FKT Pointy Knob Loop Canaan, WV
FKT Pointy Knob Loop Canaan WV
Dec 3 2021
Time to beat: 1:18:05
My official time: 1:14:49
Strava Link: https://strava.app.link/nPh9waqNIqb
Nutrition-
Before: Honey Stinger waffle, watermelon @redbull, @Xendurance protein shake.
During: Muir energy cacao almond, double serving of Endurance Headquarters endure fuel and one serving of Xendurance focus. After: Tip Top Coffee Co. pepperoni roll and nitro cold brew for the win!
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FKT or fastest known time is the speed record for a running or hiking route. Unlike most endurance sports competitions such as marathon world records, FKTs are self-organized and done alone or in small groups.
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I really enjoy running alone and I had a Friday off and decided to head down to Canaan and test my endurance less than a month after rim to river. As I got closer to Canaan the temperature slowly dropped and once in the valley it was in the low 30s. I had to locate two access points because 5 1/2 miles of this FKT were on trail and the other 2 miles were on a service road and that would connect back to my car. Once I located both access points I headed to the trail head to check out what I was told would be a water crossing as soon as I started. I got all my gear ready laced up my shoes and took a short walk to check out the trail and that water crossing. I planned the best dry route I could to get across went back to the starting point and started my watch and I was off. Got through the water crossing without getting my feet wet and with any new trail or FKT I’ve tried what inevitably happens…happened and I got lost. I decided to walk back to the car and restart this thing. In the first half mile I had already gotten my feet wet so the second time I didn’t really have to worry about the water crossing. I got back to my car and did a little bit of breath work calmed myself down reset my watch and headed out. This time I said the hell with it just ran right through the middle of the water crossing and once I bypassed the spot where I got lost it was smooth sailing from there. I followed the blazes and for the first 3.2 miles it’s a solid 900 foot climb and during that 3 miles I was greatly questioning whether I could beat the mark. I just kept pushing knowing the downhill was coming and I was hoping it wasn’t as bad as the climbs. The trail is beast coast at its best! Rocky and root covered, deep mud sometimes midcalf depth. During the run thinking back about planning a route across the creek (laughing at my thought I would keep dry feet) and realizing that the trail was basically a creek bed on the downhill and I was doing everything I could to make up time from the climb and try not to break an ankle. After the climb right before the downhill I smashed a @Muir energy cacao almond chased it with some endure fuel turned up the music and started pushing. I was starting to feel better on the downhill because yeah I wasn’t climbing anymore. Around four 4 1/2 miles I saw a small bear off in the distance which really got my adrenaline going. One more mile and I was going to hit the service road it was a packed gravel road that would be great to run on after this gnarly foot crushing trail. I looked down at my watch I was a little over 5 miles and I could see a big turn coming up ahead and there it was on to the service road time to shift gears and make up time. Miles six was 7:30 and mile seven was 7 flat which got me to a finishing time of 1:14:49. It was a great feeling to cross the finish line alone in the woods and feel the sense of accomplishment and solidarity. My main goal with doing FKT‘s is to take the seven routes in West Virginia and extend that on a lot of the beautiful trails that will never have races because it is protected land. This will be a way for us to compete with each other while still protecting the land leaving no trace and respecting our Mother Nature. I can’t wait to work with local runners to put together some great FKT routes and hopefully go after the mark of some of the others already set. The Allegheny Trail FKT has been a goal of mine for a long time and I’d like to set FKT routes on the two 95 miles sections and then try to match or beat the mark on the whole thing.