FKT: Justin Kousky - Batona Trail (NJ) - 2021-03-06

Athletes
Route variation
out & back
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
19h 4m 3s
GPS track(s)
Report

this is a great trail, many thanks to the maintainers.  the trail was well-cleared, distance was posted every half mile, and most of the road intersections were marked with road signs.  the blazes were numerous and so i only got lost a few times despite all the intersecting trails/roads.  there are also quite a few marsh/bog areas with boardwalks so i was able to keep my feet mostly dry.  i tried to pick a dry spell to do the run, even still there were lots of spots in the trail where it was muddy or large puddles spanned the whole trail/road.  there are quite a few spots to get fresh water of decent (not great) quality if you want to run unsupported.

it's a flat trail - strava had it at 2k vert for the out and back, my garmin had it around 2.5k - it's all pretty runnable if you have the energy for it.  quite similar to sections of the paumanok path in long island - pine barrens, flat, quite a bit of sand mixed in there.  the main difference here was the entire trail felt very remote - there are some road crossings but 99% of the course is on trail or sandy jeep roads with no nearby buildings.

i had some difficulty on the 2nd half - my garmin was giving out slow splits (which took a while for me to realize and that put me in a bad mental state), then my headlamp battery died prematurely.  i did the last 3 hours or so on iphone light, i got a bit cold, and slowed down too much as a result.  so room for improvement there but it was still a very enjoyable experience.

ran unsupported, gpx attached is from the phone which tracked better than the garmin.  gpx includes a bit of extra time on the ends, actual times from my watch.

 

out: 8:55:10

back: 10:08:53

total: 19:04:03

Comments

User Picture
Profile picture for user Hugh MacMullan IV

Really nice work! Congratulations.