Todd Falker provided some context (7/17/2014):
This FKT attempt goes back back about eight years where on a family vacation to Joshua Tree I fit in a run. My brother took his kids to a BLM Ranger show or something and I was going to run the Boyscout Trail - advertised at 7.5 mi one way, 15 round trip - in two hours or less. One hour in I had covered over 7 mi but was still over a mile from the end, but decided to turn back anyways because I wasn't exactly sure where the end was. Well going uphill is a lot harder than downhill, and there is a gnarly turn at mile 3 that I missed. This left me wandering though high country doing some serious class 4 bouldering.
Yes my 2 hour goal was out the window, but now I had to contend with being seriously lost. After two more hours of wandering, I was out of water and realized the only escape was to run to the highway on the North end. 4:45 hours of desert joy later I staggered to a house and a super kind stranger gave me ride all the way around the park to the entrance. I'll never forget the look on the face of the ranger when we mentioned I was the lost runner: are you suicidal?! it said. My sister-in-law kept telling them: it's not the running we're worried about. And no, he's not suicidal.
Five years later I move to CA and am determined to break that two hour goal, or at least have someone else do it to prove it's possible.
Distance: Around 16mi, Climbing: 1606ft, Max Elevation: 4165ft.
My attempts so far:
11/27/12 2:40:09, 16.23mi
09/10/13 2:29:07, 16.21mi
02/26/14 2:28:35, 16.05mi connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/453516563
Based on Strava,
Matt Smith on 4/01/14 ran 2:27:45, 15.80mi, 1:02:45 Northbound.
Start either at the rock on the north end by the road, or the bathroom on the south end, and do the out/back. I would love for more serious runners to give this route a shot and break that magical 2 hour mark! I know it's possible!
Todd
