FKT: Matthew Laskowski - Catoctin National Scenic Trail (MD) - 2022-12-18

I started this effort in the afternoon of December 18th. That morning I drove to the trailhead in Gambrills State Park early and watched the world cup final on my phone while sitting in my car; I did this because I knew I was going to run out of daylight if I didn't start exactly at the end of the game. I started at 12:38pm, right after Messi's 104'' goal (I really missed the ending of the game after that :( ) and started my effort. Pretty technical sections through Gambrills, but quickly mellowed out entering the Frederick Watershed. Passed a lot of mountain bikers before the road crossing at mile 6. Next section was quick and much easier running, but a little confusing to follow the trail, especially because I had never been there before. Conditions were dry, most of the mud was frozen, and only little bits of ice scattered on the edge of the trail at high points. The descent down to Cunningham Falls state park was lovely and certainly had my adrenaline pumping all the way up Bob's hill. Started to fade pretty badly at the top of Bob's hill, I only consumed 1 packet of fruit snacks, a banana, a small sleeve of ritz crackers, half a liter of water, and half a liter of nuun. Descending down into Catoctin Mountain Park, the trails suddenly had many more rocks and multiple downed trees; a crew had certainly not been there in a while. Had to pause at Foxville road because I was gassed, but luckily the trail became much more runnable on the other side of the road; I turned on some tunes and really caught my second wind. In my planning though, I did not realize there was a climb for the last mile and a half. Conditions up the hill were fine, but there was significantly more ice on the northern side of the hill and more than 5 trees down in the last half mile. I reached the parking lot at 4:58pm, right before the sun fully set. My friend picked me up at the trailhead and drove me back to Gambrills state park. Overall, great conditions, sunny at maybe 40 degrees and a really fun trail that I am sad that I have not spent more time running on during my time living in Maryland.