There's been a lot of hype recently for the epic multi-day FKT's especially with Tara Dower claiming the overall FKT for the Appalachian Trail. My ultrarunning and marathon days are behind me so I was happy to find a much shorter FKT here in my own backyard!
I got to Fox Point State Park around 9am (there are flushing toilets!) and wrote up a cue sheet on a Post-It note while listening to Snoop Dogg's affirmations:
There is no one better to beat than myself
Today is gonna be an amazing day
My feelings matter
I get better every single day
It was a cool morning (high 40's to low 50's) and I wore obnoxiously bright fluorescent colors as I know there are some busier roads and sketchy intersection crossings and I wanted to be very visible to traffic. I even wore my Hoka Cielo X1 race shoes. I ran with an Orange Mud HydraQuiver Single Barrel pack carrying a 24oz Camelbak bike bottle filled with 2 scoops of Skratch hydration. I ate 2 Precision Fuel & Hydration gel chews (30g carbs) right before starting and around mile 4 had a Chargel packet (45g carbs).
As I ran, I classified this route as an "urban FKT" as half the battle seemed to be navigating the traffic and intersections. Some of the roads would have a shoulder or sidewalk only on one side, or a shoulder that turned into a traffic lane and altogether disappeared. You need to be very aware of this and sometimes hop onto the other side of the road, and also try to time the traffic lights as best as you can. There are also ways to cut through parking lots on some of the turns to save a little bit of time and distance! I am somewhat familiar with this area as a local, have previously visited the high and low points separately, and had also studied the satellite maps of the route.
The slight net uphill was less intimidating than the traffic--there were some steeper sections (especially the final hill) but most were gradual mixed with some slight downhills. I was excited that my route was efficient at 7.68 miles with an elapsed time of 1:10:28, as my goal was to beat Matthew Matta's time (1:15:08) who was the first to set this FKT and submit it as an official route for all of us to chase.
At the final intersection, I made a push to sprint to the blue Ebright Azimuth sign just as a UPS truck stopped in front of me. I let it go and laughed as it summed up this experience in a nutshell: go as fast as you can, but don't get hit by any cars or trucks!
Huge thanks to my friend Kathy Nguyen who met me at the finish to give me a ride back to my car so I didn't have to run 15+ miles! I used this FKT attempt as a way to raise money for her non-profit, WeRunWithYou, which is providing a grant to the University of Delaware Physical Therapy department for stroke research. Kathy is a brain aneurysm survivor herself. I made sure to go over the rules and guidelines for "unsupported" with her so she was well aware that she wasn't allowed to cheer for me in between the start and finish lines!