FKT Trip Report
Robert Kinsley
10/1/2026
Stats
Route Name: Susquehannock Trail System Loop, Southern Gateway (PA)
Style: Supported
Trip Dates: 9-26-2026 to 9-27-2026
Time: 19:47:00 hrs.
Distance: 85.14 miles
Elevation (Gain/Loss): 13,958 ft/13,919 ft
Activity Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/20350224621/overview
Strategy
Background: I have been thinking about this run for 3+ years ever since backpacking a portion of the loop with my wife and dreaming about doing the entire loop in one push. Since then, I have been on the STS a few times, but it has been constantly in my thoughts. My goal was to secure the overall FKT, which seemed well within reason given that it was still 24+ hours. I finally decided, along with my wife, to go for it this year. With a new baby on the way in November, it seemed to make good sense. My wife, Juliet, supported me through it all and I am so thankful for that support.
With lots of training under my belt and just a month until I planned to attempt the FKT, the record was broken by Phil Maynard, lowering the standard to 21:54:48 hrs. in an Unsupported run, impressive. Now it was time to buckle down and make sure I was the most prepared I could be.
Pacing Strategy: My new goal was set at 20 hrs., and I built a pacing strategy to achieve it, although I knew it would have to be a nearly perfect day to achieve it. Below is my pacing schedule for the 20-hr. goal, which my crew monitored for me:
Nutrition: Next was my nutrition plan. I would have (12) stops to resupply with water and nutrition from my crew. My wife, Juliet, would take the day shift from Start to Rock Ridge Rd (Mile 44) and friends Mike & Amy would take over for the night shift from Rock Ridge Rd to Finish. My wife elected to sleep in the truck at Cherry Springs Fire Tower (Mile 70) to root me on to the finish.
My goal was about 80g of carbs per hour and about 20 ml of fluid per hour. Fluids would be supplemented with a hydration mix containing 1000mg of sodium per liter. Carbs would be made up primarily of plain gel with no sodium or caffeine with real food supplemented in. I had brownies, ramen, quesadillas and Uncrustables prepared as needed. Caffeinated gels would be added in soon after the halfway point as I got deep into the night. I planned to consume about 600mg of caffeine starting at mile 50 through the finish.
Detailed Report
Start: The whole crew and I left our cabin about 40 minutes away after a nice, peaceful morning and a big breakfast of pancakes and hot oats, headed for Ole Bull State Park. We arrived and I got prepared for an 11am start on the STS. Everything went smoothly and my wife snapped a picture of me in front of the kiosk in Ole Bull right along the STS trail at 11:02am before I headed off. As I stepped forward, I turned my InReach to start tracking and started the activity I had queued up on my watch. It was a climb immediately out of Ole Bull, and it was a thrill pushing uphill on fresh legs with a nice breeze in my face.
Big Springs Road: Just before getting to my crew at Big Springs Rd (Mile 6), I made a wrong turn on to a trail marked with red blazes which I mistook for orange blazes. Eventually I realized that I was now headed in the wrong direction and turned around, back tracking to the point where I made the wrong turn and losing around 5 minutes. I made it to my crew still ahead of schedule by a few minutes, grabbed fresh water bottles, gels and a quesadilla and headed back out.
Little Greenlick Rd: It felt great being out on the trail and my body was feeling good and I had so much excitement to take in the entirety of the STS. Weather was perfect, cool, overcast and breezy. I made it to Greenlick Rd after some more climbing, but otherwise fast running trails, about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. I met my wife there after Mike & Amy headed back to the cabin to rest up. My wife was knitting a sweater for our expected son and looked so peaceful sitting on the stone road waiting for me to arrive. I re-supplied and headed back out quickly.
Old Cross Fork Rd: This section of trail began with some climbing but turned into very fast trails, and I had a lot of fun, although I did fall on my face once right after passing the Scoval shelter. I looked forward to crossing off the first 20 miles and did that, still feeling pretty fresh. The best wildlife spotting of the trip came in the later part of this segment when I ran into a mama bear and 3 cubs coming the opposite way up the Porter Branch, just below the trail. We quickly went our separate ways! I ran into the town of Cross Fork about 20 minutes ahead of schedule and met my wife right there among the bars and store instead of on Old Cross Fork Rd because there was nowhere for her to pull off. I stocked up for my longest segment, in terms of miles, climbing up to McConnell Rd through the Hammersley Wild Area, the largest roadless area in Pennsylvania.
McConnell Rd: I left the town of Cross Fork and headed up the paved road about 1 mile, getting passed by a group of around 50 Harley riders, leaving me to inhale the fumes from their steads. It was all uphill from here! I pushed steadily up the climb and came to a beautiful, fast and flowy section of trail, weaving through the mountain laurel which was a pleasant surprise. This section was by far my favorite of the whole loop. Next, I followed miles of side hilling trail through some overgrown trails which eventually broke into a maintained section, signifying I was now within a few miles of McConnell Rd. One more steep climb and I was on McConnell Rd with my beautiful wife waiting for me. This was a quick stop, although I was ready for some fluids and a bite to eat, having run out of both on the 10-mile segment. I grabbed what I needed, including my headlamp and extra battery in case I did not make it to East Fork Rd before dark (not likely though). Although Juliet would have her work cut out for her to beat me down to the next stop.
East Fork Rd: It was downhill from McConnell Rd to a 2-mile section of flat snowmobile trail out to East Fork Rd, a short segment. My hips were starting to hurt on the 2-mile grind that must have been just slightly uphill, following the East Fork of the Sinnemahoning. I was happy to see that Juliet made it down in time and we still had daylight, although it turned out that a bridge was out and she had to go even further to get there. She had been motoring! I grabbed a massage ball and laid down on it rolling my hips out in the grass along East Fork Rd. Another big climb was coming up, and it would be dark soon, but I had built up a 35-minute lead on my goal by this point. I asked Juliet to have some ramen ready for me at the next stop as well as a sock change. My appetite was roaring.
Rock Ridge Rd: As I started to climb directly off East Fork Rd, I pulled out my headlamp and strapped it on for the long night ahead. The climb was nice, but it turned into rocky trail with tall grass amongst the wet rocks which proved to be tough footing as I adjusted to the nighttime. Eventually the trail turns into an old logging road that climbs gradually, this proved to be nice running once I got there. Then I crossed Wildboy Rd on to the Seed Study Trail, which was very rooty, tripping me up a few times as my legs began to fatigue. Soon I saw the lantern that Juliet had set out with a pot of hot ramen on Rock Ridge Rd. I stepped out onto the road and ran around the truck, sitting down in a chair for the first time. The next segment would be my longest of the trip in terms of time, so I wanted to take a moment to get rejuvenated. I made a sock change and finished my ramen, grabbing full bottles and the gels that I needed, including one caffeinated gel. Mike & Amy showed up just before I headed back out on the trail after about a 14-minute break.
Sunken Branch Rd: The miles from here to Patterson State Park were tough, lots of decent and lots of climbing. I thought I was getting close to Patterson Park, but it did not seem to materialize. Finally, I crossed through a rocky section, which was beginning to feel hard to navigate. The caffeine helped and as I crossed the open grounds of Patterson State Park and across Rt 44, I picked up some steam. The running felt great from there down into Sunken Branch shelter and back up to Sunken Branch Rd. I popped out on Sunken Branch Rd to see Mike & Amy waiting there but taken by surprise that I was already there. I had maintained my 35-minute lead even with the long break at Rock Ridge Rd. This stop was fairly brief, switching out bottles and grabbing new gels.
Lyman Run Rd: I was familiar with the trails ahead and knew this final segment was the last bit of climbing and technical running for a while. I headed downhill and was still moving well when I got to Lyman Run Rd 3.5 miles later. Mike & Amy were ready for me this time and I went ahead and switched my headlamp battery out, giving them the depleted battery to charge for me.
Lyman Run Rd #2: Mike encouraged me that the trails ahead looked flat and smooth and I headed out. Running at speed quickly proved difficult and I just could not get my legs moving again. The next 2 miles were filled with a lot of run/walk change offs. Although this should have been a time to move quickly, I was struggling more than I had all day. Eventually I got myself going a little better as I passed the Northern Gateway and the official Mile 0 of the loop, with a little help from caffeine. I came back around to Lyman Run Rd on the other end still well ahead of my goal. Mike & Amy met me with my supplies for the next segment, which would be a tough one through the wee hours of morning and two major climbs. This was officially the furthest I had ever run; I ran a 100k race in July to prepare for this FKT.
Cherry Springs Fire Tower: I headed out pretty quickly with everything I needed until I would see Juliet again at Cherry Springs, along with Mike & Amy and another bowl of warm ramen. At this point my legs were tired and my hip stabilizers were becoming very weak, downhills were really tough and I was leaning hard on my poles. I zoned out hard after the initial climb out of Lyman Run Rd and began to walk a little more. The lead over my 20-hr. goal began to erode ever so slightly on my way to Cherry Springs but I felt strong as I ran across Rt 44 again and back toward the fire tower where I knew Juliet was waiting along with Mike & Amy and Sig, our dog. I checked the battery on my watch and realized that I did not have enough juice, so we plugged it in on the tailgate of the truck. At the base of Cherry Springs Fire Tower, I sat down again and began to eat some ramen, although I was not feeling up to it. I was complaining about tired legs and a lack of desire to continue taking in the carbs I needed. I dipped some pita in the ramen broth and that went down nicely. I got back to my feet and a 10-minute charge on my watch now showed that it would last another 5-hours, which would be plenty for the remaining 3.5 hours to Ole Bull that I was on pace to make. I also slid a fresh battery into the back of my headlamp.
Short Run Rd: I headed out from my wonderful crew, who were wrapped up in heavy jackets because of the cool, breezy night and high elevation of Cherry Springs. I got down the trail just out of sight and realized I did not get a caffeinated gel. I yelled back and met Mike halfway back to the truck with the gel I needed. I needed that caffeine! It was a winding decent leaving Cherry Springs, and my muscles were fighting back. At this point I was always running with poles. Just 15 miles to go and I was 25 minutes ahead of pace leaving Cherry Springs; it was all downhill to Short Run Rd. Regardless of all of that I was losing time and came into Short Run Rd after a twisty, lumpy, hard to run section of trail just 15 minutes ahead of pace. At Short Run Rd, my crew handed off the basics and spurred me onward. I asked if I could walk it in from here and still hit my goal and my wife said, “That’s not what we are here for”.
Hungry Hollow Rd: I was having a hard time running the flat section along Cross Fork creek and furthermore, one of the bridges was out, and I didn’t want wet feet so I spent some time picking my way across the creek where I could find rocks to step on. I got a stride going and crossed the swinging bridge back over Cross Fork but the trail soon started to angle upward. And as it steepened, the footing and the growth around it got worse. I slowed to a hike and trudged up the large climb. My wife had also told me at the last stop that there were no more “climbs”… This section was the most grueling section of the whole loop.
Finish: After dragging myself up the final climb, I stepped on to Hungry Hollow Rd looking for the next trail marker or my crew, I turned right and ran up the run for a short way when I saw an STS trail marker indicating to turn left off the road. I stopped, wondering where my crew was when I heard yelling and saw a light way up the road. I yelled up to them “what are you doing??” and they called me to come their way. We yelled back and forth for a minute, me convinced that the trail went left and not wanting to waste time running off course. Finally, my wife pleaded for me to come up the road and to trust that she knew where the trail was. I gave in and hobbled up the road to meet my crew. The trail marker that I had seen was either imagined or was placed in error because my crew had me back on the right trail. They gave me one bottle and sent me on my way, encouraging me that it was just 3 miles of decent to Ole Bull; this time it was actually true. I had lost time but was still ahead of my goal. They said, “we’ll see you at the finish”. I was determined that I could make it from here, so I got my legs moving into a run and resolved to keep it that way until the finish line. I had not checked the battery level on my watch or my Garmin InReach since Cherry Springs Fire Tower. I powered onward, descending at a 12 min pace on a trail that wasn’t exactly smooth, crossing down trees here and there. I knew that I had about a 50% chance of falling on my face at any moment. I barreled down the trail just starting to see the slightest amount of light creep into the sky, turning it grey. I knew I was close to the campground at Ole Bull and soon I popped out on to a steep road going straight down the hill, I stopped looking for a trail marker, not seeing one I cautiously descended. Then I saw Juliet with her headlamp facing up the trail, she called me to follow her and I did. She and Sig ran me through the campground and across the wooden bridge toward where I had started the day before, 32 weeks pregnant, she jogged along in front of me, guiding the way. I yelled, “you’re going to hurt your pelvis!” Then I looked at my watch, and the screen was blank. What had happened? It was just on a minute ago as I checked my time, knowing I was entering Ole Bull, 19:44 hrs. is what it read. Thankfully, Juliet snapped some poor photos in the dark of me coming down the trail and as I followed her across the wooden bridge, picking up where my watch had let off. And just like that, I was done running, Mike and Amy cheered and Juliet snapped my photo in front of the trail kiosk, Mike exclaimed, 6:49! Light was just starting to invade the night sky, and the cell phone’s long exposure was struggling to take a good photo in that pre-dawn light. It was 6:49am on Sunday morning (9/27) and I was done what I had set out to do, 13 minutes ahead of my 20-hour goal. It happened too quickly, I wish I could go back and take more of it in. Thank you to Juliet, Mike, Amy and Sig for your relentless support and beautiful personalities which make life more fun.
***Unfortunately, I did not manage my electronics very well with my watch dying just 2 minutes from the finish line. Time stamped photos must be relied on to verify my finish time. And my InReach, intended to be my backup, had died just before mile 80, spending too much battery life sharing my location with family and friends.
Sign-off
I hope you all have enjoyed reading the trip report of my Supported FKT of the Susquehannock Trail System Loop from the Southern Gateway on 9/26/2026 through 9/27/2026. And one final thank you to the Susquehannock Trail Club for their stewardship of such a beautiful and worthy trail. Your hard work and dedication to the STS is evident.