FKT: Jeff Grant - Zoar Trail (CT) - 2020-03-26

I've had my eye on this FKT for a couple of years. This was my fifth time running the trail, and the first time I managed to stay on track the whole time. It was a nice cool sunny morning with zero wind. I wanted to be pretty aggressive on the first 2.3 miles as they're the "fastest". I dialed it back for the stone staircase as I was breathing pretty hard before starting the climb. Once it leveled out and I started running again, I had the gross feeling of having red-lined a little bit, but my spirits were lifted by a coyote in the middle of the path who trotted just thirty feet off the trail and watched me run by. Coincidentally, when I ran the Regicides FKT I had the same experience with a fox, so I took it as a good omen and got my wits together and started pushing hard again. The forth mile of this loop just plain sucks as it's really technical and uphill over jumbles of boulders (or as LSE them, god's gravel). It was a relief to summit, and then I just hung on and hoped I was fast enough for the remaining two miles. I fully closed the loop, starting and stopping my watch at the big boulders at the start of the trail. This can definitely be run faster - so good luck!