This was the most difficult single-effort I've ever completed, and now I want more.
On October 2nd, Ethan Fraize and I set out to run a men's duo FKT on the Catawba Triple Crown Double Loop. We had been planning this adventure for about 5 months after talking with Becky and Sean Walters about their double run-around. A few days before the run we met up at a local brewery and planned out all of the details with our significant others who had graciously agreed to help support us along the way. It didn't feel real to finally be embarking on this attempt, and we were so excited to lay it all out there and give this our best shot.
After waking up at midnight on October 2nd, we gathered our gear, did some final checks to our lists, and dropped a bear canister at McAfee Knob parking lot. Our agreed upon start time of 2am had arrived and we set out to go on the longest run that either of us had ever attempted. Going up Dragon's Tooth for the first time, we did our best to keep pace at minimum effort to conserve the energy that we'd need to get through to the end. The nerves were bumping, but our minds were focused.
After making it down Dragon's Tooth, over Sawtooth Ridge, and on to McAfee Lot, one of Ethan's friends had driven out to pace us. We were right on target for our 6am goal to reach the base of McAfee and wasted no time after topping off our flasks with scratch and gobbling up the chicken tenders that our friend had brought us. Running with a pacer was great, but we ended up pacing a little stronger than expected. Summitting McAfee and Tinker felt great, and we soon made it to Andy Lane lot to meet my fiancé Marjie for a quick break and some breakfast sandwiches.
I took mine to go and Ethan made a bit of a mistake eating way too much in one sitting. He was bonking from too many carbs, and North Mountain was kicking our ass a little more than we would have liked. Mentally, i was not doing well knowing that Ethan had begun to struggle with fueling and hydration. I wanted to quit by the time that we reached the end of the first loop.
Thankfully, we had made a promise to each other to start the second loop. No exceptions. Ethan had rebounded at this point, and I started gaining a glimmer of a groove after summiting Dragon's tooth for the second time. Sawtooth was arduous and I noticed that Ethan had begun to show signs of shutting down a bit. After making it to McAfee lot, Marjie and Aiden met us with homemade quesadilla that absolutely hit the spot! It was 6pm now and I urged us to continue up the mountain as we were losing daylight.
An unexpected storm absolutely dropped out of nowhere and drenched us. We tried to gain some rest in Catawba shelter before the McAfee summit, but there were tons of backpackers doing the same thing. We didn't have the mental capacity for small talk and left to continue getting soaked on our way up the mountain.
At the top of McAfee Knob Ethan broke. He laid on the mountain, soaked and cold from the wind. I tried my best to encourage us to continue to Andy Lane lot, hoping that we could go far enough to see the finish line. He looked at me and told me that he was done, there was nothing left to say to try to convince him to go on, and that I needed to keep going.
Leaving Ethan there was the most difficult part of this run. It was worse than the blisters, cold, wet, nausea, cuts, bruises, and lack of sleep. Everything. It sucked that Ethan couldn't keep going, and running without him was an eye-opener into just how much easier it was to be around someone who I can trust with just about anything.
At this point I picked up the pace. I wanted to get over Tinker and to Andy Lane lot. As I was making it down Tinker, I pulled an extra quesadilla out of my pocket and just felt grateful for my friends.
Our friend Jared was waiting for me at the parking lot and helped me top off fluids and get some more food down. We were climbing North Mountain just talking about stupid things to keep my mind active. Somehow, we ended up seeing a couple walking mountain bikes up North Mountain in the middle of the night. I'm glad that Jared saw them too, because i thought I was going crazy for a minute.
We pushed over North Mountain and what felt like an endless journey was finally over. Jared's help was immense, and I was very happy to have been able to complete this run, but it still felt bittersweet. I know Ethan still has unfinished business with this route, and I will be there for him if he decides to do it again with support. To everyone else that came out to crew and pace, thank you so very much.
What a trip!