North-South Trail (RI)

[robertrives]

Ben Nephew has the FKT 12h13m26s, April 6, 2013.
Claire Marcel Gadrow has the women's FKT, 16h52m, June 6, 2015.
Other times are documented below.

Hi all! On Monday, February 27th 2012, myself (Robert Rives) and Jonathan Harrison are going to go for a thru-run of the 78-mile North South Trail in Rhode Island. This cross-state trail starts in the northwest corner of RI in the Buck Hill Management Area on the Massachusetts border and travels over a variety of surfaces to the beach east of Quonochontaug. You can find info concerning this trail at the following websites: www.rigreenways.org/paths/nst-data.htm, outdoors.htmlplanet.com/nst/nst_map00.htm

Jon and I are performing this run as part of our Runs for Relief fundraising project. We are attempting to raise awareness about psoriasis and secure funds for the National Psoriasis Foundation through cross-state adventure runs, of which this will be the first. Check out our blog here: runs-for-relief.blogspot.com

At this point, we have found no information concerning a FKT for this trail. We will be supported by family during the run, who will help us in producing footage of the run and subsequent proof of our route and overall time/distance. We will post our results here and to our blog as well. Our goal is to aim for ~15 hours, but our primary concern is finishing the trail in whatever time it takes and using this as a stepping stone in our fundraising project.

Let's use this thread to not only open up FKT discussion for Rhode Island's North South Trail but also use it to raise awareness of this little-known Northeast gem!

[robertrives]

Jon and I began our run from the Massachusetts border at 6:12 AM on 2/27 and dipped our feet in the Atlantic ocean at 1:50 AM on 2/28, making our time 19h38m for the entire 78-mile North South Trail. We approached this run without having any previous experience on this trail, and lost our way several times because of it, adding a fair amount of distance overall (we estimate running a total of ~87 miles with a total overall time of 20:33, including the approach to the trailhead). This was a fully supported run. Resurfacing injuries and lots of backtracking slowed us down considerably. Overall, we found the NST to be an incredibly scenic, interesting and varied trail.

Read a full report on Jon's blog: jonharrisons.blogspot.com/2012/03/88-miles-north-south-trail-and.html

Also, check out a video summary of the run: www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0wLTK72xZA&feature=youtu.be

[Patrick Donovan]

I ran the N-S Trail solo in May of 1999, north to south. My wife drove me up to Buck Hill @ 3AM, and I walked up to the Mass. line, starting south about 4 AM. I had reconnoitered various sections of the trail up in the northern half of the state, and lived in Wakefield RI, so had frequently run sections in the south. She met me in Rice City and down at Rte. 138 with gallon jugs of water to sluice myself off with and lots of ice cold Pepsi. Fig Newtons were my primary fuel. Fran met me again and picked me up to drive me home at 11PM at Blue Shutters Beach. So call it 19 hours overall - the first time I know of that anyone ran the whole thing. All the times I ran different parts of the Trail I almost never saw another person.

[robertrives]

Nice Patrick! Thanks for sharing your original thru-run experience. That's a long way to go on water, Pepsi and fig newtons. So many parts of that trail are spectacular, and most Rhode Islanders I meet have no idea that it exists.

[Patrick Donovan]

Thanks, Robert. At the time I was 52, and wasn't looking for speed, just a long, satisfying day in the woods. That was before the guidebook to the N-S Trail came out, and I was relying on a multi-page copy of a map that I think I'd downloaded from the net. I didn't even try to run the first few miles south from the Mass. line back to Buck Hill Rd. Unless they've changed or groomed the route, running it in the dark would have meant a broken leg for sure. I went up to the George Washington Management Area ahead of time, being totally unfamiliar with the northern half of the Trail, to try to figure out the unblazed sections. Even so, on the day of the run I got turned around up there, but am sure I covered at least the attributed total mileage. Maybe they still exist: the huge beaver dam near Snake Hill Rd., the llama farm a little farther south, the boulder field in Arcadia Park. And you wouldn't believe the mileage you can get from Fig Newtons!

[bennephew]

Bob Jackman and I attempted the FKT for the NST on 4/6/2013. Bob had to stop with a knee injury at 58, and I continued to finish at the ocean with a time of 12:13:26 for the 77 miles of the NST. I started my GPS at Douglas State Park. We ran 2.5 miles to RI state line from Douglas.

connect.garmin.com/activity/294251340

[Patrick Donovan]

Aloha Ben, and Congrats:
I used to follow your running exploits in The Hockomock Swamp Rat before The Rat pulled the plug. It's possible we ran some of the same races several years ago, but we wouldn't have been within shouting distance or even sight of each other. I doubt anyone will soon run the N-S Trail trail faster than you. My trail running was always more like sightseeing than competing, though now at the age of 66 there are fewer and fewer similar age runners out there to contend with. Keep up the good work!

[robertrives]

Crushed it, Ben! Great job! So glad to see more people out there running the NST :-)

[anjshaw]

We were inspired by both your and Ben's run of this trail, and on Saturday, June 6th 2015, three women started the trail at 12:25 (we ran from the car parked at Buck Hill 2nd lot up to the Mass border on the Prosser trail in 31 minutes, arriving at the state line at 12:20.) We followed the trail southbound, supported by our friends Eric Winn and Annette Florciak who met us at road crossings so we could eat and fill up our water bottles. Claire and Alison got extra miles (about 2-4?) having separated from me in the night and missed a turn near 101 at the CT border. We arrived at Blue Shutters Beach in the evening to the general cheer and support of many of Claire's friends from Narragansett Running Association. Our support lead, Eric Winn, a USAFT certified track coach, verified most of our arrival and departure times from various trailheads and junctures throughout, with the exception of when Claire and Alison lost the trail. Once Claire pulled ahead (after Shady Acres) our crew south of Rice City were able to verify her arrival and departure times from junctures.

We hereby establish the fastest known time(s) for women on the North-South Trail:

Claire Marcel Gadrow: 16:52
Alison Cleary: 19:38
Judith (Anj) Shaw: 19:44

I look forward to more people, especially women, getting out there and running this beautiful and interesting trail.

Thank you,
Anj Shaw