Joe McConaughy Going Unsupported on the AT

[JC13]

How does resupply work on self supported FKT attempts? Mail drops only?!

Drop boxes, grocery store, etc., the difference is a supported FKT has a crew generally that eliminates the hikers need to go into town to do shopping and such. The crew generally preps the meals and such as well.

[Rmcpeak]

Recuperating from my last hike of summer -- 19E to Damscus in 54 hours. Yeah, I hiked 18, 24, and 33. Now I can't walk. The pace of these (bean, knotts, camps, annish, kirk, et al) maniacs is hard to believe (but I believe it.)

Anyway, sitting here with ice on my ankles I cloned out a spreadsheet for Stringbean. I couple days are a little fuzzy but I tried to piece it together. Let me know if any numbers are off. I'll do my best to keep it updated but no promises.

He's leaving Annish in the dust. I hope his body holds up. Camps better haul ass.

Here you go: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

[chknfngrs]

Sweet spreadsheet!! It's certainly easier to follow than scrolling he bean's instapics... and a nice walk for you, no? Really hoping The Joes can high five each other.

[Rmcpeak]

Sweet spreadsheet!! It's certainly easier to follow than scrolling he bean's instapics... and a nice walk for you, no? Really hoping The Joes can high five each other.

I worked up the spreadsheet for another FKT attempt earlier this summer that didn't pan out... Strange hobby, tracking hikers.... I try to explain to my new wife. She doesn't quite get it.

[Rmcpeak]

No daily mileage yet for days 23 or 24, but we did get this:

• thestring.beanRECORD ATTEMPT UPDATE: At halfway, I came through in 22d3h16m, putting me at 49.48 miles per day. @meltzerkarl record stands at 45d22h - I'm on track to set a new overall FKT in addition to the self supported FKT. I still have the White Mountains ahead of me and it will be only more difficult to stay healthy, so this thing is far from over. Please share if you have been enjoying the journey! #thestringbean#fastestknowntime

[black chucks]

Sweet spreadsheet!! It's certainly easier to follow than scrolling he bean's instapics... and a nice walk for you, no? Really hoping The Joes can high five each other.

I'd like to add my thanks for the sweet spreadsheet and ask Rmcpeak to fix the spelling for "Anish" if it isn't too much trouble.

[Rmcpeak]

I'd like to add my thanks for the sweet spreadsheet and ask Rmcpeak to fix the spelling for "Anish" if it isn't too much trouble.

Thanks! I think I got them all. Please let me know of other problems. My math/grammar/spelling etc. is embarrassingly terrible for a HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH AND COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHER. Teacher of the Year no less. Ha! You get what you pay for!

[Chair-man]

Wow, the Stringbean continues to crank out 50 mi days. At the end of day 33 he's at mile 1648.2 which averages out to 49.94545454545455 mpd. Lets just call it 50 mpd. I know he's going to slow down some once he hits the Whites but he's on pace to blow away the unsupported record and also may even beat Karl Meltzers supported record where Karl averaged around 47 mpd.
We'll see if he's got enough gas in the tank to finish this.

[chknfngrs]

I think that String Bean and Flash may have crossed paths recently... or two ships passing in the night

[Chair-man]

Who is Joe McConaughy? Here's some interesting stats from his days at Boston College (a division I school). While his results are not overly impressive it does show he's been running competitively most of his life even going back to high school where ran cross country.
One can't help being a bit skeptical when you see someone claim to do what know one else have been able to do but he's got the resume to back it up. He's the real deal IMO.

Also, here's his interview with Runnersworld after he broke the supported PCT record in 2014

[ScottS]

The people he beat at Lake Sonoma is pretty impressive. Top 10 there and Gorge are both legit performances.

[zachzz12]

that is a very cool Runnersworld article, thank you for sharing.

[jersey joe]

Any recent updates on Joe McConaughy? he should be somewhere in the whites right now, it'll be interesting to see how he fares over this section.

[jersey joe]

From his instagram account...

• thestring.beanBeginning of day 42: E end of Mahoosuc Notch (1918.6) to Spruce Mtn (1960.5). 16:04/42.6. 232.5 miles remaining. There's a lot to talk about here. But first I just want to give @kekiracofe a shoutout. I woudnt be here without her, and despite a lot of lows, I have been able to count on her even through cutoff phone calls and unsent texts. I haven't had any kind of mental breakdowns, even though I've been on the verge several times. I should have one more low mileage day, Southern Maine is as difficult as the Whites a lot of hikers will tell you. I need to stay healthy tomorrow so I can put in a BIG 3 (or 4) day push to finish! My big obstacle is a nasty pain behind my left knee

[grizzlyadam]

Posted 30 minutes ago-

"151.5 miles to go and under 70 hours to do it."




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rmcpeak]

Unfortunately he's stopped posting concise daily mileage updates so it has become a bit hard to track him. I truly hope he is keeping a very clean and accurate log as well as spot data.

Can 150 be done in 70 hours up there?

[Violent Green]

On fresh legs with an all nighter, most likely. I'm not sure how healthy he is at this point so it's tough to say.

[Just Bill]

Well, his last post does open up and reveal his (theoretical) start time and date.
I say theoretical because we are trusting the math of a guy on a self supported hike potentially besting the supported time who is not doing so well with math lately
His instagram feed appears to have broken down as early as day 33 on a quick glance, jumps a day on day 35... and we've got him live on day 40 posting on 41, and now posting on what should be day 43 though he didn't give a date.

After some debate with some fella named Long- I re-read that post as he was on the ferry at 9:00 am, 151.5 miles from Katahdin, with 70 hours to go from that point. (not from the time he posted to insty).

So that said; lets us toss together some dates and times and work backywards.
If he needs to be on Big K by 7:00 AM on 9/1. That puts his start date and time at 7/17 at 9:00 am.
This causes some different problems as discussed in another thread- but since these are theoretical no need to discuss that at the moment. Good enough fer government work.
And eventually somebody should check my math. We'd need to check Bob's math too, but suspect that any math errors I noticed in the insty feed were from Joe not Rmcpeak as I noted he tried to correct Joe once or twice in the comments


I got it at 70/70 and 11.5 on the final day to best Karl given the timing he could obviously not sleep at some point and blur those miles but they were round numbers. You could call it 60/60/31.5 too...
Stringbean 82917.pdf

For reference- Karl quite conveniently finished his third day (72 hours) on the north side of the Kennebec in Caratunk at 151.2 miles.
Date Day Day Miles Actual Total Miles Actual Location
3-Aug 0 0 Katahdin ME
3-Aug 1 56 56 Jo Mary Rd ME
4-Aug 2 44.2 100.2 Long Pond Stream
5-Aug 3 51 151.2 US 201 Caratunk ME

[Rmcpeak]

Well, his last post does open up and reveal his (theoretical) start time and date.
I say theoretical because we are trusting the math of a guy on a self supported hike potentially besting the supported time who is not doing so well with math lately
His instagram feed appears to have broken down as early as day 33 on a quick glance, jumps a day on day 35... and we've got him live on day 40 posting on 41, and now posting on what should be day 43 though he didn't give a date.

After some debate with some fella named Long- I re-read that post as he was on the ferry at 9:00 am, 151.5 miles from Katahdin, with 70 hours to go from that point. (not from the time he posted to insty).

So that said; lets us toss together some dates and times and work backywards.
If he needs to be on Big K by 7:00 AM on 9/1. That puts his start date and time at 7/17 at 9:00 am.
This causes some different problems as discussed in another thread- but since these are theoretical no need to discuss that at the moment. Good enough fer government work.
And eventually somebody should check my math. We'd need to check Bob's math too, but suspect that any math errors I noticed in the insty feed were from Joe not Rmcpeak as I noted he tried to correct Joe once or twice in the comments


I got it at 70/70 and 11.5 on the final day to best Karl given the timing he could obviously not sleep at some point and blur those miles but they were round numbers. You could call it 60/60/31.5 too...
Stringbean 82917.pdf

For reference- Karl quite conveniently finished his third day (72 hours) on the north side of the Kennebec in Caratunk at 151.2 miles.
Date Day Day Miles Actual Total Miles Actual Location
3-Aug 0 0 Katahdin ME
3-Aug 1 56 56 Jo Mary Rd ME
4-Aug 2 44.2 100.2 Long Pond Stream
5-Aug 3 51 151.2 US 201 Caratunk ME

I've got him starting on 7/17 too. I'm confident that was his start date and I think it was earlier in the morning than 9. His first post said he was up at 3:45 hiking with his Dad "a mile up a mountain."

[Just Bill]

I've got him starting on 7/17 too. I'm confident that was his start date and I think it was earlier in the morning than 9. His first post said he was up at 3:45 hiking with his Dad "a mile up a mountain."

How does that square with is Kennebec post then?
Not saying I'm correct, just offering a question to ask yourself.
If there is a finish line, there is a starting line.

Normally I do this privately. But I think transparency into how to review is needed to.
So this has nothing to do with picking apart Joe... but more to do with more educated eyes following along in general.