Mt. Greylock Appalachian Trail traverse from the intersection of school street and Fisk street in Cheshire to the road crossing on Pattinson Rd in North Adams.
Overall it went slower than I was expecting but still went well considering how the fallen leaves made the descents. I had 1 banana in the car and ate 1 gel while warming up. Started with a 500 ml flask with 200 calories of tailwind, two gels and a honey stinger. I reluctantly began this run with a shirt on and promptly ditched it while crossing Outlook Avenue. The first gel went down after getting up past Jone's Nose. The other gel and the waffle rode the whole way in my belt.
My ascent split was 1:18:40, only 25 seconds off Mead's split from 2022. I was shooting for 1:15 I didn't have the legs for it that day, and a few falls, including 1 where I smashed my ring finger into a rock, cost me some time due to excessive profanity usage. After hitting the tower and basically being even with Mead's split I knew I would have to make up for it on the descent. The foliage has been falling for a while now in Massachusetts so navigating obstacles was difficult while trying to race. A few more falls, nothing severe, and I stumbled my way to Pattinson Rd having taken just under a minute taken off Mead's CR.
I wish I brought more water, 500 ml was nowhere close to being enough and I thought about filling up at Bascom Lodge but I think that would disqualify the unsupported effort. Definitely left a few minutes out there on both the ascent and descent with my current fitness. Excited to see someone who actually knows what they're doing take this under 2 hours.