Rachel Carson Trail FKT Attempt

Decided to give this a go as my last epic training run ahead of Laurel Highlands Ultra in June. The day before, I dropped supplies at Bull Creek Road (10 miles), Springdale High School (20 miles), Emmerling Park (28 miles) and North Park (38 miles). Then I parked my car at the North Pittsburgh chamber of commerce near the Western Terminus in Wexford.

The morning of the run, I caught a Uber up to Natrona Heights. I left the Eastern Terminus shortly before 7am. Nutrition consisted of Tailwind, Honey Stinger waffles, potato chips, Twinkies, Mt. Dew and Clementine oranges. The run went pretty much as planned, which is an exception when it comes to ultras. Got pretty low around mile 30 but pushed through and finished with an elapsed time around 11 1/2 hours.

This trail is a beast and a true gem of the Pittsburgh area!

Strava for posterity: https://www.strava.com/activities/5312259341

‌‌Fastest Known Time submission: https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/jeffrey-inscho-rachel-carson-trail-pa-2021-05-16