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Wesley Russelburg
04-09-2009, 11:40
Hi everyone, i am a runner and i am getting into hiking and i was wondering what the fastest hike along the AT? I heard from someone that read the book "A walk in the woods" and he said it was something like 26 days. That is crazy, isn't it something like 2080 miles?

Tipi Walter
04-09-2009, 11:59
I'm confused. Are you asking what's the fastest HIKE of the AT or the fastest RUN? Are they different? And then there's the mind-numbing qualifications: did someone do it with a full pack and no support? Or did someone do it with a support van while carrying minimal gear?

Wesley Russelburg
04-09-2009, 12:05
Whats the fastest hike? just one person or group with no help. i think it would take away from the experience if you ran.

Lone Wolf
04-09-2009, 12:07
Whats the fastest hike? just one person or group with no help. i think it would take away from the experience if you ran.

47 days supported, 60 days unsupported. 2175 miles

Lone Wolf
04-09-2009, 12:07
Whats the fastest hike? just one person or group with no help. i think it would take away from the experience if you ran.

explain "experience"

Wesley Russelburg
04-09-2009, 12:15
That's hard to say because i've never done it, but if i did i would want to experience the scenery and solitude of the trip. Then on the other hand some people might like the challenge and they might want to conquer it as quick as they can, i respect that to. As for me i would like to experience the nature of it.

Worldwide
04-09-2009, 12:29
I sitll wonder why Jennifer Pharr - Davis who ran the trail was invited to a hiking event
(SoRuck) to speak. Seeing Gene was awesome then we get some trail runner with a Super 8 addiction speaking right there with him

Pedaling Fool
04-09-2009, 12:41
I'm always amazed that there are so many "warring" factions in the hiking community. It's just a damn trail to get from point a to b. Some just take it way too serious.

Lone Wolf
04-09-2009, 12:51
I sitll wonder why Jennifer Pharr - Davis who ran the trail was invited to a hiking event
(SoRuck) to speak. Seeing Gene was awesome then we get some trail runner with a Super 8 addiction speaking right there with him

i'm a walker and i was at the event (soruck) i have a motel 6 addiction

Cabin Fever
04-09-2009, 12:54
i'm a walker and i was at the event (soruck) i have a motel 6 addiction

Cue snare, kick drum and cymbal.

Mags
04-09-2009, 13:19
I sitll wonder why Jennifer Pharr - Davis who ran the trail was invited to a hiking event
(SoRuck) to speak. Seeing Gene was awesome then we get some trail runner with a Super 8 addiction speaking right there with him


I really do need to finish my book HIKE MY HIKE - DAMN IT! (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37459&highlight=high+holy+council+hiking)

:sun

ps. Didn't you just say how you broke the AZT record? Speed hiking is OK as long as it is done your way ??? ;)

Worldwide
04-09-2009, 13:40
A)

My AZT record hike wasn't intentional. I just need to get as many miles in as possible per day so I can tackle more trails in one year. I have money saved and part of the drain on my savings is monthly storage and cell phone bill. More months = less hiking money. Every month my stuff is in storage and my cell contract that is 200 miles I can't afford to hike. So for every year I hike it is an entire AT PCT or CDT hike down the drain. Not that the superhighway trails interest me really. Basically if it can be slacked I won't hike it.

B)

When a hiker doesn't get recognized from manufacturers for their accomplishments with free or discounted gear it may be because where's Carl got a 27' motorhome and all the crap he doesn't carry for free from a Backpacker magazine not Runnersworld.

Basically they can't be competitive in running events, and go to beat records on hiking trails yet never hike /shrug.

Mags
04-09-2009, 13:51
So..again, it all boils down to HIKE MY HIKE - DAMN IT!

Heck, you even define what is a hike vs. a run. Define what is a tough trail. And will trumpet how you broke the record..then say you accidentally did it and it really didn't matter? :)


Whatever.

Just enjoy your journey. And let others enjoy theirs.
,
To quote Cactus Ed: Life is too short for regret. Or grief. Or bull****.

So, lets all quit slinging the BS and just rejoice in what we all love: the outdoors. Not in your way, or my way...but in the way that we all love it. And to say there is one way to enjoy the outdoors? Well...

HIKE MY HIKE - DAMN IT! :sun



ps. CDT a highway???!?!!! Interesting concept. :O

pyroman53
04-09-2009, 13:57
I don't have a dog in this fight, but to give Carl his due, from what I hear he is VERY competetive in whatever you call those extreme runs/hikes of 50 or more miles. Actually, I heard he's one of the best.

JAK
04-09-2009, 14:21
When I getting intimidated by others incredible mile per day feats I just convert to metric.
When that doesn't work I divide by weight. When that doesn't work I divide by age.
When that doesn't work I just cheat. Pretty simple. I don't know what the big deal is really. ;)

gravityman
04-09-2009, 14:35
I sitll wonder why Jennifer Pharr - Davis who ran the trail was invited to a hiking event
(SoRuck) to speak. Seeing Gene was awesome then we get some trail runner with a Super 8 addiction speaking right there with him

Who also happened to be a thruhiker in 2005 (and very nice!) before doing the speed hike. Also doubt she stayed in many Super 8's given her budget and according to her journal...

Gravity

JAK
04-09-2009, 14:42
Who also happened to be a thruhiker in 2005 (and very nice!) before doing the speed hike. Also doubt she stayed in many Super 8's given her budget and according to her journal...

GravityStill, when you multiply by her age and weight and convert to metric her feat wasn't all that impressive really. :banana

Wesley Russelburg
04-09-2009, 14:54
So whats the record for fastest run.

JAK
04-09-2009, 14:58
47 days as Lone Wolf said, which is about 46 miles a day.

But I can do 10 miles a day for 10 days which is same thing right. :banana

Wesley Russelburg
04-09-2009, 15:05
That's almost two marathons a day for 50 days. That is quite an accomplishment its self.

JAK
04-09-2009, 15:12
"Anyone can run a marathon. Ya just gotta take your time man."
- Chris Farley

The most I've run or walked in one day is about 30km, and I'm 46.
So I figure my body must be in pretty good shape. Hardly been used. ;)

skinny minnie
04-09-2009, 15:52
A)

When a hiker doesn't get recognized from manufacturers for their accomplishments with free or discounted gear it may be because where's Carl got a 27' motorhome and all the crap he doesn't carry for free from a Backpacker magazine not Runnersworld.




Ummmm, I really can't think of anyone out there hiking "for the free gear". At least, I hope that isn't anyone's motivation. If it is, have fun with that. Entitlement is a pretty lame burden to be carrying around.

I'm pretty sure Jennifer Pharr hikes. A LOT. She's a former thru-hiker. And honestly, who cares if Karl got all kinds of hype/sponsorship? That's life. He clearly is a very driven person who for better or for worse, has publicity and has support. Can't let it bother you. It doesn't affect anyone else negatively... except those of us who have to listen to the complainers whine about him. Oh, and all those hikers robbed of gear and recognition. Can't forget about them. It's a cruel, cruel hiker's world out there.

So a speed record is only valid if it happens unintentionally? Or wait, is it completely invalid, because the only way to truly enjoy nature is to hike at a pace the same as everyone else? Darn! I keep forgetting that...

I'm sure this comes across as argumentative... I just strongly feel that people should live and let live. There is no right or wrong way to hike. Let's all take a deep breath and relax :)

(That being said, Mags: I have been waiting for my copy of HMHDI! for WAY too long! I fully expect a signed first edition to make up for the wait. And I want HMHDI! to sponsor my next hike. Please.)

Lone Wolf
04-09-2009, 16:45
A)

My AZT record hike wasn't intentional. I just need to get as many miles in as possible per day so I can tackle more trails in one year. I have money saved and part of the drain on my savings is monthly storage and cell phone bill. More months = less hiking money. Every month my stuff is in storage and my cell contract that is 200 miles I can't afford to hike. So for every year I hike it is an entire AT PCT or CDT hike down the drain. Not that the superhighway trails interest me really. Basically if it can be slacked I won't hike it.

B)

When a hiker doesn't get recognized from manufacturers for their accomplishments with free or discounted gear it may be because where's Carl got a 27' motorhome and all the crap he doesn't carry for free from a Backpacker magazine not Runnersworld.

Basically they can't be competitive in running events, and go to beat records on hiking trails yet never hike /shrug.

A) get rid rid of your cell phone and sell your junk

B) Karl is one of the top competitors in the world of ultrarunning. 100 mile races specifically

Marta
04-09-2009, 18:00
I sitll wonder why Jennifer Pharr - Davis who ran the trail was invited to a hiking event
(SoRuck) to speak. Seeing Gene was awesome then we get some trail runner with a Super 8 addiction speaking right there with him

Maybe because she's a hiker. She mostly hikes, and doesn't run much.

Her presentation was the highlight of the Ruck for me.

Mags
04-09-2009, 18:10
(That being said, Mags: I have been waiting for my copy of HMHDI! for WAY too long! I fully expect a signed first edition to make up for the wait. And I want HMHDI! to sponsor my next hike. Please.)

Currently, the HMHDI folks are thinking of how to sponsor my hike on the Canadian Great Divide Trail. ;)

However, I will gladly send you a copy of HMHDI free of charge. You get what you pay for after all. :D

Jester2000
04-09-2009, 18:43
Here's my post from 2007 regarding my still unrecognized AT speed record set in 2002:


It might not be particularly important to note this, but the ATC doesn't recognize, compile, or keep records for speed. But that didn't stop me from hiking the entire trail in four days, over a long weekend in June of 2002. I hiked 23 hours a day at a little over than 23 miles an hour. It was exhilarating. I saw many things that other hikers never saw and felt things no other hiker felt. I passed straight through a pony in Grayson Highlands. I smelled pain. I heard colors. I removed one of my own kidneys to get lighter. I bounced it forward to Hanover and put it back in. I base jumped off the Knife Edge and landed on the roof of the strip club in Millinocket.

It was quite a hike.

TJ aka Teej
04-10-2009, 01:24
My son BillyGoat holds the record* for fastest hike of the AT. It took him ten days in 1997.





*Hiked from woods road to Springer, yellow blazed to Neels Gap where he yogi'd a Snickers from a hiker, then yellowed blazed to Monson for a 2X, then yellowed blazed to Katahdin Stream Campground and slackpacked to Baxter Peak. (I was with him, but don't count this as a pure hike for me, because pure hikes need a 4X at Shaws or they don't really count.)

stranger
04-10-2009, 05:21
If you are looking to speed hike the AT you might want to look at the Horton - Maniak hikes in 1991 (possibly 1992). Horton ran the trail in 52 days I believe, and Maniak hiked the trail in 56 days I believe. Apparently, they both started within a couple of days of each other, without knowing it, and both had set the goal of 56 days. I remember talking to David Horton about it at the Gathering back in the mid 90's.

However, Ward Leonard's unsupported thru-hike of 60 days has to be the most impressive feat along the AT ever as far as I'm concerned. I also heard he hiked the AT 3 times in 12 months which is another huge notch in his belt. You don't hear his name much anymore but he's something else.

warren doyle
04-16-2009, 22:40
Jennifer Pharr-Davis walked many more miles on the trail than ran. She was able to maintain a steady walking pace between 3-3.5 mph.
What an accomplishment!