Parked in Durham and took an Uber to start of trail. Started out just before 4 am. I had never ran the trail before but was well marked thankfully and looked pretty simple on google maps. I ran with my 2 Salomon bottles filled with tailwind energy drink. Around mile 8 I saw a sign for a water fountain so I detoured maybe 100 feet to refill. That was the only refill I was empty when I finished. Rained almost the entire time but not too cold. I got off trail 2 times but both times for less than a block before I realized. There was a small detour on part of the trail near Pearson St where the trail is closed due to some construction. I took 1 honey stinger about half way through but had no gels.
I ran the trail for my long run figuring it would not be hard to lower the time. Was trying to get under 3 hours but missed it by a couple minutes.