The first/last 2.5 miles are pretty technical, with a few moments of really runnable sections and lots of side trails. I've done the Camp Smith section once before but mainly remember it being rocky and easy to get off course on. Today wasn't much different. There was definitely dialing back on the end just to stay on track. The other 4 are all pretty fun running but didn't want to blow my legs out going down the AT. I was really tempted to start at South Mt. Pass knowing this and do it in reverse as I think it would be a lot faster that way, but decided to keep it as others. A beautiful spring evening to start the heat acclimation process. Air and ground was dry and there was a nice breeze so no complaints on conditions. I took a minute to cool off and drank from the stream at Jack Road - I make no claims to the clarity of that stream, but it was running well.