FKT: Samuel Kirk - Cape Henlopen Trails Loop (DE) - 2021-08-02

I started from the Lewes Library this morning at around 7:30am.  Conditions were pretty ideal.  Light breeze and way less humidity than I am used to in south eastern PA.  I wore Saucony Switchback 2s which is a lightweight low drop trail shoe with tight tread pattern.  I carried 16oz of Skratch standard hydration, took 1 Gu at the start and 1 Gu at about 50 mins in.  Loop is flat and fast and at least 60% paved.  The remaining surface is well packed cinders so the tight tread pattern was very good for consistent traction while running pretty hard.  I went after it pretty hard from the start.  Tailwinds gave me a little push toward Rehoboth and got me hopeful for a sub 6 minute pace.  Knowing the loop is pretty key for running hard as there are a lot of road crossings and turns especially when entering Rehoboth.  Pace started to feel unmanageable about the time I hit the cinder trails of the park around the ponds.  Wind was hurting at this point and was enough to impact the pace for several miles and I really started to feel that effort when I hit 13 miles in the dunes above the campground.  Speaking of that section, a person running this for the first time should know to stay right once you hit the campground and make sure you hug that and go up into the dunes.  I was a little unsure of which way to go at this point because the trail appears to go straight there.  I think it is mentioned in the course description but this as well as coming into Rehoboth and all the turns in around Revelation Brewing and the Playground before the trail connector road are certainly tricky at speed.  So, came out of the Park and tried to push a bit to finish things off strong and my hamstrings let me know to be careful.  Tried to maintain over the next 2 miles and then started pushing again once I crossed the bridge into Lewes.  I think this is a pretty good effort over the distance.  I committed to the pace early and held on pretty good so someone looking to get at this would need to get out pretty strong too.