Solo run, starting at 5:00 am. Tried to get out before the rain; no luck. Heavy rains from about 6:15 - 7:30. Scattered rain throughout the attempt. The trails pooled a little, but remained solid. I took the wrong turn around mile-9; backtracked and added about 1-mile and 10 minutes to the attempt. Felt pretty dumb having done that. I'm colorblind, so for those colorblind folks, some of the yellow, orange, and red blazes blend (the trail is well marked with orange blazes). Lovely single track for the majority of the trail (often muddy in Winter/Spring), limited road crossings, and a challenging amount of elevation gain and loss.
The first half went great. Hit the turn-around at 3:01, resupplied, and set off. Most of the trails around the turn-around are relatively flat, some grassy, and generally perhaps not the most interesting - I felt myself slipping mentally on the way back. I would describe the first/last half of the course as "punchy." Lots of short, steep climbs that really get the heart rate and breathing going. Those punchy climbs come with about 4 miles to go, making the second half challenging. I was reduced to a walk frequently.
Around hour 4, the temperature and humidity spiked. While I only used two bottles for the first half, I used all 3 and still had 45 minutes to on the way back. There aren't a lot of places to resupply, apart from a Chinese restaurant at the bottom of the hill around mile 10. Found myself getting dehydrated rather quickly. Nutrition was pretty well managed. Somehow kept it together for a very slow jog-in finish.
Cached water and food at the turn-around point. Used a dry-bag and locked it to a tree next to the trail marker.