Sam and I ran this last year (on Sunday Nov 2nd - so almost exactly 1 year ago) as our first trail running 50k, and it took us 9hr 45 minutes to finish it. I thought it would be cool to try it again this year and go for the FKT! Stacey dropped Sam and I off at the East Tiger trailhead, we started at 9:40am. had a couple minor moments of navigational confusion but was able to backtrack to where we left the course and rejoin correctly in the same spot! Sam joined for the first 17 miles and the final 3 miles and it was a huge help!!! Met Stacey again right before the Squak trailhead to ditch trash and restock snacks (best crew person ever!!) then Sam did 1 extra mile to help me navigate a bridge being constructed which we easily bypassed then went solo from there. Squak was so mentally rough (it’s just always way more vert than you expect it to be). Just forced myself to keep plugging along through Squak and then up the last major climb over Cougar, motivated by seeing Sam and Stacey again. Picked up Sam and also picked up the pace at around mile 29 and then just cruised to the finish. Had to stop slightly before the true Coal Creek Trailhead because of a multi year (closed til 2031) construction project, so just touched the fence/last accessible part for my finish! so stoked, especially to finish in daylight after a late start, we backtracked afterward to get picked up by Stacey at a different access point that wasn’t closed.