Sunday, June 18, 2017

Day 8: St. Charles to Machens (12.2 miles)

Day 8: Victory Lap

This truly was a victory lap. After reaching St. Charles the previous afternoon I emotionally felt like the journey was complete. Lizzy took my pack, so all I had with me was a water bottle, and I decided to run as much as I could. It felt really good to just go for a run as opposed to strategizing my fuel, run/walk intervals, weather contingencies, etc ...

The section from Machens to St. Charles is very pretty and was pretty deserted, but it was the middle of a week day. The lowest point of the Katy Trail occurs in this section, and this presented the only small wrinkle of the day. The previous week had been a bit rainy, and a low section of the trail had flooded over the weekend. There were signs announcing the trail was closed. I decided to just ignore the sign for several reasons. I would have had to go really far out of my way to bypass the closed section. Also, detouring or going back would have added up to an hour, and I didn't have a phone to let anyone know I would be late. I also really didn't want to have to turn around at this point. I decided to push on, and turn around if there was deep standing water or moving water. Luckily it was just muddy and I made it through and then on to the end!

Lizzy set up a finishing shoot and finish line and had signs for cheering. It was awesome.

Katy Trail, you were awesome and challenging! We'll be back and next time both of us will finish!




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