perfect day!
ive been eyeing this one for a while and finally made it happen. really great weather the whole day - overcast, 40s to 50s and blessedly little wind!
the previous FKT holder cracks me up - she went for the one way, nabbed it and then after crushing her legs for a fast 23, turned around and trekked back to her car! as she put it, there was space for a faster time. i couldnt keep up with her one-way pace but her overall pace seemed doable.
its mostly really straightforward wide gravel road with beautiful views of the river and surrounding canyon/gorge/pasture/blown out rockwalls. you'll come across hikers and bikers and the occasional bald eagle. theres a few creek crossings but considering they were downhill of cattle lands, i did not rely on them for filterable water sources but they were nice options for splashing the face and wetting the hat. there are 9ish miles of much more "heads up" running with broken rock, off camber hillside lines, some silly and run no consequence "ridgelines", railroad tie slaloms and the occasional shocking-to-the-system up and downs. really just absolutely lovely and crushingly runnable. spent 7 of those 8 hours listening to the soundtrack of my footsteps and the river.
fuel: 1.5 L water, 1.5L tailwind endurance (400 cals/500 ml bottle), 5 various granola bars. definitely felt the hunger at the end and was conscientious of keeping myself paced with water intake. a hotter day would have made this little bit of water a challenge for sure and filtering would have had to happen.