FKT Report: Palisades Long Path/Shore Trail
DATE: 6.1.19
LOCATION: PALISADES INTERSTATE PARK, NJ
ADVENTURE: 25.6 MILES
FKT: 4:54:03
By 6 am Saturday morning, we were on the road, driving towards the George Washington Bridge. Today was special as my friend, Clarissa, was joining us for her first crew experience! Even though it was early and relatively cool, the air still had that sticky feeling that meant a hot and humid day was on the way. I had mapped out the route as best I could and planned stops where my team would meet me to offer encouragement and drink refills.
At 6:25 am I hit the start button and left the tree that served as the trailhead. I ran down the hill, out of Fort Lee Historic Park and crossed under the GWB to the stairs that would take me onto the Long Path trail. The first few miles of the Long Path is well-worn and flat, making for a speedy start. I took it section by section. Stephen and Clarissa met me at every lookout point to cheer me on (and take a few photos). As I sped down the trail, I startled countless deer and rabbits. It just meant I was the first one here for the day.
I kept expecting the trail to become rockier and more technical, but it was quite runnable with only a few overgrown sections. I was almost halfway just under 2 hours. Even though I had run this trail before, I didn’t remember it quite as well as some others. Initially, I thought the Long Path would be the tougher trail of the two, but in thinking about the men their recorded FKTs of around 4 hours, it meant the Shore Trail must be more difficult. As I reached the intersection where the Long Path meets the Shore Trail, I was officially in unchartered territory. I had never run this trail. Time to find out the truth!
The Shore Trail started innocently enough, following a creek down to steep stairs descending about 500 feet to the river. And here was a warning sign: Attention hikers! Giant Stairs ahead! Extremely difficult! Now, with my trail experience, I can be a little arrogant. What is “extremely difficult” to most may be “not that bad” to me. Not the case with the Giant Stairs. This part of the trail was just over a mile long and made up of large boulders. The Palisades Interstate Park was created to protect the cliffs from quarries blasting them for stone. As I traversed this section, I wondered if this was the result of some of those blasts.
Unlike other boulder fields, the trail remained rather flat instead of going up or down. This actually make it harder to navigate and slowed me down quite a bit. Stephen could check my location and told me later it looked like I was barely moving! As I neared the end of the boulder field, I nearly stepped on a snake curled up on a rock. It was small, light brown with a triangle or diamond like pattern… a young Copperhead! I’m used to seeing harmless black rat snakes, but Copperheads are poisonous! I warned a couple hikers ahead about my close call, but kept moving. I was ready to run again!
The trail continued to follow the shore and was still pretty rocky throughout. As the temps rose to around 70 degrees, I was thankful for the unexpected shade from the trees along the trail. The wildlife from earlier was replaced by more groups of hikers and even a club out to pick up trash. I thanked them for their work to keep the trails beautiful. After the longest section that felt like it would never end, I finally made it to the next checkpoint. I needed to refill my bottles and eagerly ate some refreshing watermelon. My fuel of choice included Hüma gels, Honey Stinger gummies, and pepino limon gatorade (the best flavor ever!). I had more savory snacks, but I struggled a bit in eating real food. I think it was the humidity and my first long run in those conditions.
I took off for another long section of about 5 miles. I was feeling tired by this point, and just trying to stay on top of my fueling needs to keep going. One mile at a time. One section at a time. Focus focus focus. And then it happened. I tripped. I still don’t know how exactly, it was so quick! One second I was running along and the next my knee was slamming into a giant rock. The pain was so intense, I screamed in agony and felt like I might be sick. I let myself yell it out, hoping it would pass. As I sat there, a million thoughts went through my head. My knee is broken, I can’t walk, I have to quit, I might not be able to race this year, maybe surgery, how can I coach? etc. Slowly, I regained control and my breathing slowed. As I pushed myself up, I tentatively put some weight on my leg. It didn’t buckle, success! I starting walking, limping my way down the trail. Literally around the next bend, I could see Stephen and Clarissa. I was relieved I had only been about 100 meters from them and could take some time to rest and reset at the car.
They knew right away something was wrong. Thankfully, nobody mentioned quitting. I was still walking and only had about 3 miles to go. The time was 4 hours and 22 minutes. I voiced the thought that I didn’t think going under 5 hours was possible any more. Stephen told me just to focus on one step at a time. And so I did. As I walked off, I tested a little jog. Everything was okay. So I started to go faster. The terrain was now a mix of road and groomed trail. Families were out enjoying the day, and a local club was out training. The buzz of activity helped rejuvenate me as I steadily picked up the pace.
I was running as best I could, under the GWB and up the final set of stairs. The end is an uphill which can feel a bit brutal.. Stephen and Clarissa met me at the tree to celebrate my finish. I had snuck in just under 5 hours! Feeling pretty beat (physically and emotionally) I just sat down to finally rest. We chatted about the day, the terrain and my fall. This trail really had everything! Nice views along the cliffs, wildlife, history, length and some challenging technical sections. I’m so happy to have completed the loop and highly recommend it to any trail runners in the NYC area.