Got an early start for this one (before 6am) to try and beat the heat. It was cooler earlier but the humidity was still bad so I was getting drenched with sweat early on. By the time I was done it was almost 80 degrees and my clothes were soaked.
Unlike the others who have done this route so far, I started on the south end and ran towards Green Bay. This was more convenient for me and I think this is also faster because the elevation tends downwards as you move north. I also found it helpful to have the people and distraction of the city towards the end of the run when I was tired.
At the start I was running around 7:10 per mile not counting the walk breaks to drink and refuel, though I tried to keep those as short as possible. I would stop about every 5 miles to walk and eat. The first town on the trail going north is Forest Junction. I did not stop here but kept running until mile 5 where I took my first break. After this I kept on until Greenleaf. I took a break for water and snacks, but ran into a small problem. I noticed that the strap on my vest was twisted, so I tried to adjust it. While doing this I must have bumped my watch, because I noticed it was paused before I started running again. It was only off for about a minute, but my watch clearly had a tough time picking the gps track back up because it shows me swinging way off the trail even though I never left it. The time I submitted is total time, not activity time, so it includes the time my watch was paused.
I kept a roughly 7:10 pace until after the trail turned to paved, which is where I took my next stop. The heat was really starting to wear on me on me though and the next stretch was tough. I stopped before mile 20 around De Pere. I made that break longer and slowed down after this because I was experiencing mild nausea. Slowing really helped though. The last stop I made was under the 172 bridge by Heritage Hill. The end of the route is somewhat abrupt by a fishing pier. I was ready to be done at that point though.
I have trained on the Fox River Trail for many years but never ran the whole thing. It was a lot of fun and would encourage others to try.