FKT: Katie O'Regan - Buzzard Marathon (PA) - 2020-05-10

Used Garmin and strava on phone. Phone cut off 8mins. This is the complete elapsed time, gate to gate.
Bit of race report: Decided to do this Friday night after a friend suggested it Tues. Ha. Sunday weather looked good and I thought 'why not?' I've never run Buzzard, so I pored over the cue sheet for the 'race' the night night before and got some good Intel from Leo. Started at 10:00 and weather was good, clear and not too windy. Obv went out too hard because that's just how I roll. Missed the first turn onto pipeline and looks like that added about .5mi. Felt great on the climbs from the start but was cautious on the descents. Made the hard right onto hst, then left around to rail trail and was hauling. Split a 6:56 there. Found the right turn for watertank easily, but wasted some time trying to stay on the trail at the bottom thru mud and a lot of blow downs. Watertank is stupid. Marcia's is a bit better but was quite overgrown and I'm expected some poison ivy welts soon. My hips started to tie up on rattling run double track, but the next climb up hst felt great. Made sure to drink and eat a bit. Down the AT was rough going on the more gravelly sections, but was enjoyable as the trail narrowed to singletrack. Ran out towards the parking lot at the bottom, touched the gate and turned back to start the climb up other side of watertank. Also stupid. The final road descent was a painful grind. Found a decent spot for the creek crossing but it was still pretty deep and OMG cold. At this point I thought I could slip under 4hrs, but the far bank and beginning of pipeline climb was a soul crushing swamp. Like Irish bog style mud. The climb up pipeline on the way home was, again, way better than the descent. Painfully jogged it in to the gate. Gear: NB1500v2, Nathan pack with 16oz water, and 1 pack honey stinger fruit chews.