I had fun taking another stab at this route! Two years ago, in my trip report, I said if I was healthy that I should be able to shave an hour (from 7:18). Today was my day to test that theory.
I decided this time to start at dawn instead of pre-dawn which was a good call. Always more enjoyable when I can see where I'm going. I had a few splits that I wanted to make at landmarks I was familiar with and thankfully I found myself consistently one minute ahead of my splits until the cowboy camp. That run down to Horsethief Creek from cowboy camp was my favorite section! Perfect weather and felt smooth. I made it to Horsethief 2 minutes ahead which was encouraging. After grabbing water, I climbed out of the canyon and, around mile 14, I started experiencing a cramp in my left calf. I was a little nervous about that and decided to back off just a little to see if it would go away. I only brought one pickle shot for some dumb reason and I didn't want to waste it yet with so many miles yet. I made it to HWY 74 7 minutes ahead and tried to find a medium pace to keep the cramp off. It started coming back about mile 16-17 heading down the Omstott/Pinyon trail. It's mostly downhill but there's still a bit of uphill with rocky sections which would set the cramp off with a weird step.
I dropped down to Palm Canyon around mile 19.5 about 2 minutes behind. The last few miles slowed me down for sure, however my splits weren't for the needed pace to beat the 6:40 time set by Austin but to attempt a 6 hr time. I had a feeling 6 hrs wouldn't be in the cards today battling cramps which started in my right calf now off and on as well, but I started setting a pace for 6:18 to beat my old time by an hour. I finally downed my pick shot at mile 21 which worked until mile 24 then the battle continued. I ran across a few mtnbike groups but otherwise had the place to myself.
Thankfully I ran across water at the beginning of the Potrero crossing because I was out, and I had about 5 miles left. My secondary game plan worked out and I managed to squeak in at 6:17. I grabbed some gatorade and snacks at the Trading Post and went butt-naked in the creek to soak a bit as a helicopter keeping flying by looking for someone. ...Perv