I live in South Carolina but was visting family in MI around my birthday. I had run on the Oakland County part of the trail many times before since it's pretty close to my parents' house but I had never been on the Lapeer County portion. Since it was nearing my 35th birthday I thought a 35(ish) mile attempt at the whole thing would be a great idea.
My dad dropped me off at the trailhead behind Kingsmill Market on N Lake Pleasant Rd. The trailhead is not marked and the market owner wasn't thrilled about people parking there for the trail, although he admitted that we were in the right place. I was glad the track showed up on my Garmin map view or I might not have been confident about being in the right place. I started at 6:27 PM, temperature of around 72° F, sunny skies and light breeze. I ran solo for about 6 miles while my dad went ahead to Imlay City, parked, and ran back to meet me so we could run together for a while. The trail quality varied widely and there was very little signage, but I never felt like I was potentially headed in the wrong direction. There were several muddy patches and some spots that were so overgrown with grass that it reached my hips, but other spots looked like they had been freshly mown that day.
In Imlay City, dad dropped out at his car and I continued further south. This was the only spot on the trail where I actually saw other people - and then, only about a half-dozen or so. I crossed under I-69 and through the town of Dryden as the sun began to set. My goal was to reach the Oakland County line before sunset since I knew the trail conditions would be more consistently groomed there. I switched on my headlamp around 9:45 pm and reached the village of Leonard shortly thereafter.
I was starting to feel a bit tired around mile 27 when I came to the familiar part of the trail along Lakeville Road that I had run many times before. Also, my two younger brothers and a good friend from high school met me at the M-24 bridge around 11:45 with seven miles to go. They biked alongside me while we made the last 90 minutes of the trip with a nearly full moon rising in the east over the lakes and forests. I picked up the pace at the Waldon Rd crossing knowing I just had a few more tenths to go. We celebrated reaching the southern terminus around 1:15 am. The run went absolutely fabulous and other than a few small spots I kept a consistent pace and kept the mental demons at bay.
I carried everything with me - about 2L Nuun water in my Camelback, 2 GUs, some animal crackers, sunflower seeds, and two granola bars. There are a few water fountains along the route but all were disabled during my run due to COVID-19. The entire route is scenic and crosses really only two major roads (I-69 and M-24) but one has an underpass and the other a bridge so I really didn't have to worry about vehicle traffic at all.