I first went for this in October 2023. Around mile 20 I lost a lot of time after going over a mile off track towards a lookout, still finished the route with a time in the 6:50s. Second attempt was 10 days ago, started following a blue+white blaze thinking it was correct around mile 30, again wound up way off-track and got picked up early. Went back one week later, very determined and somewhat sickly (didn't know it at the time but I had Covid!), and finished it in just over 6 hours. In case you can't tell I found this trail quite confusing. There are a number of questionable turns, poor markings, and some of the forks at road crossings are unmarked, a little too much in the way of complete guesswork. Also a few parts that are obliterated by logging/overgrowth/prickers that barely feel like trail anymore, most notably - the latter half of the first 1.5 miles, the section between 202 and S East Rd, and a bit just north of Old Field Rd. Being familiar with the trail and phone navigating is pretty crucial for its current state. Good variety and fun terrain more often than not, but Tunxis needs some love for sure.
There have also been 3 distance-adding reroutes since Tim's unsupported run. A section between Ratlum Rd+Farmington River Tpke and the part through Nepaug are pretty clearly marked, however the one that takes you down Rock Rd instead of across I only knew through others' write-ups and the Tunxis website (which has very helpful directions for this reroute). This part is a glaring example of markings en route leaving you in the dark -- there's still an old blaze that tempts you to cross, which will now lead you to a dead end, yet the reroute has no blazes at all, kind of a weird if-you-know-you-know thing going on. These 3 changes add at least 1.5 miles to the old route, but I got about the same distance as Tim anyway, so I dunno.
Felt kinda meh during the second half. Mostly felt slowed down by the bushwhacky bits and navigational confusion but climbs for the last couple hours definitely didn't feel great. Two filter stops. Took in about 1000 calories and 3.5L, salt pills and Advil, could've used more water.