Route: Chief Illini Trail (IL)

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to attempt the FKT for the Chief Illini Trail.  Plan is to start around 8:30am local time.  I'l be going unsupported and brining Ashley Dodge who will be establishing the women's FKT (we won't be running together but will be on the trail at the same time).  Expecting 1-3 inches of snow tonight.  Should make for a super fun run in the morning!  Will update after the attempt ;-) 

Hello!  I'm putting together a hastily planned run of this trail, out and back, for tomorrow.  My husband will be along for support and maybe exploring some of the trail himself.  Hoping for better conditions than Josh had!

Tracking link:

https://share.garmin.com/MarcyBeard

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to attempt an unsupported FKT for the Chief Illini Trail. 

The plan is to start around sunup from the Lone Point Access Trailhead.

FKT attempt went well for the point-to-point effort portion arriving at the Northern Terminus turn-around in 2:04.42.

Made a wrong turn on the route in adding some additional miles to the return trip arriving back in 5:07.28 for a total mileage of 24.63.

No round-trip FKT, but still enjoyed a day in the woods!

This Saturday June 20th 2020 I will be attempting the unsupported FKT of the Chief Illini Trail. I plan on starting around 7am at the Lone Point Rec Area trailhead. I’m doing an out and back. Hopefully the trail is not too overgrown in June. 

I plan to run this route unsupported tomorrow. My tracking link should be here: https://share.garmin.com/carleencoulter

Planning a FKT attempt for the round trip Saturday, October 3rd from the North Trailhead.  Starting around sunrise.

Unsupported attempt went well with a finish time of 4:09.57

Effort has been submitted to Fastest Known Times for verification.

I plan to run this tomorrow out and back starting at Eagle Creek. Not really trying for FKT, but since my previous one was so slow and the weather will be better, I could possibly beat my own previous FKT.   

I pushed hard to finish the one-way FKT under the previous time. I did it by only 1 minute, 48 seconds! In mid-March it was difficult at times to see the trail with copious leaves obscuring the trail. I had to stop many times to look around for the white blazes on the trees. This definitely slowed me down and was a bit stressful to earn the FKT. Haha! 

Peaceful journey in the woods without seeing a single person. The nearby small village of Findlay (pop. 750) is the place my Dad was born in 1931, so it was quite nostalgic.

I ran out of gas on the return trip and ended up walking a bunch in the final 4 miles, so no roundtrip FKT.  

Much more challenging than I expected. Route finding: difficult. Lots of twists and turns. Lots of downs and ups crossing creeks and ravines. One major wooden bridge over a steep ravine was completely destroyed. Slippery with mud, particularly on the off-camber hillsides.