I finished my first ever FKT attempt about 8 hours ago and man, it was quite the adventure!
I started in Palo Alto at 4:15 AM with a 12 lb pack full of calories and 3 liters of water. I cruised through the first 19 miles at my planned pace and made it to the Cal Summit Fire Station at about 9:45 AM to refill water and have some snacks. The weather was perfect at this point, but I could feel the extra weight of the pack and I knew the rest of the run would be tough.
Castle Rock and Big Basin were up next and they didn't disappoint. Castle Rock was filled with shaded, downhill cruiser miles and started the transition to the redwoods of Big Basin, where my pace slowed a bit for route finding and bushwacking. Despite having the route loaded on my watch I found it tough to navigate and hit a low on the paved road at mile 31. Temps were hot, I was low on water and pretty beat.
Next, I stopped at mile 39 on the side of Big Basin Way to refill water using a cache I hid a couple days prior. The water sources here were completely locked up and luckily I found this out during my scouting runs.The climb to the next Cal Forestry Fire Station at mile 45 was a long, slow slog. Here is where I filled up my water for the last time and set off for the final 20+ miles.
The temps cooled quite a bit during the long stretch of pavement on Empire Grade as I made my way back onto trails. The sun started to set on my way down to Felton but I was able to keep up my pace despite the toll from the day settling in. Downtown Felton was busy on this Friday night and being in civilization was refreshing after the 16 hours of solitude.
The nighttime miles on the trails leading to Santa Cruz couldn't have ticked by any slower. Heading down the switchbacks into Santa Cruz, dodging spiderwebs and almost getting attacked by 2 huge dogs (truly terrifying), I was finally in the home stretch! A boost of adrenaline hit and I was able to finish strong approaching the pier, where my lovely wife Renata and our dog Teddy awaited me.
This FKT was super challenging and filled with all the high's and low's one would hope for this type of trek. What a day!