On Saturday, May 27th, at 4:52am, in Waukesha, WI, I began my out-and-back self-supported FKT attempt on the Glacial Drumlin State Trail. The route was out 54.1 miles to Cottage Grove, and back, for a total of 108.27mi. I finished at 3:40am.
The run was planned to be an unsupported attempt, but the drinking fountains in Cottage Grove were not on, so I had to get water from a nearby bar and grill. I was able to get water from public taps in Wales, Dousman, Sullivan, Lake Mills, and Deerfield. Both stops in Lake Mills included about 10 minutes of resting and eating.
My fuel, which I carried with me, included GU Energy Labs gels, Mamma Chia Cherry Love squeeze packs, trail mix, pickles, olives, dried figs, and GoMacro bars.
The run went well! The trail is a rail-to-trail, so it included a lot of running straight, with very little elevation changes. Much of the trail has a nice tree canopy, which helped provide a lot of shade on a very sunny day. The was a breeze, but I was at my back going out, and caused some overheating and slight dehydration. Thankfully, I was able to overcome those. The breeze at my face the entire second half was very, very nice.
I saw lots of wildlife, including bugs, moths, birds, squirrels, ground squirrels, possum, deer, rabbits, and even heard coyotes howling. I also saw plenty of cyclists, walkers, dogs, and fellow runners. I had the trail all to myself my first eight and last 31 miles.
This run was not only a FKT, but my longest run ever, and first one of 100 miles. My previous longest was 89 miles.