Although he didn’t finish the grueling trek, the man who set out to run the entire length of the East Coast Trail in one go says he will certainly be back to do it again.
Tim McDonough has been living in St. John’s for the past two years, and has spent plenty of time on the trails. This time, he wanted to put all of the pieces together and run the trail at once—a feat nobody has ever accomplished.
(Map courtesy Garmin.)
His plan was to start at Topsail Beach and run all the way to Cappahayden. McDonough completed about 200 kilometres of the 336-kilometre trail over the course of Saturday to Monday. He got through about two thirds of what he calls the hardest part of the trail before he had to throw in the towel.
McDonough was fatigued, not thinking straight, and called it quits. He says he’s a little annoyed—and is kicking himself—but plans to come back and do it a second time in the spring.
It rained for a few days leading up to his departure, and McDonough says they dealt with a lot of mud, which really slowed them down. He had support from his partner, Heather Chambers, and some friends who met him at a number of trailheads with aid. He says having that support person is a nice comfort when you’re running on your own.
However, McDonough didn’t come off the trail unscathed, as he has a few new stitches in his head and a couple of bruises. However, he says he is 100 per cent happy with how far he made it.
People have been telling him that he should be proud of his accomplishment. He set a few different goals: to finish the trail, and the other to go as far as he felt he could.
McDonough says even to get the North section done, from Topsail Beach to the City of St. John’s, is a feat to be proud of. To his knowledge, no one has done that stretch in one run. He still plans on being the first to finish the entire trail from start to finish.
If he had to describe the experience in one word, McDonough calls it “grueling.”
Tim McDonough spoke with VOCM’s Ben Murphy. Listen below:
