Many, many years ago (early 2019, before I had ever even run 100 miles), I had the thought that while many people did the entire 1200-mile Florida Trail, they were always stuck choosing whether to do the east or the west portion of the trail once they got to central Florida. Almost everyone chooses the East section, as far as I know. Obviously for good reason because there are a lot of road sections on the west, but it is still incredible (it goes through my county and that section is the best section in all of the Florida trail and I am not biased at all).

I searched around, and I couldn’t find any record of someone doing the East & West routes together as a loop. It was then that I started plotting the route. Once I realized it was over 400 miles, I had to hit the breaks on my dreams of doing the route. Instead, I focused on building myself up and doing several multi-day events. However, I’m still not at a place where I can do the route myself, but a friend reached out because I talked about it on the podcast and he wanted to take it on!

Thus, the Bear & Boar 444 was created! This roughly 444-mile route covers the East-West loop of the Florida Trail.

Ary Rochon was the first to set the FKT on the route and raised over $12,000 for the Florida Trail Association. His record is 9 days, 9 hours, and 45 minutes as recorded on the Fastest Known Time website - https://fastestknowntime.com/route/bear-and-boar-444

I am opening up the ability for people to get the Bear & Boar buckle if they complete the route. In order to do so, you will need to follow the route, supply me with your strava, garmin, coros, etc data and make a $250 donation to the Florida Trail Association.

I have created a Google Map (with suggested crew stops that have mileage on them) and a CalTopo Map for people to follow! Please contact me if you’re interested in the route!