Dartmouth 50 Unsupported FKT
August 28, 2023
I was not originally planning on submitting this time since I am not super happy on my time on this effort. However, after talking with fellow Dartmouth students I believe it is important to bring this FKT back into the Dartmouth family. Please note that even though this may be the fastest unsupported northbound time on this website, I know for certain this is not the fastest time which this route has been run (it may, on a technicality, be the fastest northbound unsupported effort). More on that below.
I am hoping to run this again sub-10hours in the near future. On this effort I blew up on Smart’s and died a million deaths the next 25 miles. Really had to fight myself to finish. While this is a new unsupported fastest known time, I want to note that Jordan Fields ran this route in 9:59:18 on August 23, 2023, just five days before this effort. While he humbly decided not to submit this time, I want to include an excerpt from his Strava because I believe he already said everything I would like to convey.
From Jordan's Strava: "On style. This was an unsupported effort. I ran with all my food from the start and filled water at streams. However, my good friend Peter Howe met me at the top of Moosilauke and ran with me to the end. As written in the journal entry, I run for experience and community, not records. Having Peter there is what resonated to me. I wanted to run my own run, in my own style. That's what I did. Having Peter out there technically makes this a supported run in the eyes of the self-appointed arbiters of our sport. So that is the first reason I will not be reporting this FKT to fastestknowntime.com. The second reason is because this route is extremely important to the Dartmouth community. It is hiked by students twice per year, in summer and fall. The event is so popular, there is a lottery to get in! Records on this route have been set and known within that community for years, since at least the early 1970s, likely '60s. The community is here in Hanover and on Moosilauke, not online. I'll let my record join the lore of this route, or be forgotten, both are possible. Finally, someone has likely run faster than this, so it doesn't feel right to claim the fastest time. I tracked down two Dartmouth XC runners, Sam Winebaum and Tom Tomai, who ran Southbound (2000' less elevation gain) in 9hrs 47min and 13s in 1979. There are rumors, that I have not been able to confirm, despite extensive research and communication with folks in the know, about a group of nordic skiers running 9:xx in the '90s."
Even though I didn’t have the day I wanted to, I’m happy to have finally run this route. So much history and such a beautiful trail. It is an honor to be able to trace the footsteps of generations of Dartmouth students before me. I look forward to watching future (and current) students tackle this time as well. I hope this time is beaten soon. I would love to see a sub 9:30:00 and I believe a sub 9:00:00 is eventually possible for a much better runner than myself.
