Set a new FKT for both the ascent of the Black Mountain Crest Trail and the out & back. I started from the sign by the bench where the pavement ends as I thought this was the true “trailhead”. The ascent Strava segment starts at the gate by the bridge about 150 yards up the path. I broke Alex’s FKT by only 3 seconds but also ran that extra 150-ish yards and beat the Strava segment by a minute and a half. Both places are logical starting points but I consider the FKT for the ascent as 2:48:07 from the sign/bench/end of blacktop. Time from the bridge/gate (the segment) was 2:46:41. Hope this helps clarify future attempts. It’s a gnarly and super rad trail!
Because the time was going to be so close for the ascent FKT, I stopped my watch immediately after touching the observation tower railing. I wanted an exact time on the ascent. So, there are two Garmin/Strava links. I started the ascent at exactly 7:41am and started the descent at exactly 10:31am. So, the total times were 2:48:07 up, 1:53 taking photos and catching my breath on the tower, 2:35:23 back down. My Garmin data shows 2:48:08 on the ascent because it’s rounding up, I posted a screen shot of my watch on the tower showing 2:48:07… because apparently even on nearly three hour long technical trail runs, every second is critical. Total time for Out & Back was 5 hours, 25 minutes, 23 seconds.
(Ascent tracks on Josh's ascent FKT page.)