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  1. #1
    Registered User tenn_hiker's Avatar
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    Default AT Unsupported Speed Record Attempt

    I was planning a 75 day unsupported AT thru-hike.. then I looked up the record and it is 60.5 days.
    I haven't decided if i'm going to go for it or not. I REALLY want too!
    "Teufel Hunden"

  2. #2

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    Just go out and do what you can do.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  3. #3
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    Hike it a couple times, and then go for the record.

  4. #4

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    The guy who hiked the AT unsupported in 60.5 days, Ward Leonard, had done a TON of miles on the AT beforehand -- he hiked the trail three times just in that one record setting year! The guy who owns the unsupported record for the Pacific Crest Trail, Scott Williamson, was hiking it for the umpteenth time when he did it. The woman who just set the record for a supported AT hike, Jen Pharr, was thru-hiking the AT for the third time. The guy who had the record before her, Pete Palmer (edit: the person I was trying to describe here is Andrew Thompson, not Pete Palmer, as LW pointed out in a subsequent post), had made at least two attempts before he set that record. I hope you see the trend here. Treat your first long hike on the AT as an enjoyable learning experience.
    Last edited by map man; 05-03-2012 at 21:42.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by map man View Post
    The guy who hiked the AT unsupported in 60.5 days, Ward Leonard, had done a TON of miles on the AT beforehand -- he hiked the trail three times just in that one record setting year! The guy who owns the unsupported record for the Pacific Crest Trail, Scott Williamson, was hiking it for the umpteenth time when he did it. The woman who just set the record for a supported AT hike, Jen Pharr, was thru-hiking the AT for the third time. The guy who had the record before her, Pete Palmer, had made at least two attempts before he set that record. I hope you see the trend here. Treat your first long hike on the AT as an enjoyable learning experience.
    ^ Because it will make a difference! ^
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by map man View Post
    The guy who hiked the AT unsupported in 60.5 days, Ward Leonard, had done a TON of miles on the AT beforehand -- he hiked the trail three times just in that one record setting year! The guy who owns the unsupported record for the Pacific Crest Trail, Scott Williamson, was hiking it for the umpteenth time when he did it. The woman who just set the record for a supported AT hike, Jen Pharr, was thru-hiking the AT for the third time. The guy who had the record before her, Pete Palmer, had made at least two attempts before he set that record. I hope you see the trend here. Treat your first long hike on the AT as an enjoyable learning experience.
    pete palmer got the record in his first attempt. andy thompson took a few attempts

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by tenn_hiker View Post
    I was planning a 75 day unsupported AT thru-hike.. then I looked up the record and it is 60.5 days.
    I haven't decided if i'm going to go for it or not. I REALLY want too!
    "Want to" and can are two completely different thing. Just out of curiosity... What is your longest distance day and elevation gain?

  8. #8
    Peakbagger Extraordinaire The Solemates's Avatar
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    HUGE difference between a 75 day hike and a 60 day hike
    The only thing better than mountains, is mountains where you haven't been.

    amongnature.blogspot.com

  9. #9
    Registered User tenn_hiker's Avatar
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    And now I remember why I usually don't post things on here..
    "Teufel Hunden"

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by tenn_hiker View Post
    And now I remember why I usually don't post things on here..
    Well, you could have announced that you were going to do it closer to your start and said you thought you had a good chance because you're in really good shape and/or have a lot of willpower. Then the rest of us would sit back and wait for signs of your inevitable failure to break the record. That usually happens on day 1. You'd be one of many that hit the trail without the experience that are doomed to failure.

    The record is very tough to beat right now, and I don't believe any amount of physical fitness or willpower can allow the record to be broken without a good deal of experience. Now if you don't necessarily have to have that experience yourself, but it means having a really good support team that can give you tips on how to waste the least amount of time in camp/town, carry the least amount of weight, how to cope with closures and fires, deal with illness or injuries and all the other things that come with a great deal of experience. You can't afford to make many small mistakes.

  11. #11

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    The A.T. speed record is about 47 days and completed by Jennifer Pharr Davis, trail name Odyssa. I think that was her third attempt but not sure.

  12. #12
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
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    Hers was supported. This is unsupported.







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  13. #13
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    Tenn_Hiker,

    No need to get too discouraged by the feedback you read on this forum. A lot of this is sound advice and can be treated as warm-up practice to combating the inevitable negative voices encountered inside one's head after yet another 36+ mile painful rain-soaked day on the trail...

    The reasons for quitting are nearly infinite: any new unsupported/self-supported record will be recognized by only a small minority of those who care about these records in the first place. The tremendous feat of thru-hiking the trail in sub-60 days is destined to always be a footnote to the higher-profile FKT (which I believe will remain a supported record).

    Your interest in this 20 year old record admirable and should be pursued. Just please be sure to document your attempt. There are some good suggestions for doing so on Peter Bakwin's FKT site.

    -Matt

  14. #14
    Registered User tenn_hiker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by matthew.d.kirk View Post
    Tenn_Hiker,

    No need to get too discouraged by the feedback you read on this forum. A lot of this is sound advice and can be treated as warm-up practice to combating the inevitable negative voices encountered inside one's head after yet another 36+ mile painful rain-soaked day on the trail...

    The reasons for quitting are nearly infinite: any new unsupported/self-supported record will be recognized by only a small minority of those who care about these records in the first place. The tremendous feat of thru-hiking the trail in sub-60 days is destined to always be a footnote to the higher-profile FKT (which I believe will remain a supported record).

    Your interest in this 20 year old record admirable and should be pursued. Just please be sure to document your attempt. There are some good suggestions for doing so on Peter Bakwin's FKT site.

    -Matt
    Thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to look at that sight. I'll comment back on this post when I know for sure if i'm going to try it or not.. and I know that no one really cares about the record.. it's more of a personal thing, to see what I can do and push my self a little bit. If I fail, then I fail.. no big deal to me
    "Teufel Hunden"

  15. #15
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    I think a good benchmark for the unsupported record would be to hike to Pearisburg in 25 days, which is an average of 25 miles per day. If you can reach Pearisburg in 25 days, you have a shot...go back to Springer and start north.

    The jump from 25-36 would not be nearly as bad as the jump from training to 25 per day in my view, plus you would get your trail quirkks worked out, like blisters, shin-splints, etc...take a week off and do some light maintenence training and go for it! Furthermore, the run to Pearisburg would prepare you for this feat, you might find after averaging 25/day you are no longer interested in going for Ward's record.

    Good luck, a guy called Gailee Man from Israel came very close recently on his first hike, very close, he has a trail journal you can read.

  16. #16

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    is Gailee man the one that stoled someones hat at carter notch hut? someone ran him down and ask why he took it, and he replyed "cause i needed one" i apoligize if it was someone else.
    on another note i followed his record attempt the best i could, i thought he was well off the pace and then the journal entrys came less often and his mileage picked way up in new england, im probably wrong but something seemed a little off. please correct me if im way off base, i was writing down his daily milage from his journal, if someone has his itinerary please post it. i don't remember actually seeing the day to day progress after vermont or something like that, just that he finished and it was like 10 days less than i thought it would be. sorry if im wrong! no yellows or blues on a record attempt please :-)
    Last edited by CrumbSnatcher; 05-04-2012 at 19:44.

  17. #17
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    Default

    You might have company. This guy is going to try to break the supported record. http://www.sportiva.com/live/live-ar...record-attempt

  18. #18
    Trail miscreant Bearpaw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by T.S.Kobzol View Post
    You might have company. This guy is going to try to break the supported record. http://www.sportiva.com/live/live-ar...record-attempt
    He won't make it. His comments show how little he knows about the trail.

    Example. The Green and White Mountains are the hardest part. I'd say at least of those who have hiked the trail would give the nod to the Mahoosucs of Maine. Someone who has only read books would parrot the Whites and I don't know where he got the idea of Vermont.

    More telling - he says no one has broken the record northbound. Completely false. Most of the earlier records were northbound.

    He obviously has some skill and ability, but that is not enough to set the supported record. He'll need endurance of a scale far beyond that of a any endurance race. He'll need luck with weather, and an experienced support crew, which he does not have, at least in regard to the AT. At this point, it sounds like he has less experience than a typical thru-hiker planning a six month walk.

    Like many have said already, he should walk the trail first and really learn the trail's idiosyncrasies. Then he should consider whether he wants to shoot for a record.
    If people spent less time being offended and more time actually living, we'd all be a whole lot happier!

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by T.S.Kobzol View Post
    You might have company. This guy is going to try to break the supported record. http://www.sportiva.com/live/live-ar...record-attempt
    This makes me sad in so many ways:

    His grammar is very poor (doesn't Sportiva proofread his stuff?).

    He was convinced he could run 50 miles per day on the AT because he got beat up on a Everest trek (a trip that thousands of people of all abilities take every year) and then failed to run the 50 miles from Lukla to Jiri in one day (a well-trodden trail at lower elevations that has been used for hundreds of years).

    "My goal was not to beat this but to shatter (sic)." (in reference to the record)
    Where have we heard this before?

    "I'm sure you could shoot and or stab most ultra runners and they would still finish the run. Why? Because it makes for a cool story and that feeling you get from doing something that difficult (sic)."
    This is almost unreadable.

    "But because she was a women it made such huge news." (in reference to Jennifer Pharr Davis' record).
    Now I'm really getting upset. http://adventure.nationalgeographic....r-pharr-davis/

    "My thing is this. Speed is relative, fun is not."
    ug?

    I have no problems with trail running, setting records, etc. HYOY! I am not predicting he won't set the record. He is obviously a fine athlete. I wish him the best of luck as I do all thu hikers. Let's just say I probably won't be routing for him as I was for JPD.

    "Everyone I ever meet hiking or running is amazing. Everyone their own story (sic). I love it. 2,184.2 miles of smiles. I will however be packing heat just incase (sic)."
    I'm getting sic

    "I hope that I can go out there and entertain people while I put myself through hell. I want people to be so inspired they donate money to the American Cancer Society." I'm not feeling inspired or entertained, sorry. Neither is my wife (cancer survivor - 10 year).

    "I guess this comes back to the word endurance. People misuse this as a word for stamina. This is not true."
    Actually it is true. Look it up.


    Sportiva, Cliff, and Petzel have all chipped in free stuff to sponsor Mr. Blanton.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Odd Man Out View Post
    This makes me sad in so many ways:

    "But because she was a women it made such huge news." (in reference to Jennifer Pharr Davis' record).
    Now I'm really getting upset. http://adventure.nationalgeographic....r-pharr-davis/
    Isn't there some truth to this though? Did the previous record breakers make it into the NYT and the National Geographic?

    The woman who broke the unsupported record last year seemed to be actually enjoying the hike, not just going for some speed record for the sake of the record by relying on dozens of other people. A lot of professional marathon runners could easily break her record if supported by a couple of dozen people and could make money from doing so. They run a marathon in 2 hours. I doubt they would have much trouble doing a marathon in 3-4 hours in the morning and another in the evening, even with some elevation gain; this would be more than enough to break the supported record.

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