On the Wednesday before this FKT attempt, my coworker Trevor told me I might have the opportunity to score a free shuttle on the west side of the Illinois River Trail, therefore facilitating my logistics for a thru-run of the trail. I couldn’t resist.
We both work for Siskiyou Mountain Club, an organization that does the bulk of trail maintenance on the IRT (and on other trails throughout the region). Trevor told me that we would have crews working on both ends of the trail on March 28 — a volunteer crew on the east side and a staff crew on the west side.
The volunteer crew would be starting their trip on Saturday morning, while the staff crew would be leaving Saturday afternoon. So, if I timed things right, my plan was to drive in with the volunteer crew on the east side and then get picked up by the staff crew on the west side.
I started my run just before 10am, carrying 4.5 liters of water and all my food necessary for the route. I felt strong for the first nine miles as I made my way toward the base of Bald Mountain. The following climb was tough; the trail is exposed and the sun was out.
After I summited Bald Mountain, I encountered my favorite section of the trail. It features a shaded forest of old-growth trees, a rarity in the fire-scarred Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
Because of the dedication of Siskiyou Mountain Club crews, this trail is in the best shape it’s been in for years. My only wrong turn was among some tall grass on Bald Mountain Prairie, where the trail was a bit faded. But my return to the trail cost me just a few hundred feet of extra distance.
The following descent to Silver-Creek felt well-earned. It was around this point that I used a handheld radio to contact the crew on the west side and let them know my ETA. They told me they were working around Buzzard’s Roost and would see me soon.
I started to get sore and tired after Silver Creek, but kept pushing until about mile 20, when my stomach started to sour. From there, I was moving quite slowly up the long climb to Buzzard’s Roost. The exposure on this section would have been punishing if not for a light breeze and some streams across the trail.
At Buzzard’s roost, I heard some whoops and cheers and looked up to see the staff crew waiting for me. I passed without stopping, saying I was feeling rough and just needed to get to the finish. They shouted, “it’s all downhill from here!” But this wasn’t news to me — I had been looking forward to that final downhill all day!
At this point, I was very tired, my stomach was empty, and I wasn’t feeling my best. I was off FKT pace, and had all but given up on chasing the record. But with only 3.5 miles of downhill left, I decided to give it a shot and see what my legs could do. I did some cursory math in my head, and then took off. I hoped I could go fast enough to just dip under the previous FKT. I ended up tapping the west-side trail sign at 5:40:30, breaking the record by only 10 minutes.
I realized after the fact that my encounter with the crew may count as “spectating pre-arranged by an athlete” (as stated in the FKT guidelines), since I knew from the radio message earlier in the day that they would be working around Buzzard’s Roost.
Editor's note: The primary reason Vincent's friends were out along this route were to complete trail work and were on the final day of a 4-day work trip. As editors, we discussed and agreed that because the primary reason they were along the route and because Vincent received nothing further than cheers as he passed by, this can stand as an unsupported effort.