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I See Trees of Green
Last spring I began exploring the idea of a new creative project. I purchased a Go Pro camera and started experimenting with making little videos of my run adventures. It was mostly out of pure, silly fun and curiosity more than anything. Not long after, my world turned upside down. It was the end of […]
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Where I Call Home
“At the end of the day, it isn’t where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I’m going and never have been before.” ― Warsan Shire It’s been two months since I left Portland, the place I called home for thirteen years. I spent the interim in the Green Mountains of Vermont in pursuit of […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 7
Day 7 – Sunday 7/17/2022 Bear Hollow Shelter (218.3) to Northern Terminus / Canadian Border (272.0) 53.5 miles / 16,909 ft gain / 14,918 ft loss 2.6 mph Start: 11:28pm (Saturday 7/16) Finish: 8:12pm (Sunday 7/17) Elapsed: 20h 43m I woke up to my vibrating phone alarm, bzz-bzz-bzz-bzzzzzz. Bzz-bzz-bzz-bzzzzzz. I had chosen the “Beethoven’s 5th” setting which […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 6
Day 6 – Saturday 7/16/22 Duxbury Road Trailhead (181.9) to Bear Hollow Shelter (218.3) 36.4 miles / 11,263 ft gain / 10,079 ft loss 2.3 mph Start: 3:04am Finish: 6:38pm Elapsed: 15h 34m When I left the trailhead this morning, my pack was as heavy as it had ever been. I knew water would be […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 5
Day 5 – Friday 7/15/2022 Emily Proctor Shelter (141.2) to Duxbury Road Trailhead (181.9) 40.7 miles / 11,276 ft gain / 12,869 ft loss 2.3 mph Start: 2:50am Finish: 8:29pm Elapsed: 17h 39m Since I had stopped so early yesterday evening, I got an extra early start today to allow enough time to get to […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 4
Day 4 – Thursday 7/14/2022 US-4 (104.5) to Emily Proctor Shelter (141.2) 36.7 miles / 9,810 ft gain / 7,762 loss 2.6 mph Start: 4:36am Finish: 6:38pm Elapsed: 14h 02m I took my time getting ready in the morning so I could reorganize my pack, separate my food into different bags for each day since […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 3
Day 3 – Wednesday 7/13/2022 Peru Peak Shelter (64.5) to US-4 (104.5) 40.0 miles / 8,155 ft gain / 8,878 ft loss 2.7 mph Start: 3:52am Finish: 6:43pm Elapsed: 14 hrs 51 min This day was tougher than expected. I felt pretty sleepy in the morning, even after taking some caffeinated Spring Energy gels and […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 2
Day 2 – Tuesday 7/12/2022 Goddard Shelter (24.1) to Peru Peak Shelter (64.5) 40.4 miles / 8,153 ft gain / 8,605 ft loss 2.7 mph Start: 4:51am Finish: 7:50pm Elapsed: 14h 59m It was nice to start the day only needing my headlamp for about half an hour before clicking it off. The sky was […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 1
In a truly unexpected turn of events, I’m tickled to death and pleased as punch to share that this past Sunday, July 17th I broke the women’s self-supported record on the Long Trail, held by Jennifer Pharr Davis, in 6 days, 8 hours, and 12 minutes (pending verification). After my first two failed attempts I’m […]
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To Wait and See
I played all my cards right to the best of my knowledge, everything went exactly to plan, and in the end the Long Trail won again. As I’m writing this at 6:11am on Tuesday, this would have been my third morning on the trail. Had I still been hiking, I’d likely either be descending Bolton […]
Who is Mercury?
Liz Derstine, trail name “Mercury”, is a distance runner, endurance hiker, writer, and musician residing in Boston, MA. She holds the fastest known times for a woman on the Appalachian Trail (supported, northbound), Long Trail (self-supported), and Pinhoti Trail (self-supported).
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Mercury on the Run 