A 5am alarm put me caffeinated and on the road by 5:30am. Fortunately the Oquossuc Grocery opens at 5am on Sundays, so I was able to stop and pick up my final provision: beef jerky.
I arrived at Grafton Notch at 6:40am with time to use the outhouse and get ready. I told Annie and Peter I’d start at 7am sharp, so they could track my location and have an idea of my timing. I downed a full 90g gel and half a liter of electrolyte mix before taking off, as I wanted to carry one less bottle and my vest weighed close to 15 lbs already. I carried a 2L bladder, 5 full soft flasks (one with a filter top), 6 precision 90g gels, 1 caffeinated precision 30g gel, a sleeve of electrolyte tabs, the aforementioned beef jerky, my phone, a skida, and a wind breaker. This has been a brutally dry August (no rain yet 25 days in) and the reports I got were the only reliable water was 6 miles in and 23 miles in.
At 7am, I took off from Grafton Notch and headed up Old Speck. Hillary ran this section in 56 minutes. When I got to the fire tower, I snapped a photo and looked at my watch, 56:05 - holy cannoli. The day was not looking like it was going to come easy.
Through Speck Pond at 4.8 miles, I was still flat on Hillary’s split, 1:11 elapsed. These first 15 miles I had seen before, but in the opposite direction. I was pretty shook by how technical the descent down the Mahoosuc Notch was, so steep and loose with huge steps. I didn’t look at my split at the foot of the notch, but instead focused on my footwork and hand placements through the “hardest mile of the AT” (think American Ninja Warrior training grounds). Up, over, under, around, between - anything you can do to a boulder, you get to do hundreds of times over. I reached the turn at the Notch Trail to start climbing - Hillary had been around 2:08 elapsed here. My watch read just at 2:00.
I summited South Peak in around 2:18 and remained about 10 minutes ahead of Hillary across North Peak, and the plateau leading up to Goose Eye. I opted to take the 0.1 mile spur to the summit of Goose Eye as Hillary included this summit and the legendary Chris Goetze included this summit. I hope future attempts will align with this stylistic choice.
I crossed the border into New Hampshire - by the top of Mount Success, I had extended my gap to over 20 minutes, but more notable was I had reached 16 miles in under 4 hours, so I was now averaging faster than 4mph. At the turn for Gentian Pond, I still had about two liters of water so I opted not to fill up. I ate the aforementioned beef jerky as an homage to the great Chris Goetze who stopped here for 10 minutes to eat a steak during his 1958 FKT.
New trail work rerouted the Mahoosuc Trail so it no longer comes close to Dream Lake. The trail is still the same distance but note that .gpx files before this year are inaccurate.
My watch hit 6:00 hours. I was still climbing what must be Mount Hayes. Hillary took about 38 minutes from the top of Mount Hayes to the finish. I pulled out the final 90g precision gel and downed the whole thing. As I made the final turn onto the last long straightaway, I saw Peter pop into the road. My watch read 6:38 or so. I was running all out, trying to finish in 6:40 or under (an hour faster than the previous men’s record). I shot down the loose dirt hill, ducked under the metal support beams of the bridge, and ran across the iron walkway over the Androsccoggin. A few steps on the other side of the river and I was at the sign. 6:40:53. A mark I am proud of, and one that I hope will be beaten in the coming weeks, months, or years. As that would mean other runners are giving this route the attention it deserves. This is among the most historied FKT routes in America and for such good reason. Dylan Flewelling, Dan Curts, Jack Kuenzle (when you’re healthy), Katie Schide, Jordan Fields — runners who love this area should come test their legs. You won’t regret it. A day in the Mahoosucs is guaranteed to be great.
Old Speck (3.5mi): 00:56:00
Speck Pond (4.8mi): 1:11:00
Mahoosuc Notch base (7.0mi): 1:42
Notch Trail (8.0mi): 2:00
South Peak (9.0mi): 2:17
North Peak (10.3mi): 2:36
Goose Eye (12.0mi): 3:00
Mount Success (16.0mi): 3:55
Gentian Pond (18.6mi): 4:26
Dream Lake Turn (20.7mi): 4:52
Paige Pond (22.2mi): 5:11
Cascade Mtn (24.3mi): 5:38
Mount Hayes (26.0mi): 6:03
Finish (29.58mi): 6:40:53