FKT: Jake Stookey - Albany Pine Bush Circuit (NY) - 2020-08-10

Athletes
Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
4h 6m 18s
Photos
Report

Woke up to fantastic weather. Slept in a bit after mapping out the route late last night. Started running at 9:40:32am in shorts and a t-shirt. It actually got a little too warm during the run (high 70's) but I'm not going to complain. I was very pleasantly surprised with the route! Looking at map it's hard to tell if there are a lot of roads involved, but road sections are very few, short, and far between. A lot of the connections are long, relatively straight trails. I've lived here for 15+ years and have visited these rather confusing trails several times, I'm really glad JC posted this route that links everything together in one contiguous trail run. The trail is sandy, with some steep/short hills, and is very runnable the entire way. I was glad to have watched a video about the Pine Bush before I started, which gave me some help appreciating what I was running through. I used the course navigation feature on my Garmin watch (broken up into 7 sections to avoid confusion when the route overlaps). I finished at 1:46:50pm, for a total trip time of 4h:6m:18s, starting and finishing in the parking lot near my car. This was an unsupported run, only drinking water and a granola bar that I carried. I started out with stiff legs, which never really went away. It was enjoyable, smooth running with effort, and the last few miles my body was starting to shut down a bit. Things went great and I stayed good and clean until I took a terrible tumble in the last mile. I stood up, covered in dusty dirt that wouldn't wipe off, and finished the run. At that point the adrenaline boost from the fall probably helped. Oh! And I got a couple of really nasty burrs in my foot, which I've only ever seen out west in the desert before, which might be a good testament to the unique plant life here. They stuck to me like my skin was the soft side of a velcro strip. Ow!