FKT: Eric Ferree - York County Heritage Trail (PA) & Northern-Central Rail Trail (MD) - 2020-04-25

Athletes
Route variation
full trail (47 miles)
Gender category
Male
Style
Self-supported
Finish date
Total time
6h 28m 37s
Report

Video:  https://www.facebook.com/april.ferree.7/videos/1522532241247191/?d=n

My beautiful wife dropped me off at the southern terminus of the NCR trail at Ashland Rd for an early 6:00am start. It was 43 degrees with no wind in the trees; it was perfect. I utilized redundant timing including my Epson SF-810 watch and the Strava app with Live Beacon on my phone. I attempted to share the link to the FKT contact link. April shared my live activity link on Facebook and posted a live video of the start.
The day before, I stashed 6 water bottles along the route at around 7 mile intervals for my only aid. I ended up missing only two of them which were presumably picked up as litter by other well-meaning trail users. Since it was such a beautiful day, I saw innumerable fellow trail users along the course especially as the day wore on and the sun came out. I saw 8 other runners on their own runs at various times along the course whom I know recognized me. I saw a couple more I recognized without knowing if they recognized me. And I saw my wife right by my house at mile 30 where she took another live Facebook video. I saw my best friend whom visited me at miles 27 and 41 to cheer me on.
I reached the old terminus in York City at 5:38 well under the previous record to that point. From there I followed the signed street connectors to the northern extension and on to the archway terminus at John Rudy County Park where my wife was waiting for me.
My Strava link shows my watch data and by clicking on the button that shows I ran with myself will reveal my phone recorded data. Their numbers are close, but I’m submitting my shorter distance and longer time watch-data because I believe them to be more accurate.