FKT: Justin Agler - Charlestown State Park Seven Trail Run (IN) - 2021-05-02

Athletes
Route variation
standard route
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
3h 12m 35s
GPS track(s)
Report

I ran the same sequence of trails that Paul ran: 4-3-7-6-5-2-1.  Everything was easy enough to follow and it's hard to take a wrong turn doing this FKT.  I drove around the park beforehand to make sure I was familiar with exactly where the trailheads were though.

Conditions were upper 60s to low 70s.  Slightly overcast, but mostly sunny and not much of a breeze.  I only took 2 handheld bottles for this and I paid for it in those final miles.  I started to fall apart on the way out to trail #1 (about 18 miles in) and from that point it was just survival back to the start... slow jogging with some walking on the road back to trail #4.  I don't think I've ever guzzled so much water after a run before, and drank so much so quickly that I almost threw up from it.

I didn't encounter too many people out there, but depending on when someone does this, starting at the parking lot for 4/3/7 would probably be preferable because it seemed pretty busy in that area in the early afternoon.

Trails are nice and well maintained.  There are a few steep technical sections, but overall very runnable.  I'd like to come back on a much cooler day, fresher legs, and probably more water and go sub-3.  This wraps up a high mileage week for me, so I'm happy my legs felt as good as they did today.

Note that my route differs slightly from [Paul's original] submitted route. Trail #1 should make a complete loop and go back to the parking lot for the trail.  The submitted route takes an access road back to the main road.