Karel Sabbe supported attempt

[pbakwin]

We just got confirmation from Joren: 4d7h39m !!!

[fiddlehead]

Awesome.
Congratulations Karel.
This has been better than TV.
I think both records are truly incredible and won't be broken for some time.
At least 5 years?

[black chucks]

We just got confirmation from Joren: 4d7h39m !!!

did you mean 41d...? or is that how much he beat the record?

[black chucks]

Finished (source fastestknowntime.com) "about 12:11pm on the 28th"

See my post #320:
“And if he can finish by around 1230 Tuesday, he beats Scott’s time by 5 days.”

Karel 41d 7h 39m
Scott 46d 8h 7m

Nailed!
My prediction wins. Karel did it. Awesome.

[illabelle]

Absolutely incredible. Epic journey. Outstanding!

[Lone Wolf]

good stuff

[Kaptainkriz]

Wow, spectacular run!

[chknfngrs]

Oh man, I'd love for String Bean/Flash to take on Deerfoot's supported record. Even better if it was during the same hiking season and one went SoBO and the other went NoBo. You reading this, fellas? Get on this!

[CalebJ]

Finished (source fastestknowntime.com) "about 12:11pm on the 28th"

See my post #320:
“And if he can finish by around 1230 Tuesday, he beats Scott’s time by 5 days.”

Karel 41d 7h 39m
Scott 46d 8h 7m

Nailed!
My prediction wins. Karel did it. Awesome.

Why is Scott's time relevant? Karl Meltzer surpassed that in 2016.

[Scythe]

Amazing achievement! SB's record is a different animal. You'd expect the large margin between the supported and unsupported. I think it'll be awhile before we see either surpassed, although I'd love to eat my own words

[Nodust]

Congratulations Karel.

This proves how amazing the human body is when tuned correctly.

Makes me want to go hiking..... at a slower pace lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[JC13]

Congrats Karel!

[Just Bill]

I think SB's record is "harder" - it requires many more skills than just running & not getting hurt, plus emotionally it is much harder to do it all yourself & be on top of all the logistics yourself for that long. BUT, in an important way, SB's record is "easier" to tackle because you don't have to find people to support you for 6 weeks! For this reason, I think it's likely more people will try to beat SB's time than Karel's. Anyway, I'd love to SB go after Karel's supported FKT !!! (or Joey???)

A fair point indeed.
Stringbean is one of the few to go it both ways. Might be telling that he went solo his second time... or it might be simple logistics.

Joey is Joey. You never know what wild hair will infest his rectum. Though when last he walked the crooked path and fell off the cliff into that dark place he managed to catch himself and scramble out. He found the good road he was looking for, finishing whole and proud. So I'm not sure what is out there for him to find truth be told.


A gauntlet has been thrown. Team runner stands atop the overall podium once more.


Both numbers are stout... but maybe if Killian ever gets sick of climbing Everest or whatever he's doing he might be up for a simple hike. Maybe Jared Campbell is tired of frozen head state park by now. Maybe Krupka can shoulder that Bakwin pack instead of that little 11L vest for a bit

There are no shortage of humans on this planet... and I think the myth and mystique of these long trail FKT's are slowly permeating the mindset of the ultra world. There may be no purse, aid stations, or sponsorship push to add these to one's resume... but the woods are calling their pure song and more an more hear it.

Going solo requires only one super badass to be found, and while you are still likely to argue with yourself often enough at least there is only one crew member's mood and personality to juggle.

And the other advantage the solo/self supported hiker clearly has is flexibility. If you are feeling good or the trail is kind; onward you go regardless of where you agreed to meet or vehicular access declares ideal. And if you're on fumes there is no need to whip a worn down horse to death to cover the last few miles. You just pull over, get to bed an hour earlier and rise early to fight on the next day. More often than not it's that last hour that one shouldn't be going that does the most damage.

Going fully supported requires many baddasses to be found. Special ones with the kind of personality, friendship, ego and humility to be relegated to faithful sidekick and unsung hero. And folks like that are rare enough as is.
You have to be the sort of person who attracts those folks... which can be tough considering all the hours and hours of lonely solo training most overlook. In many ways you have to have a stronger personality to juggle that; being a dedicated disciplined loner who still finds time to build relationships with solid friends.

Took Karl three tries and a bit of redbull to give him wings.

Jen managed to luck into it and marry a super crew chief with summers off. Didn't hurt she'd made friends with the dancing Doyle along the way.

Jurek is the very definition of kindness and friendship. So no surprise he called in the super friends pack to see him through the end.

(Jenny still owes me a book if you're reading this Joey)

Karel managed to snag a dedicated friend in Joren... who happened to be a PT to boot, apparently a damn good one. Who was willing to do this not once, but twice now. He found a way to juggle his profession with adequate time off and inspired several others to come out. Very strong pacers who didn't stop by for a day or weekend- but weeks at a time. And not some friend from the local ultra circuit a few hours drive away but folks who flew to another country to help him.

It's said you can tell a lot about a fella by the company he keeps.
With friends and family like that- Karel's gotta be one of the good ones.

The backpacker in me will never feel quite the same about the two efforts. Though one of the greatest lessons of backpacking is that no matter how many stunning wonders you see, or moments of pure self-reliant satisfaction one can acquire; In the end it matters little if you have no one to share those with.

So while my deepest respect does ultimately lie with the soloist... it's still no less fascinating and inspiring to see what happens when we silly two legged get together and do something greater than any one of us could achieve alone.

Respect and a heartily raised glass to Karel and Joren!

[Odd Man Out]

Here is my final spreadsheet. The last few days for Karel might need to be adjusted when the final tracking data is available. For day 41, I just estimated about where he would have been at 4:30 AM.

		Karel			StringBean
Day	Day #	Location	Day Miles	Day #	Location	Day Miles	Days Ahead
18-Jul	0	Springer Mtn/AT Southern Terminus		0	Springer Mtn/AT Southern Terminus
19-Jul	1	Unicoi Gap/GA Hwy 75	52.3	1	Low Gap Shelter	42.6	0.23
20-Jul	2	Rock Gap Shelter/USFS Rd 67	53.1	2	Standing Indian Shelter	43.1	0.39
21-Jul	3	Yellow Creek Gap/NC Rd 1242	52.5	3	Nantahala, NC/US Hwy 19/74	50.8	0.46
22-Jul	4	Icewater Spring Shelter	52.5	4	Spence Field Shelter/Eagle Creek Trail	46.8	0.57
23-Jul	5	Lemon Gap/TN Hwy 107	49.7	5	Cosby Knob Shelter	47.4	0.67
24-Jul	6	Devil Fork Gap/NC Hwy 212/TN Hwy 352	50.7	6	Hot Springs, NC/NC Hwy 209	43.6	0.69
25-Jul	7	Iron Mountain Gap/NC Hwy 226/TN Hwy 107	53.2	7	Bald Mtn Shelter	52.7	0.72
26-Jul	8	Dennis Cove Rd/USFS Rd 50	55.5	8	Roan High Knob Shelter	51.5	0.80
27-Jul	9	Damascus, VA/US Hwy 58	52.0	9	Watauga Lake Shelter	51.5	0.84
28-Jul	10	Slab Town Rd/VA Rd 672	53.4	10	Saunders Shelter	49.6	0.84
29-Jul	11	Laurel Creek/VA Rd 615	59.4	11	Partnership Shelter/VA Hwy 16	53.9	1.08
30-Jul	12	Pearisburg, VA/VA Hwy 100	52.2	12	Jenkins Shelter/Hunting Camp Creek	46.4	1.00
31-Jul	13	Craig Creek/VA Rd 621	51.8	13	Pearisburg, VA/VA Hwy 100	56.6	1.00
1-Aug	14	Blackhorse Gap/USFS Rd 186/BRP 97.7	54.5	14	Craig Creek/VA Rd 621	51.8	1.30
2-Aug	15	Robinson Gap/BRP 51.7	54.1	15	Daleville, VA/US Hwy 220	40.9	1.48
3-Aug	16	Dripping Rock Parking/BRP 9.6	51.8	16	Thunder Hill	44.8	1.55
4-Aug	17	Smith Roach Gap/Skyline 68.6	55.2	17	Woodworth Shelter/Lovingston Trail	47.8	1.62
5-Aug	18	Little Hogback Mtn/Skyline 19.7	51.9	18	Calf Mtn Shelter	48.9	1.59
6-Aug	19	Snickers Gap/VA Hwy 7	49.1	19	Lewis Spring/Big Meadows Wayside	53.9	1.62
7-Aug	20	Warner Hollow Rd	54.1	20	Goose Creek/VA Rd 638	52.5	1.65
8-Aug	21	Sheet Iron Roof Rd/Deer Run Campground	55.2	21	Loudoun Heights	45.1	1.65
9-Aug	22	Clarks Creek/PA Hwy 325	51.8	22	South Mtn, PA/PA Hwy 233	56.7	1.84
10-Aug	23	Schuylkill Gap/PA Hwy 61	53.1	23	Conodoguinet Creek/Bernheisel Bridge Rd	54.1	1.89
11-Aug	24	Smith Gap Rd	52.0	24	Yellow Springs	39.5	1.93
12-Aug	25	Sunrise Mtn Rd	52.4	25	Windsor Furnace Shelter	52.1	1.95
13-Aug	26	Trout Brook/Lakes Rd	53.2	26	Leroy Smith Shelter	50.0	1.97
14-Aug	27	RPH Shelter/Hortontown Rd	53.4	27	Gren Anderson Shelter/Stony Brook	51.5	2.00
15-Aug	28	Carse Brook/Cornwall Rd	54.2	28	Mombasha Mtn/Allis Trail	52.1	2.04
16-Aug	29	Tyringham, MA/Jerusalem Rd	56.8	29	RPH Shelter/Hortontown Rd	51.9	2.00
17-Aug	30	Pattison Rd	51.3	30	Caesar Brook Campsite	52.0	2.04
18-Aug	31	Prospect Rock	54.5	31	Tyringham, MA/Jerusalem Rd	59.0	2.12
19-Aug	32	Long Trail Inn/US Hwy 4	55.0	32	Wilbur Clearing Shelter/Notch Rd	49.2	2.19
20-Aug	33	Hanover Center Rd	52.7	33	Stratton Pond Shelter	50.8	2.18
21-Aug	34	Kinsman Notch/NH Hwy 112	46.9	34	GovernorClement Shelter	50.2	2.33
22-Aug	35	Mizpah Spring Hut/Nauman Campsite	50.4	35	Norwich, VT/Elm St	55.0	3.21
23-Aug	36	Gorham, NH/US Hwy 2	40.7	36	Oliverian Brook/NH Hwy 25	45.7	3.38
24-Aug	37	East B Hill Rd/Cascade Trail	41.4	37	Liberty Springs Camp	28.4	3.43
25-Aug	38	Perham Stream	51.9	38	Ripley Falls Trail	24.6	3.74
26-Aug	39	Caratunk, ME/US Hwy 201	53.8	39	Carter Dome/Rainbow Trail	33.6	4.01
27-Aug	40	Wilson Valley Shelter	47.1	40	Mahoosuc Notch/South End	36.9	4.11
28-Aug	41	Rainbow Lake/East End	81.2	41	Spruce Mtn	42.7	4.57
29-Aug	41.319	Mt Katahdin/AT Northern Terminus	22.9	42	Crocker Cirque Campsite	37.2	4.19
30-Aug				43	Kennebec River	44.0
31-Aug				44	North Pond Brook	40.8
1-Sep				45	Mud Pond	57.6
1-Sep				45.51	Mt Katahdin/AT Northern Terminus	53.1

[Odd Man Out]

And here is how is lead (in days) over Stringbean tacked by day. Again, this is how many days Stringbean would have to hike (at his pace) to catch up to where Karel was at the end of that same day.

Capture.JPG

[Berserker]

Started following this thread in the last few days, and that's just crazy. Congratulations to Karel. Looking at the 3 days in the Whites he average 46 miles per day...insane!!! 46 miles in the whites would take me about 4 - 5 days.

[illabelle]

After all those hard and fast miles, I wonder what Karel's feet look and feel like. Has he grown hooves?

[Lone Wolf]

https://gearjunkie.com/karel-sabbe-a...l-speed-record

[brew]

Wow. Very well done to Karel and his team! I thought the record could get that low but that it would take years and many more attempts. String bean called it a "game changer" on Instagram and I agree. This was a flawless hike- or run or whatever you want to call it- with a fantastic crew and trail experience (Warren Doyle helped with logistics a few times and called me from Andover to say how blown away he was by them and that they even up there they were making it look so easy). Sounds like they didn't have ideal conditions but he was like clockwork. Surgical, even.

I also love what Matt said. I'm not gonna get it right and too lazy to find it in the thread but the idea that we're all on the same team and passing the baton, so to speak, to what's humanly possible. Karel just ran a blistering leg. It'll be fun to see what others do going forward. Onward!

[jersey joe]

Amazing accomplishment!