Silver Comet FKT

“Whatcha tryna do?” asked the woman in the window at Wendy’s when my crew told her I had just run the fastest known time on the Silver Comet Trail.

“Honestly, I’m not even sure….”, I answered.

What was I trying to do?

Ultrarunning serves no ultimate purpose in life other than self-fulfillment. The woman in the window ultimately asked if I was training for a bike marathon, likely unable to comprehend that I had just covered 61.5 miles on foot, by choice, on a chilly February day. Her question was (and is) 100% valid.

If I ever figure it out what I'm trying to do, I’ll let you know.

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I really cannot remember when I first started thinking about the Silver Comet Trail FKT. I knew some cyclists who had ridden for long distances on it and certainly locals used it as a flat and (mostly) traffic-free training space. Sometime in 2020 though, I started thinking about FKTs and while I love training and being in the mountains, my forte for endurance is flat and fast.

I tossed around the idea a bit in my head and then started talking about it aloud sometime last fall. After a couple of races and adventures in September/October, I really was focused more on training towards a 100 mile week. When Eli reached out to me in November about getting after the FKT on the Silver Comet, something he’d also been considering, I was excited to help out, but not feeling quite where I wanted to be in training.

At some point in my 100 mile build, I realized that I would likely have all this endurance fitness and the Silver Comet would be the ultimate culmination of a big training cycle. Normally, the fitness would be for a race, but since those have been pretty sporadic at best, I decided this would be a really great opportunity to try for an FKT.

The 100 build went better than expected and I soon found myself checking that box and ready to check another. Because there are no set dates for FKTs, I knew that I was going to just have to aim for a weekend and hope for the best weather-wise. If things looked really bad, I could always adjust as needed.

A week out from the planned date, the weather was predicted to be icy and I started getting nervous about needing to adjust. As it got closer, it appeared to warm up, but then it was supposed to rain. Not ideal. I kept refreshing the weather app all day long on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping that the chance of rain would lessen. Luckily, it appeared to be less than 50% and accumulation was to be light, if there was any.

It was go time.

I spent the night at my sister’s house as she lives about 2 miles from the trail head. I was able to sleep pretty well and started stirring shortly before my 5:40 a.m. alarm. I drank a cup of coffee and managed to eat half of a giant bagel with peanut butter. My stomach was not feeling great, but I was hoping it was just pre-FKT excitement nerves.

The night prior had felt really chilly so I donned a long sleeve and my puffy jacket over my tank and walked outside. At the trailhead, I realized it was thankfully a bit warmer and was able to switch to just my arm sleeves. After a bit of shuffling of getting my gear into my crew’s car, it was time to get a couple of pics at the start and the countdown to 7:00 a.m. began.

 

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3…..2…..1…..go!

I headed off down the trail with Aaron next to me on the bike and my crew/pacers cheering me on. It was still dark enough to need a headlamp and I spent the first few minutes just settling into a really comfortable pace before I even glanced at my watch. I told Aaron that I was sorry I’d become less and less talkative as the day wore on, but that I deeply appreciated him sitting in the saddle for 10 hours on a cold day, slowly pedaling.

The first miles were rather uneventful and I noticed that I didn’t really feel particularly good or bad. There was no pop to my legs, but I didn’t feel bad mentally or physically. Which was probably best because I was just letting my body wake up with the sky and staying bored in the early miles.

I recently bought a pair of Aftershokz headphones and it was nice to have music playing in the background really quietly while also conversing a bit with Aaron. I knew the battery on both the headphones and my phone wouldn’t last all day, but it would at least get me 6+ hours at least.

The first aid station was at mile 8.6 and the crew was ready to hand me a fresh handheld and a couple of gels. I had my watching beeping at me every 30 minutes to tell me to eat and was going to alternate watered down Roctane and just plain water in my handhelds. Being chilly out meant that I really didn’t need to mess with a hydration pack and after running a 100 miler last year with just a handheld, I knew it wouldn’t annoy me.

Scott surprised me around mile 12 and hopped into pacing me for a few miles right after I made a pit stop at a legitimate bathroom next to a playground on the route. I hadn’t planned on having run pacers until mile 22.2 so it was a nice surprise to share a few miles with him. I was still in really good spirits then, despite my Garmin going haywire and telling me that I was 2 miles behind what Aaron had on his GPS and what the mile markers were at.

At mile 14.7, the crew met me for another bottle exchange and I decided to grab some peanut butter pretzels and a rice krispy treat. My stomach was already getting tired of the sweet stuff and I was determined to not let my fuel game go south so early on in the run.

Once I got to 22.2, I was happy to pick up Eli and David to pace me for the next long section. I started to have a couple of down spots and I think having them there kept me from getting too negative. It was a conscious effort to try to make sure I was keeping it fun - shouting through the echo-y tunnels keeping the conversation colorful.

David gave me an Uncrustable at one point and I was decidedly topped off on calories. I let it sit in my mouth half-chewed for a really long time and then spit it all out once the bout of nausea came over me. Eating was good, but eating too much was bad. So from then on out, I really kind of ignored my watch timer.

At mile 33.5, Coot’s Lake, I was starting to feel the concrete wearing on my legs and opted to take a few Excedrin - not ideal for my liver, but I was dreading the next 28 miles without some relief.

Fortunately, the combination of cooling off on the nutrition and the Excedrin seemed to help and by the time we got to Nathan Dean Sports Complex at mile 38.7, I was feeling much better mentally and physically. The Sullivan’s kids would come running up to us at each aid station now that David was running so it was like having a tiny fan club each time we approached.

Aaron handed me a birthday cake Oreo and I find it funny that this handoff of the Oreo and the short little stretch of boardwalk is etched into my brain now.

I hadn’t run in this section before and even though it was a bit hillier, I was enjoying a little bit of change on my tired legs. David & Eli kept the conversation going and I was still in decent spirits towards the end of their pacing legs that I was able to add in from time to time.

We had a tiny Chihuahua come and defend his property in this stretch and I took a picture with a cemetery sign. I was “feeling dead” and it seemed really funny to me at the time. This was probably the last little bit of humor I could muster before myself as I headed into the last half marathon.

Mile 45.8, Grady Road was the last aid with David & Eli and I was taking more time now at aid stations, enjoying a minute or two of a break and getting what I needed. Aaron had filled up his saddle bag with food at one point and I was subsisting on ginger candy and watered down Roctane anyway so I wasn’t super concerned.

Katherine & Jared jumped in for pacing duties at this point and we immediately started doing a lot of walking as this section of the trail is affectionately known as “Mount Trashmore”. With the extra walking, I was able to get my stomach to a more happy place and even asked Katherine for some snacks because I was starting to feel hungry.

Once we got through the hills of Mount Trashmore and I was topped off on calories again, I was able to keep a steady run going again AND I was feeling in a bit better spirits.

At mile 51.4, I handed off my phone and headphones which had now died, picked up my Mighty music player and tossed off my Spibelt (which was no longer serving the purpose of holding fuel). I rubbed Voltarin all over my legs and wiped my face down with a baby wipe at Cassy’s suggestion. I finished the last little bit of Coke and then we headed off into what I knew was ultimately the final stretch.

The crew met us again at mile 53.4, just 2 miles after the previous stop and I was feeling ready to just knock the miles down. I didn’t stop for anything there and plodded along until I was hungry again and tried to eat a rice krispy treat. Much like the Uncrustable earlier in the day, it sat in my mouth for far too long until I ultimately just spit it all out.

I was trying to run 2 miles at a time before walking at this point and would only allow myself a few minutes of walking if needed. The music was blaring in my ears and once I got to maybe mile 56 or so, I was determined to just try to keep going as long as I could without walk breaks. Katherine, Jared, and Aaron were talking and I could hear snippets of their conversation, but between the music and my tunnel vision, I was in my own world.

My mood was widely swinging at this point, I was highly emotional about my crew spending their day with me and I almost felt a little embarrassed about the whole thing. Like, how did I deserve to be so lucky? And then I would slip into anger, wishing that I could push a little harder and run a little faster, knowing how little I had left to run.

At one point, a couple of German Shepherds came flying out of nowhere and barking wildly, chasing us down. I was so out of it that I didn’t even notice until Katherine pushed me to the side, using her body to shield me from the dogs. Fortunately, they eventually backed off and no one (humans or dogs) were hurt, but I think we all felt the cumulative adrenaline rush.

My rush wore off rapidly though and soon, I was back to checking my watch, doing runner math, and contemplating just how much longer I had to move before I could stop. As we neared closer and closer to the end, I just told myself to hold on for 20 more minutes, 15 more minutes, 10 more minutes. The long expanses of the trail played mind games on me because I could spot the markers from afar, but it seemed so long to cover the distance.

Once we got to the last marker where the cars were parked, I desperately searched for the arch that was the state line marker. I wanted so badly to find the extra gear and sprint to the finish, but I was completely gassed. It took everything I had to just keep the pace I had to bring it to the line.

I hung on Katherine’s shoulder as long as I could, letting her pace reel me in until I finally spotted the arch. Any bit I might have saved for the end was completely used in the final miles to just keep running. As I crossed the finish tape (which was sooooo cool by the way!), I nearly collapsed as my body knew it was allowed to stop moving.

9:47:18

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This truly was a group effort. I never, ever would have been able to manage this day on my own and each one of the crew and pacers played such a pivotal role in making it a successful day. I always thought it was a little corny that athletes would often thank those around them while not highlighting their own successes, but I can’t say enough good things about my selfless crew. I really lucked out in finding all of them.

Photo creds: Jared Campbell & Eli Dickerson