I finally got around to running the Great Range and going for another crack at this crown jewel of FKTs in the Adirondacks.
It seems that lately the value of running FKTs has been diminished to cents on the dollar as every tiny inconsequential mountain and illogical link up is now and FKT. When I first got into running these records, the Great Range was what inspired me. It was competitive, iconic and talked about locally. It seemed to really matter and people got psyched because it was a common route that many had tried. I'm saddened that now there is an abundance of meaningless routes and this saturation has taken that element away for future generations. But who knows, maybe i'm way off on this?!
Trip report: It was nice and cool in the morning, with the car saying 48F when I started, just after 6am. The route wasn't as dry as I had hoped, but it was still pretty good! I got my bottle plugged up with drink mix after I filled up at the base of Haystack. It took quite a while to get the water/fuel out of them and it was very tricky to run the trail and mess around with my bottle at the same time. I got the the summit of Marcy about 90 seconds ahead of record pace. I knew Jack's run out from Marcy to the garden was super quick, so I gave it my all and (somehow!) managed to go a few seconds faster than he did on the descent. In the end, I shaved 3 more minutes off the record. I was pretty stoked about it. Good luck to whoever tried next. Its truly my favourite trail in the world.