NEWBURY, Mass. – Cole Crosby squinted as he looked out across the Atlantic Ocean, the glittery reflection of the sun off the water stinging his tired eyes on this nearly cloud-free day. His nostrils burned as he breathed in the cold ocean air, and his legs shivered in the 44-degree temperature and 15-mile-per-hour wind. The tastes of champagne and Modelo Especial were still fresh on his tongue, crisp celebratory palate cleansers after multiple days on the run. 

It’s fair to say Crosby was on the verge of sensory overload as he stood on the edge of Newbury Beach just after noon on Saturday, Nov. 11, a few minutes removed from completing his fastest known time (FKT) effort on the approximately 230-mile long Bay Circuit Trail (BCT). Still, of all the feelings and emotions coursing through his weary body in that moment, one stood out from the rest.

“Fulfilled,” Crosby said matter-of-factly. “That’s the one word.”

It would make sense if Crosby’s fulfillment stemmed from his performance: his time of 2 days, 5 hours, 51 minutes and 14 seconds smashed the supported FKT by more than 38 hours, but that wasn’t really it. Sure, Crosby was proud of his record-setting time, but his fulfillment was rooted in the fact that a much more deeply personal hope came to fruition during the course of his adventure.

A Goal and an Aspiration

When Crosby began plotting his FKT attempt during the summer, his goal – beyond breaking the existing record – was to raise awareness about the existence of the Bay Circuit Trail, which stretches from its southern terminus at Bay Farm in Duxbury to its northern terminus at Plum Island in Newbury. A vision since 1929, the Bay Circuit Alliance was formed in 1990 and began piecing the trail together. In 2012, the Appalachian Mountain Club assumed leadership of the Alliance to see the project to completion and enhancement. Today, the BCT is a mix of around 65% trail and 35% roads and paved paths that connects state parks, town and state forests, and various patches of conservation land as well as the Minuteman National Historical Park.

Despite its length, relatively close proximity to Boston, and the fact that it passes through 37 Massachusetts cities and towns, it has maintained a low profile. Crosby hoped to change that with his run. He hoped his FKT attempt would put a spotlight on the trail and entice other trail-lovers to explore it.

Crosby also hoped the community would join him along his journey and make his run a celebration of the Bay Circuit Trail. He knew it was a bit aspirational to think total strangers would venture into the woods or travel to random trailheads to see him pass or join him for a few miles, but he knew it was a possibility.

He didn’t have to wait long for the first person to reach out.

A Trailblazer Lends a Hand

Few people know the BCT as well as Matt Dibb. A Scituate resident, Dibb lives about 17 miles north of the trail’s southern terminus. He took interest in the BCT in 2021 when his local trails were overrun by new hikers, forcing him to seek less traveled trails to run during the COVID-19 pandemic. A friend from the local trail-running community, Art Beauregard, had established the first BCT FKT in June 2020, doing so in supported fashion in 4 days, 5 hours and 6 minutes. As the months passed, Dibb began dreaming of taking his own crack at the trail. He knew little about it at the time, so he spent the second half of 2021 studying the trail in 10- to 20-mile segments.

On Jan. 1, 2022, Dibb made it his New Year’s resolution to make an FKT attempt by the end of the year. He spent the next nine months doing additional homework on the course, mastering every twist and turn. On Oct. 27, Dibb departed the southern terminus. He had support along the way from a variety of friends, including crew chief Ben Manning, and pacing support from Alison Livingston Beauregard, Art’s wife who crew-chiefed his 2020 effort. During the early hours of the morning on Oct. 31, Dibb finished and set a new FKT of 3 days, 20 hours, 13 minutes and 47 seconds.

When Dibb learned during the summer of 2023 that Crosby was preparing to make his own run at the record, Dibb took a page from the Beauregards.

“I reached out and said ‘Good luck to ya! If you need any pointers, reach out,’” Dibb said. “His crew reached out to me, and I said, ‘Hey, I’m happy to help if you’d want some advice.’ They’d surveyed a little bit from Rhode Island but were at a bit of a disadvantage being far away, so I thought I’d try to help them out. That’s what the trail community does; we help each other, so I just wanted to give back. One of my pacers was the wife of Art Beauregard, who did the trail first, so I thought I should pass it on. There’s always going to be somebody faster than you and willing to do something bigger, and so the best you can do is just support them and be positive, so that’s what I did.”

Dibb shared all of the trail knowledge, strategy, and GPS data he could provide. He also agreed to join Crosby as a pacer.

With Dibb sharing information and volunteering to pace, Crosby’s team quickly fell into place. Manning – Dibb’s crew chief – signed on to pace two 20-mile segments, and Crosby’s wife and her small business partners at Chaos Crewing were enlisted to handle everything from logistics and mobile aid station support, to providing social media updates and coordinating with any community members who wanted to pace.

Crosby had a team; he had a plan; he had a goal. All that was left was to execute.

The Journey Begins

Crosby departed the southern terminus at Bay Farm at 6:39 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9. It was cold, overcast and windy with temperatures in the 30s, but he was determined and optimistic. Sleet pelted him during the first few hours as he navigated the boggy early sections, crossing ankle- and knee-deep water at times, taking his time on wet boardwalks, and using the road sections to pick up the pace.

While Crosby worked his way east and gradually turned north, his crew raced to predetermined checkpoints to set up a pop-up tent, table, and assortment of food options for him to quickly refuel and continue on his journey. Meanwhile, Dibb notified the Trail Animals Running Club that Crosby’s attempt was underway so members of the local trail community could join or follow along online in near real-time via Crosby’s GPS tracker.

When Crosby met his crew at the mile 55 checkpoint at the Deborah Sampson Park tennis courts in Sharon, he was already several hours ahead of record pace. It was almost dusk, so he wolfed down some food, made a quick wardrobe change, grabbed his headlamp and picked up Manning as a pacer. Night was falling, but a surprise awaited them a few hours down the trail.

It was around 7 p.m. Thursday evening when Crosby and Manning made their way into Walpole. The trek through Moose Hill Reservation had been a bear. From there, they trekked through the Walpole Town Forest, along the shore of the Neponset River and then popped out into a neighborhood. All of a sudden they heard the clattering of cowbells.

“Me and Cole were joking back and forth as we came down the road,” Manning recalled. “We heard the cowbell and the cheering and I said I feel bad for the people in these houses because people are going to get pissy with the noise. Then we get all the way down there and everybody’s out!”

Longtime Trail Animals Running Club member Alyssa Adreani had seen Dibb’s announcement that morning. The BCT passed right by her house, so she connected with Crosby’s crew and opened her home to them. Crosby and Manning arrived at a pop-up pizza party and comfortable aid station.

During the next 155 miles that remained, Crosby was lifted up time and again by friends and complete strangers who turned out to see him or join him on his run. Children brought him cookies and drawings. A family offered him a blueberry scone. Trail-runners and hikers chose routes that brought them to the BCT so they could cheer him on.

“It means everything,” Crosby said of the support he received. “When it gets tough, that’s the fuel that you draw on for strength. I knew there was a chance that something like that would happen, but I honestly didn’t believe it would happen until it did. I was completely humbled, almost broken down inside. Here I am, this goofy dude running 200 miles around Boston and people are taking time out of their day just to see me and run with me, kids giving me drawings and all that stuff. That’s the power of what running can do, but that’s inspiration in itself.”

Tim Remaiewicz had never met Crosby until arriving at the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Acton on Friday afternoon. A friend and co-worker, Max Greene, had learned of Crosby’s FKT attempt and took the morning off from work to meet Crosby and pace him for 18 miles. Remaiewicz was intrigued by the idea, so he decided to do the same.

“This’ll be a good way to get introduced to somebody,” Remaiewicz said while waiting for Crosby to arrive at mile 146 of his effort. “I run this Bruce Freeman Rail Trail almost every single day, so I know it really well. I’m sure he’s a little bit tired now and could use some navigation help, and I’m happy to do it.”

Remaiewicz ultimately joined Crosby for around 20 miles, the latter half of it also alongside Manning as they made their way through Lowell and onward to the Andover Dog Park at mile 166.

“Most running events are very self-centered; you’re focused on yourself and your own pace,” Remaiewicz said. “It’s super-cool to be supporting someone else and be kind of cheering them on.”

Crosby only slept for an hour during his first night on the trail, a quick power nap around 2:30 a.m. in the Ashland Market Basket parking lot around 96 miles into his run. On night two, he napped for 90 minutes at the Boy Scout Park in Boxford at mile 189. The bit of rest refueled him for the final 50K push to the finish on Saturday morning.

Storybook Ending

Crosby awoke refreshed from his power nap and ready to finish strong. He departed the Boy Scout Park and resumed his journey north on trails and roads. Five miles later, he arrived at Georgetown-Rowley State Forest. It was 7 a.m., and Dibb was waiting for him. Dibb originally was going to pace about 10 miles from Georgetown to Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, but there was a change of plans. The current FKT holder was going to join the challenger for the final 25 miles – all the way to the finish.

Together, Crosby and Dibb passed the miles chatting, getting to know each other and sharing stories of their time on the trail while making new memories in the moment. The wound through Willowdale, the place that first put the BCT on Crosby’s radar when he stumbled upon a trail marker. They made their way to Rowley, at which point they could almost smell the finish. There were 12 miles to go, but nearly all of it on the road. They clicked away the next five miles and crossed the Parker River into Newbury where Manning joined them for the final seven miles. Other than a few short jaunts on dirt, it was pavement the rest of the way. The trio picked up the pace.

Soon, they turned onto the Plum Island Turnpike. It was almost noon and this was the final straightaway. Dibb pulled out his cell phone, played Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” and cranked the volume. It was time to empty the tank.

“That last 5K of road straightway we just decided to kick it and go as fast as we could,” Dibb said.

The trio practically sprinted, driving their knees high into the air as they ran past the Plum Island Airport, charged across the Donald A. Wilkinson Bridge and dashed toward Newbury Beach – their final destination in sight.

Manning raced ahead to block traffic at the final road crossing, and Crosby and Dibb galloped right through, side by side, until reaching the sand. Dibb pulled up and cheered as Crosby covered the final yards to the ocean, touched the water and stopped his watch at 53:51:14.

A minute later, Crosby and Dibb shared an embrace as the ocean washed over their feet. The changing of the guard was complete, and Dibb made sure Crosby finished it with an exclamation point.

“That was like a storybook ending,” Crosby said. “To share the last marathon with him was really special; it was really the cherry on the top. It was just the perfect way to conclude this whole experiment.”

A Fulfilling Experience

In the minutes after touching the Atlantic Ocean and concluding his FKT adventure, Crosby savored a swig of champagne, was wrapped in a blanket, and shared countless hugs with his crew and friends. He climbed into his crew van and was interviewed by Aravaipa Running’s Mountain Outpost livestream which provided online coverage of his FKT attempt.

Then he returned to the sand for a final photo with his crew. It was there that he discussed the fulfillment that he felt from the experience. He had accomplished his time goal, but was deeply moved by the number of people who turned out to support him along the way.

What I would say is thank you to everybody who took the time to come out because you made this (happen),” he said. “This wasn’t just me running a FKT; it was our FKT, and we did it.”

A New Jersey native and adopted New Englander who lives in Cranston, R.I., Crosby said the love he felt from people in the community was immense. That love carried him through the highs and lows of his effort, fueled him during the cold nights in the dark, and left him feeling satisfied with the final result.

“New England people … we’re a different breed, and we’re the best breed,” Crosby said. “I’m not even a natural New Englander, and I’ve been welcomed with open arms and I love that. I’m a guy that grew up in New Jersey, but I feel more like a New Englander and New England proud than ever before. That’s why I wanted to do this attempt and why we went about it the way we did, and I’m just so happy to be able to kind of stick the landing. To put out a great time and great result and have tons of fun along the way and be able to finish and not be completely wrecked also was a goal, but I did leave it all out there. It was just a really, really special experience.”