FKT: Jeff Albert - Douglas County East to West Trail - 2025-05-24

Athletes
Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Para athlete
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
3h 14m 50s
Photos
Report

I ran the east-west trail, in the same east to west direction as prior FKT attempts. I started early to beat the heat, slight headwind as usual. Jogged ~1 mile from the bar CCC trailhead to the start of the east-west trail (at the cherry creek trail junction) as a warmup. I ran fully unsupported, carrying 1500mL of fluid on me, 800 total calories, and electrolytes in my fluid (all carried in shorts pockets and a naked belt). Nice morning, everything went reasonably smoothly. 

The one change I had to make was to take a short detour, due to an annual ~6 month closure of approximately one mile of trail due to golden eagle breeding. I figured this would be acceptable, since that small piece of the trail is closed for nearly half of the year, and the detour I took was the recommended route from the county (scroll down on the county website below for details). I also did a comparison on Garmin, and the detour is an additional ~0.21mi, and only ~15 ft less of elevation gain, and so it was likely at least a minute slower than the original route (I pasted a picture from Garmin as well as the gpx files that I made for the comparison). I also posted pictures of the detour signs on one end of the trail closure. Given the overall length and terrain of this trail, I don't believe that small change is material to the overall outcome of the FKT. I also think this small detour should be allowed for future efforts, since that piece of trail is closed for much of the runnable season. Please let me know if you need any additional details.

https://www.douglas.co.us/parks-trails-building-grounds/parks-trails/ea…