The stats say only 20% finish a thru hike. So I think many of us realize the chance of finishing a thru is pretty small if we have bad knees, bad feet, time or $ constraints, and a whole pile of other reasons.
So how many hikers out there consider themselves open ended section hikers rather a thru hiker. "I'll hike as long as I can" rather than "I know I'm gonna finish this" ?
It's like the joke in an old fiddle tune, city slicker asks the farmer "so farmer have you lived here all your life"? Farmer answers "not yet".
So if someone asks me if I'm a thru hiker I might answer "not yet" (would also make a good trail name)
But on the other hand you pretty much set yourself up for quitting when the trip gets real tough.
Your opinion?