I just wanted to do another fun long run to finish an amazing year of racing!
Used this run to see some more parts of the AT since I’m planning on running the GA AT section and set a new FKT on it very soon.
Started my run early on Christmas. I went out there with the intention of having fun on the trails and get a quality long run in. I knew the splits to set the FKT and knew if I get to Springer Mountain within 4ish hours I actually have a shot on it. I made it to Springer Mountain in 4:05 and decided to actually give it a shot and see if I can beat the current FKT!
I carried 3.4L of water (2L bladder and 2 x 600ml flask) and all my gels with me. On my way back I refilled one of my water flasks from the creek at mile 34ish.
I knew it’ll be a close call but once I made it back up the very last climb I knew I have it and pushed the final mile. Made it back to the Trailhead in 8 hours, 22 minutes and 53 seconds!