Iron Horse/John Wayne Trail (rail trail across WA)

[Ellen Lavoie]

Starting at 7:40 am on Saturday, September 9th and finishing Sunday, September 17 at approximately 6:40 pm, I completed the entire Iron Horse/John Wayne Trail (also known in sections as the Milwaukee Road) as a run.   The trail utilized the old Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroad bed (also known as just the Milwaukee Road) that was designated as a recreational trail in 1985.  I received crew assistance of varying degrees during the run.  Due to some local landowner disputes and active rail areas, parts of the official trail also utilizes local dirt and paved roads that allow the recreationalist to "pick" their route.  I chose roads that kept me away from traffic as much as possible.  The total mileage recorded on the tracker came out to 296 miles although the setting was set to take points in such a timely manner that some of the mileage is left out.  Actual mileage turns out to be 305 miles as I did it.  Parts of the trail are inaccessible but are re-routed by road.  Those sections were completed on nearby road re-routes.  One exceptional that takes the original railroad route across the Columbia River is forbidden to travel on the trestle and going around on the I90 bridge by pedestrians or bicyclist is illegal.  In that case, I ran to the very edge of the trail where the trestle is fenced off on either side and to cross the river I was transported by car.  

Here is the Garmin tracker info: connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1985036193/share/0?lang=en

I am more than happy to provide raw data to anyone who is interested.  I'm also extremely happy to provide logistical info to anyone who wants to do this!  Considering I slept at the end of every day, I'm sure someone out there can beat my time and get an FKT attempt in!  

This was two years in the making as last year I attempted but for logistics and safety reasons skipped some sections without doing the re-routes.  My blog is currently being updated but you can find it here:  www.elgranola.wordpress.com and FB site for the run at: www.facebook.com/elgranola32/