This was my first ever FKT attempt! I picked this trail because it's local to me and I'm pretty familiar with it. I was really nervous at the start but once i got going i felt really solid. The weather was cool and a bit over cast. The wind wasn't too bad. It was a good day for it. Quite a few people at the start of the trail that were suprised to see me running so fast past them going up hill. But once i got out to the loop i only saw 1-2 people. I ran this totally on my own. I took with me about one liter of water and 2 jells. That seemed to be the perfect amount because i finished everything just before the final decent. It's a really nice trail with a good mix of single track and fire roads. Some of the single track out on the looped part of the course was a bit over grown with weeds and spiky plants. But all the trails are well visible. I would recommend a recon though if you were to attempt this because it's easy to miss the turn for the Peak and just continue on the lower part of the trail. All in all i'm really happy with this effort. I think i could go maybe a little bit faster. I'm in the middle of training for a triathlon so i didn't tapper at all for this attempt. Also i did stop to pet a puppy on the trail. It was so cute i just couldn't resist. Truth be told that probably only cost me 5 seconds. Do i regret it? No.
Happy Trails!
- Nathan F. Cohen