Took another shot at the Kalalau this morning starting at 6am. There was a really cool electric storm with lots of lightning and thunder at the start. The rains set in about mile 3 and were relentless for about 4 miles. It's always a fun gamble running the Kalalau with the mixed bag of weather and then trail conditions. This time around, the trail was sloppy mud pudding mixed with tropical fruit. Maybe I was hungry? Trail overgrowth was on and off pretty heavy miles 3-6 (perfect time for the microburst pocket too!). I'm assuming trail use has been down because of Covid which made pushing though the growth a bit tedious. I was just grateful to not see or feel any of those big nasty Kalalau spider webs. I felt great, leggies were strong. All I wanted to do was just run free, fast and focused. I used a 500ml of water with Gnarly Fuel, a gel and some rungum.
Being out here on the edge of civilization with not a soul around, zero cell service, extreme technical jungle conditions and all the mud and beauty you could ask for just fills me right up. I'm happy to have beat the previous unsupported FKT by less than 3 minutes. Super close. It was hard-fought, and earned. I absolutely love this place.