My goal for this self-supported FKT was to finish in under 4 days. I was 2-2.5 hours ahead of my goal until the last day when the forecasted rain hit. The soggy trails (it was like pushing my cart through sand) lost me that buffer but the welcome respite from the heat and vampirical mosquitoes of the first three days was worth it. My beat-up feet (just tired, not blistered) also appreciated the softer terrain. I ended up finishing 31 minutes shy of 4 days. As quickly as I was losing my buffer on the last day and overnight I was worried I wasn't even going to make my 4 day goal. But I did!! This wasn't my first attempt, so I was more than overjoyed to not have to tackle this beast again. I went the more non-traditional direction of east to west (uphill) because the lack of services and access to water on the eastern end is harder to deal with at the end of a long journey. Also, pushing a loaded cart, it was nicer to have less supplies and weight once I got to the western end with all the climbing. My Coros clocked me at 247 miles, and only 3 miles of that would I attribute to satellite drift while I was taking a longer rest. I never wandered more than a quarter of a mile from the trail to a store, hotel or BnB.
My first day was a long day: St Charles to McKittrick, 75.5 miles. I started in Machens at 6am on Tuesday, May 28th. You can't drive to the eastern terminus due to it being gated off by local land owners, but my husband and I found an access road just over a mile from there and I hiked to the start from there. Even that early in the morning the mosquitoes were voracious. All the rain we've had lately made for rivers of standing water and I was grateful I made my own bug spray for the trip. I reapplied it constantly. The trails were in amazing shape considering the storms we've had. As many times as I've backpacked, cycled and run this trail I'm constantly impressed with the maintenance. I only came across a few downed trees this time and no impassable washouts. You could see where many other trees had already been cut and dragged off the trails. Kudos and many thanks to those that take such primo care of the Katy Trail. It was a predictably hot first day. I ran out of water about a 50K in when a business that I thought was going to be open was closed. Thank goodness for a small RV business (also closed) that had an unlocked ice cooler that you could pay for via Venmo. It literally was a life saver. I filled my Nalgene bottles with ice and let it melt while on top of my moving cart. I was also grateful I had packed fruit and cherry tomatoes and carrots to give me SOME sort of hydration when that ran out. No water from St Charles to Dutzow, almost 35 miles. On a hot sunny day when I was mostly running, that was hard. I made it to my Airbnb in McKittrick @1am. The bath and bed were the perfect reset to head back out the next morning. I had only @4.5 hours sleep, but the tub soak and soft bed and a place equipped with fridge, freezer and breakfast let me totally reset for the next day. I've tried an FKT on this trail with my tent and I've realized I'm just too old to rough it anymore and be of any use in the days to follow. (This is where I acquired about 3 miles on my watch when I wasn't moving. The GPS was super spotty here so that's probably why there was so much satellite drift. No other stop had so much.)
My second day was McKittrick to Hartsburg, 54 miles. I had another Airbnb booked there. I had planned on more running this day (not as much as the first) but I soon realized I had got too dehydrated the first day and I felt almost allergic to the sun. The Katy Trail is pretty shaded overall, but there are still plenty of open stretches. I just ended up fast walking and not taking my scheduled shorter breaks. This kept me from getting too nauseous and still able to take in calories. I had started the day with a 2.5 hour buffer (ahead of my planned schedule) but lost 30 minutes of it by the time I got to Hartsburg at midnight. I was still super happy with that. HOWEVER, it turns out my key code didn't work at the Airbnb and I ended up dealing with that for an hour and twenty minutes before the host somehow woke up in the middle of the night to see he had missed calls from me. My poor husband and Airbnb support lady had to hear my break down in frustrated tears once I had tried all the things I could think of to get in, to no avail. I though this attempt was over. But I also knew I was exhausted and stickier than the most aggressive fly paper and no decisions should be made until I took a time out (on their porch??). Thank goodness the host then called and said he had fat fingered the code, had since reset it and I could go in. It was then Paradise on earth. I was upset to lose that almost hour and a half wrestling with all that when I could have used it sleeping, but I chose not to dwell on it and the hosts had been super cool from the early planning stages. I had another blissful soak (following a shower) and slept 5 hours this night. When I started out the next morning, I still had a two hour buffer because I stayed at the BnB less time than scheduled. I had a shorter mileage third day planned and if I could get into Boonville in good time I'd have an extra long rest before my last 75 mile push.
My third day was Hartsburg to Boonville, 39 miles. I was scheduled to stay in the casino hotel right off of the trail. I was energized from the start knowing I had such a short day. I felt caught up on hydration, but was stiff enough to not want to incorporate too much running and lock something up irreversibly. I was still on schedule and wanted to be smart about making it to the finish. The course was still fairly flat through here so I made good time fast walking, skipping my short breaks, and only stopping for a beer and ice refill (the little things that are a MASSIVE mental boost:)) in Rocheport. I caught the cafe there 15 minutes before closing because I had made such good time. If I had missed it, this trailhead has some of the nicest facilities: several flush toilets and running water, but it closes at sunset. I had just talked to my husband on the phone coming into Rocheport and said that the mosquitoes were annoying but manageable. They must have heard me because as I left, it felt like the Alaskan wilderness all over again: clouds of mosquitoes following me down the trail. Moving I was mostly ok, but stopping to pee was always hilarious as I'm sure I looked like I was attempting some ancient ritualistic dance as I squatted while waving my hands all over the place and trying to wiggle my butt so as not to be a tempting landing site. Good stretching routine?? I'm also surprised the numerous horse flies (aptly named due to their size) didn't pick up my cart and carry it off. In true delusional form, I asked them on more than one occasion to bridle up and help me along. Made it into Boonville 2.5 hours ahead of schedule. The front desk clerk was nice enough to ask me which floor I preferred and I just asked for the quietest room (I'm an annoyingly light sleeper). Little did I realize this would be on the top floor at the very end of a long hallway. Oh well, it WAS quiet. If it wasn't for the microwave located only in the lobby by the front desk, I wouldn't have minded going out and back just once but after I realized there wasn't a microwave in the room, it was too late. I showered first, took a hilariously long walk to the front desk again, and then sat in the tub while eating my pre-made, now hot, sup. I think I was too slap happy tired at this point to be mad, it just made me giggle. I had to do some cart repairs this night and did some extended stretching for the first time. I also went through all my food and toiletry supplies and left behind or trashed anything I didn't absolutely need. The next morning I would start climbing and it was going to be a long day and overnight to the finish in Clinton. I didn't want to be pushing any more weight than I had to. I slept about 7 hours this night.
My fourth and final day was Boonville to Clinton, 75 miles. The forecasted all day rain was now not scheduled to start til around 3pm. Dammit. I was ready for a break from the sun, but I also knew the rain would slow me down. At least it was mostly cloudy this last day. This was Friday and I saw loads more groups of cyclists and even had a few stop and chat with me for a while. Normally an extended conversation would drain me when I was already so tired, but it was a nice energy boost and much appreciated. My body was holding up amazingly well so far. Chafing wasn't bad and only one blister on one of my toes that I really didn't do anything with. In the middle of every day, except the shorter third day, I changed socks, undies and sports bra. I never lubed my feet until I put Desitin on my feet the last long day because I knew it was going to rain. My Darn Tough socks and Hoka Stinsons were doing right by me. I did use Desitin on my undercarriage the whole trip because of sweat and heat and that seemed to really work. The rain started around 3:30pm on my way into Sedalia. I stopped at Hardees for dinner and had my last change of undergarments here. I hadn't expected to change my sports bras so many times so I didn't have an extra one here and made the decision to go braless the rest of the trip instead of keeping my gritty, salty one on. I've never done this before and hoped I didn't regret it but thought I could get away with it since I didn't imagine I would be doing any more running. I was going to be wearing a rain jacket over my Rabbit lightweight snap shirt the rest of the time and it would be dark so I hopefully wouldn't offend anyone. I'm soooooo glad I did. The chafing that had started under my arms and at my bra line didn't bother me the rest of the trip. By the time it stopped raining between Green Ridge and Windsor (midnight-ish) I could take off my jacket and the cool air and breeze was energizing. I expected to be sleepy on the overnight but it wasn't too bad until around 4am. Then it was more just stupid spaciness than actually feeling sleepy. I just wanted to be done, but the end was in sight. I had lost so much time with the soft trails but after midnight and through my finish at 5:29am (on Saturday, June 1) the trails got less soggy and even though there was still some climbing my times started getting better. Had to stop and pee sooooooo many times, but that's all part of the ultra mileage organ response :D Stopping into the Casey's in Green Ridge and Windsor made me appreciate how much having a crew saves you time. I would allot myself 20 minutes at a Casey's, but by the time I shopped for my supplies, filled my water bottles, got ice or coffee, etc, I may have sat down for 5 of those 20 minutes, or taken 30 minutes so I could actually sit down for more than 5! Same thing with my overnights. I couldn't just shower and fall into bed. I had to charge my things, put supplies and ice pack in the fridge and freezer and reorganize and pack for the next day. It was cathartic on some level to do this each night and morning, it just took time. It was still dark but the sun was starting to color the sky as I came into that last long open stretch by the road into the Clinton trailhead. I decided to run the last mile to just get that shit done and if something locked up, I could limp. Not the most comfortable to run braless (and thank goodness it was mostly dark) but my feet were complaining louder and they won that argument. It's hilarious to run across a "finish line" with no one to cheer you on for your massive effort but yourself, but my imagination did a pretty good job of inserting the cheers and whistles of the crowds and I was grinning and waving my arms like a dopey idiot before I stopped my watch and immediately went horizontal on the trailhead bench. Done. Frick yeah. What a journey. But I was still too numb and sleep-deprived in that moment to let it sink in, the magnitude of what I had finally accomplished. All I knew is I would now somehow have to make my way over to the Community Center where my car was parked. A half mile never seemed so long!