FEATURE: Andrew Rylaarsdam Just Set the Fastest Known Time (3:38:37) Running the Chicago Lakefront Trail

Andrew Rylaarsdam just set the fastest known time (3:28:37) running the Chicago Lakefront Trail out-and-back. His 36-mile supported feat shatters the previous record by over 20 minutes.

With races canceled and group runs postponed, Andrew was searching for a way to safely make his own fun. Accompanied by his Fleet Feet x New Balance Racing Team teammates, Andrew’s crew took most of the thinking out of it by running alongside him and feeding him with gels and fluids.

Join us in giving Andrew a virtual pat on the back and read the full interview below. You can view his feat on Strava here.

When did you decide you wanted to set the fastest known time on the lakefront trail?

It started out as a crazy idea in March. Then when I started thinking about fall marathons and realized that they might not happen, I decided to use this as a backup option to motivate myself, to get out the door and train for the marathon, despite the doubt that existed around whether it would happen.

And how does the process work? How do you find a course or create a course to set the fastest known time?

There are a lot of courses that people have submitted to the fastest known time website. They encourage people to submit courses that are noticeable or notable. There are others that are more rugged trails.

You set the course record for the fastest supported time. What does supported mean versus non-supported?

Supported means that you can have a crew with you to give you gels and fluids. I actually got to run with some of my Fleet Feet teammates, which was awesome. I would not have run this near as fast without having people to run with and a crew to get me my gels. The unsupported means that you do it all on your own. They have an intermediate option that's self-supported where you can't have people pacing you or carrying your fluids, but you can stash them on the way.

Do you know Jamie Hershfang? She’s the Fleet Feet Lakeview store manager and actually set the women’s course record.

Yeah, she actually biked with me during this. I ran with her for a chunk of hers this summer so it was fun to have somebody along who knew the pain of getting through those last few miles.

How do you submit proof?

You have to upload your GPS file and a summary of your run within 24 hours of making the attempt and each year they publish a list of their like top 10 courses, where people have run really, really amazing times. With those, you actually have to submit live tracking so that people can follow along with your effort. The lakefront path wasn’t one of those.

How did you train?

I started out with marathon training and I ran workouts on Wednesday nights with the other Fleet Feet Racing Team guys. Those workouts weren't specific to this ultra attempt, but when I found out the marathon was canceled, I started doing back-to-back long runs on the weekends, which I wouldn't normally do for marathon training. I think there was a couple of times where I do 20 miles on Saturday and then another 20 mile run on Sunday. And then I did a few runs of like 30 miles that were longer than anything I had done before. I wanted to get at least one or two runs in that would be like a full three and a half hours. Just so I was comfortable being on my legs for that long.

Fastest known times are becoming more popular. Why do you think that is?

I think that it's just really attractive without a race to train for. I always know that I can go run hard, but this year there's been no certainty that I'll have race to run.

You can also do it safely solo.

Even if the California International Marathon hadn't been canceled, given the state of things right now, I wouldn’t have wanted to travel out there. So, this is just a really good alternative.

What fastest known time do you have your eyes on next?

Ooh. I don't know. There’s something called Kal Haven Trail in Michigan. It’s a trail from Kalamazoo to Grand Haven. I'm from West Michigan. So, I think that would be pretty fun to attempt. If I did do another one, I’d be interested in doing one in a more rugged wooden trail.

Do you have any interest in transitioning into ultras now?

No.

Why not?

I told one of my friends during the last five miles that I was never going to run an ultra. The issue for me with longer ultras is that at some point you have to start eating solid food. I made it through this one, just on the nutrition I use for a marathon. I used Maurten gels and drink mix. I don't know that I could go much more just off of sugar and caffeine.

Who are the people behind fastestknowntime.com?

I don't know who actually started it. I know that they have volunteers for different regions. The guy who reviewed mine wrote me a note and told me congratulations and verified the GPS data.

What was the hardest part?

The toughest part was probably, well, mentally, the toughest part was about 21 or 22 miles in. When the miles started feeling a little longer each time. I knew I still had about 15 miles to go. And so some doubts started creeping in. Physically the most difficult was the last five miles. I was really motivated to under three hours for the 50K and once I achieved that goal, it was just about making it to the end. My legs were really, really tying up.