Matt Kirk Takes Down Foothills Trail

On March 5th, Matt Kirk, Byron Backer, and John Dove started an effort to set a speed record for the foothills trail. Matt's summary follows.

Byron, John Dove and I set out last Saturday to run the 76 mile Foothills Trail in a day. We started from Table Rock State Park at 5:10 AM. My dad joined us to Rocky Bottom where I picked up Uwharrie (canine), she ran the Laurel Valley split with me in 6:52.

I reluctantly got ahead of John and Byron, but knew I'd regret not taking advantage of such fine weather. After emerging from the "gauntlet" I set out solo and on into the night to finish at Oconee State Park in 16:52. My folks provided great support on this endeavor and I especially appreciated the veggie sub at Whitewater! I felt remarkably fresh the whole way and somewhat reserved.

Sixteen hours could certainly be broken, but I'll leave that to Laurel Valley guru, Brian (Kistner). As for me, I feel as though this has redeemed my shameful Uwharrie DNF. -Matt

The story is probably not over, as Matt suggests. Last year Matt, Byron Backer, and Brian Kistner attempted to complete the foothills trail but were foiled by hot weather. Brian has had the foothills trail in his sights for a while.