Due to work constraints and weather, I started my journey Thursday night at 8:00pm after working a 10+ hour day as a nanny of two young kids. My husband and dog hiked me into the Northern Terminus and then left a couple minutes before I took off. It was pretty warm and humid, which only got worse throughout the night, but running in the dark is my element. I moved pretty well during the night, albeit slow. The first 35 miles is almost entirely singletrack and trying to find little painted yellow triangles in the dark on windy singletrack trails is not easy. Luckily I've section run the course a couple times before. Since it was so muggy I had to filter a lot more than anticipated but luckily we had a lot of rain recently and there was plenty of places to get water from. Because of having to carry a heavy pack, my legs were feeling pretty rough from the start. After 11 hours of running in the dark, the sunrise couldn't have felt better and the drizzle of rain started almost immediately after which was very welcomed after a hot night. My phone was mostly off or on airplane mode when I was listening to music but I turned it on once in awhile to text my husband ETA times so he knew when to pick me up. I had a Garmin Inreach Mini but because I had the settings set to save battery life the mileage/speed was very naccurate. The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. Everything hurt and I wasn't moving very fast but I was able to pick up the pace a little on the road sections and put my powerhiking legs to use on the trails. I never had an issue with food or water. My watch was set to beep every 45 minutes and I would eat 200-250 calories. I reapplied Squirrels Nut Butter multiple times so I didn't have an issues with chafing. I also rubbed Tiger Balm a couple times on my inner thighs and knees which we feeling the brunt of the heavy pack. I knew my feet were a mess but I never touched them. Overall I was in good spirits. Some hallucinating, especially at the end when it started raining more consistently and I began to get cold. I was really happy to finish before getting too cold but also before having to pull a headlamp back out! Will write up something longer another time but here is a gear list!
28 hours worth of food divided into 7 x 4 hour quantities (Spring energy gels, Gu gels, Huma gels, Clif gels, Untapped Waffles, Trail Butter)
Squirrel’s nut butter
Salomon Advanced Skin 12L pack
2 x Salomon XA soft flask filters
Hand warmers
Territory Run Waterproof bags
Extra long sleeve
Extra gloves
Extra batteries
Tums
Spare contacts
Bandaids
Ibuprofen
Knee brace
Tiger balm
Battery pack with phone charger
Headphones
Petzl Core headlamp
Ultraspire waistlamp
Emergency cash
Garmin Inreach Mini
Outdoor Research Helium rain jacket
Emergency blanket
Wipes
Phone
Trail toes
Injinji socks
Trail Toes (applied before run)
La Sportiva Helios SR
Garmin Fenix 6x