After my first WURL (in 2 days), I started wondering what it would be like to do it in a single push. How long would it take? How would I feel during that final third, after already going for hours? I also figured I had a chance of going at least as fast as the unsupported women’s FKT of 27:40.
The conditions and weather looked good, so 10 days after doing the WURL in 2 days, I decided to go for it in a single push.
Since I was going unsupported, I brought 6.5 liters of water and 6,000 calories of food. The water alone weighed 13.3 pounds, and the food added a significant amount more. My total pack weight was nearly 25 pounds.
Sunrise was at 7:29 a.m. and sunset at 7:01 p.m., which meant that less than half of the WURL would be done in daylight.
The heavier pack did indeed slow me down during the first half of the route. Darkness slowed me down, too. For the first several hours, I wasn't moving as fast as I had hoped. But as daylight came and my pack gradually got lighter, I started achieving faster splits. During the second half of the WURL, I worried that I would eventually slow down and lose whatever time I had gained. But I never slowed down significantly. As my pack continued to get lighter, my splits remained good—many of them somehow faster than they had been on my 2-day WURL.
I started at 11:07pm on October 5 and finished at 1:38 am on October 7, giving a total time of 26:31.
A fun athletic day!