The route description was a little vague on the "start line" so I started where the asphalt ends and ran into the park. I started at 3:48 am so had a few hours of running by headlamp to start. I got water from 3 locations, a horse spigot, a hose connection on a water fountain, and a water fountain at the visitor center. Two of the trails (Sal’s Branch Trail and Oak Rock Trail) were new to me, which showed, because I got a little lost trying to find the Oak Rock Trail. I ended up on some unofficial trails which led me to finding the Oak Rock Trail by accident. I completed the Oak Rock Trail loop and spur, then doubled back to the unofficial trail and rejoined the Pott’s Branch Trail to continue running.
I did not do the out and back from the Sycamore Trail to the Sycamore Parking lot because I did not need water at that point and knew I’d be returning that way later in the run. I did add the out and back over the Big Lake Dam.
So aside from the GI issues that plagued me from mile 9-11.8 (where a bathroom break fixed that), getting lost looking for Oak Rock Trail, the 73/74⁰ dew point, and having a 7lb pack (to make the long 14ish mile legs between water sources) which all slowed me down, every thing else went pretty well. My fastest split came at mile 37.