On the morning of May 25th, 2024 began journey south to the beach at 6:20 am. Ran in to the start of the trail with my fiance, Ben, and chocolate lab Sonny. They sent me on my way through the first technical section and I would see them again at road crossings along the way. Plan was to meet at crossings every 10 miles or so as I had placed drop bags and water the day before. Resupplied at each drop with food and water and an electrolyte mix.
Ben and dog ran with me at different points, mostly just running in from drop bag to find me coming through. Dog ran with me from Ben Utter down through Arcadia to where the trail takes you under Interstate 95, then again through Carolina management, and finally the section of trail through Burlingame. Ben met up with me and dog in Burlingame and ran to campground entrance and then drove down to meet me at the beach.
Goal going into the day was to ultimately finish and enjoy a fun day in the woods and a bit of pavement running! Not until signing the trail ledger in Burlingame did Ben tell me I had an hour and half to go the last 2 miles to the beach for the FKT. After a long day l didn’t know if I was dreaming or it was real what he was saying!
Finally made it to the beach in the dark, touching the Atlantic Ocean to make it official and giving Ben a massive hug in relief to have made it!