Start to Head of the Meadow Beach - I started my effort at approximately 2:18 am on the Provincetown Causeway with Alex Guglielmetti as a witness. Since I started at low tide, it made the first water crossing at Hatches Harbor pretty easy. I took off my shoes and then put them back on after to keep them dry. From there, I refilled my water bottles at Race Point Beach from a public drinking fountain. All of the water I used for this effort was either from a public fountain or in one of my drop bags. After a quick stop, I continued on to the beach and the Provincelands Dunes. The second half of this dune section was a little tricky to follow so I had to carefully follow the route on my watch/phone to stay on track. After exiting the dunes and making it back onto the sand, it began to rain so I put on the rain shell I packed and continued to Head of the Meadow Beach where I had a drop bag since I was completing this effort self-supported.
Head of the Meadow Beach to Coast Guard Beach - Along this section I had placed two more drop bags. One was at Newcomb Hollow Beach and the other at Nauset Light Beach. These two bags were a good way of breaking up the long and soft sand section to Coast Guard Beach. I saw many seals along this section as well as a disappointing amount of litter. During high tide at about 8:30 am, there were a couple spots where the surf went all the way up to the dunes which meant that I had to get my shoes wet to get through.
Coast Guard Beach to Nickerson State Park - Once I made it to Coast Guard Beach, it was a welcome change to get off the sand and onto a trail. After a short trail section, I made it to the Salt Pond Visitor Center and from there, a short road section to First Encounter Beach where there were a series of five water crossings to get to Crosby Landing Beach. I made it to the first crossing at about 11:00 am and low tide was not until 2:48 pm so I knew that I would have to swim at least a few of them. I changed into water shoes and put my sneakers and vest in a dry bag and then swam across Herring River. The next one was Boat Meadow Landing where I was able to wade across with the water at my chest (I did get a few weird looks from the fishermen on the shore). Next, I swam across Rock Harbor which was probably the longest swim. The last two near Skaket Beach were probably the easiest and once I made it to Crosby Landing Beach, I changed back into my sneakers and continued on to Nickerson State Park.
Nickerson State Park to Finish - I had a full change of dry clothes and sneakers placed near the entrance and I changed in a public restroom near the parking lot. I completed the scenic singletrack loop around the park and then made it back to Crosby Landing Beach. Now that it was closer to low tide, I was able to run on the more compact sand closer to the water for this final five mile section to Paine’s Creek Beach. From there, it was less than a mile of road to make it to the finish which is the outdoor shower at the Sea Meadow Inn.
For nutrition, I stuck mostly with Spring Energy and Maurten gels which I knew would work for me. I also drank two mini cokes near the end which helped to give me an extra boost.
If I do this route again in the future, I might try to time it better with the tides to avoid swimming which probably added some time, but the cold water was refreshing for my sore legs. Finally, a big thank you to Alex Guglielmetti for creating such an awesome route to showcase what Cape Cod has to offer!