So this is what I do on my day off now, when Hayley's at work. The idea was for a long run somewhere where I'd never run, that I could complete and be home by dinner time. The Crescent Trail in Perinton looked cool, so I went for it. Going for the FKT (per the Trail Methods FKT Regional Zone) was more of an afterthought. Time to beat was 6:51:20, and it seemed reasonable to better the time without giving it a race effort. Per the rules, I notified Eric via Facebook the night before about the attempt.
I relied mostly on the #TrailsRoc app's GPS map to navigate, but the entire trail was pretty well marked — just follow orange the whole way. After a confusing start (that began with some brief recon), the southwest half is mostly lightly technical, rolling singletrack. The northeast half is pretty flat, with field trails, some singletrack, and some wider, easier terrain. Parts of of the trail run through suburban backyards. The eastern terminus, according to the app, is at the road in front of Northside School, although I didn't see any sign marking it as such.
The run was self-supported. The only form of support was a water drop about 11.5 miles from the start, which I accessed again around mile 25 while inbound. I missed a turn going up Turk Hill Road - the GPS was lagging and the turn wasn't marked. I thought I was south of the turn when in fact I'd passed in, and realized this when the GPS "caught up." Fortunately it added less than 0.5 miles and wasted no more than 5 minutes. Aside from that, I had no major navigational problems.
I bonked hard with 7 miles left, and started feeling too dizzy to stand upright, let alone run. This was probably the scariest thing I've experienced during a run. I seriously started thinking my day would end in ER. After taking a break, then walking slowly, the gel and S-Caps kicked in and suddenly I could run again. For the next hour I was exhausted and pretty miserable. The pace increased big time, and I didn't come out of the rut until I realized I had 20 minutes to finish the last 1.5 miles if I still wanted the FKT. All the sudden it was smooth sailing back to the car. I clocked a 6:45:28 on my Suunto, only beating the previous FKT by less than 6 minutes.