, and we went to Giuseppe's Ristorante where I got a chicken parm sandwich for dinner. It was a great end to the adventure.