WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 41
  1. #21
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-01-2007
    Location
    Rangeley, Maine
    Age
    46
    Posts
    94

    Default

    Have not seen an update anywhere else saying what time he finished. Not sure if he's putting stuff on Facebook or not.

    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

  2. #22

    Default

    They were saying Instagram and email update for information but nothing yet, hoping everything is ok. odd but not surprising it’s on fkt boards already

  3. #23

    Default

    I never got any email updates after registering for them.

  4. #24

  5. #25
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-01-2007
    Location
    Rangeley, Maine
    Age
    46
    Posts
    94

    Default

    Copied from the final email update.





    THE LONG TRAIL FINISH

    WOW! What a night/morning. After many hours filled with drama & excitement (and a wee bit of waiting) the Stringbean finished the Long Trail this morning at 6:23am. It is enough to set a new record by over a day.

    Overall Time: 4 days, 23 hours, 56 minutes

    A New Overall & Men’s Unsupported FKT


    Last Night: Me, Josh Katzman, his son Cooper, Jenn Watt, and Evren & Tara Gunduz (and later Eli Burakian) head into the southern terminus around 5pm. Knowing that he has 40 miles to go as of 1pm, we figure a late evening/morning finish could be in the cards and didn’t want to have a chance of getting there too late. The group sets off from the Pine Cobble trail in Williamstown, MA.


    At 5:46pm, I get a few cryptic texts from Joe saying that he’s struggling with energy levels and still 30 miles out, but moving pretty fast - a mix of death marching and running down smooth downhills. He is hitting a wall so close to the end. He and I debate if should take an afternoon sleep break, ultimately decide he should push on until dark due to the headlamp situation and having limited battery left on the iPhone. Then he can take a quick nap, reset, and finish strong.

    30 miles means a minimum of 12 hours til he finishes, but our group decides to push on up to scenic lookout on the trail just to get a lay of the land. Upon getting to the lookout and enjoying a lovely sunset, we decide to settle in for the foreseeable future until we had word from Joe at which point we would hike another couple miles to the terminus


    At 8:59pm, I get a GPS notification that Joe is all of a sudden 16 miles out! Holy cow! At that point we hike to the terminus and post up in sleeping bags, ready to wait things out.


    At 12:07am, the drama is back - Joe sends a text saying that his phone is at 11% and he has 14 miles to go. There’s no chance his phone gets him to the end. He says he’ll run til the battery dies, and then post up until its light enough to keep moving, sometime around 4am.


    Around 2am, when Joe is on a 200 foot boardwalk in the middle of a swampy lake, it happens. Bye, iPhone & light source. He uses the backlight of his almost dead Go-pro and squats down low - guiding his feet carefully til he reaches a safer spot for sleep. Truly nuts!


    At 4:20am, the sun is up enough and he makes a huge push for the last 8.5 miles. To finish in under 5 days, he needs to be done by 6:29am, which seems like a massive stretch given his pace to date.


    6:23am, Fueled by some unknown force, Joe cruises about 8.5 miles in 1:51. That’s 4.6 mph with a full pack! Not sure where that speed came from, but the Stringbean crosses the border with an enormous smile and the damn thing is DONE.

    We've officially raised over $5,000 for Outdoor Afro and are still accepting donations here. Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

    An enormous thanks to the friends who joined me last night/this morning. Truly a dream team of people.

    Thanks for following everyone along on the journey. Time for sleep!

    Signing off,

    Katie



    Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

  6. #26

    Default

    Oh WOW!!
    HUGE HUGE HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO Joe "the Stringbean"!!! UnFreakinBeliveable! WoW!!!

    Huge Thank You Katie for that post too!! Get all that more than earned sleep now (hopefully sleeping soundly already)

    willin'

  7. #27
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-23-2019
    Location
    Harpers ferry wv.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    2,087

    Default

    Congratulations mind blown!! Goes out to beat the record and beats it by a whole day. Did anybody check is this guy even human or some sort of AI or alien?

  8. #28

    Default

    Yep. Mind blowing.

    Question: what does “overall” pertain to?

  9. #29
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-01-2007
    Location
    Rangeley, Maine
    Age
    46
    Posts
    94

    Default

    I think it means "overall unsupported" as in men's and women's. awkward wording for sure. Basically a woman could come along and beat his unsupported time but he'd still have the men's unsupported. I think is what that means


    Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

  10. #30
    Ounces are the little-death
    Join Date
    04-27-2010
    Location
    Nashville, TN
    Age
    40
    Posts
    198

    Default

    I don't think I've ever noticed a man mention "overall" when talking about gender records before. That's usually used when an unsupported beats the self/supported records or when a woman tops the male record.
    I guess it would be appropriate if the previous record was female like with JPD or Anish or Nikki...but that wasn't the case here, either.
    Pretty weird.

  11. #31
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-01-2007
    Location
    Rangeley, Maine
    Age
    46
    Posts
    94

    Default

    Could also mean overall "non supported". Meaning both self supported and unsupported.

    Though due to the length of the long trail and the speeds these people are going we probably won't see someone going for the self supported anyways.

    Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

  12. #32
    Ounces are the little-death
    Join Date
    04-27-2010
    Location
    Nashville, TN
    Age
    40
    Posts
    198

    Default

    Never heard the term nonsupported and that just seems extraneously confusing.
    Selfsupported on the LT doesn't make sense unless you plan to cache. Is there even a resupply where you don't need a hitch?

  13. #33
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-01-2007
    Location
    Rangeley, Maine
    Age
    46
    Posts
    94

    Default

    Yes there are resupplies that can be done on foot. But ya doesn't make sense to cache or resupply if you're fast on a trail that is short enough that you can physically carry all that you need.

    Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

  14. #34
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-01-2007
    Location
    Rangeley, Maine
    Age
    46
    Posts
    94

    Default

    I believe both anish and string bean did self supported no hitch FKTs on the AT

    Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

  15. #35
    Ounces are the little-death
    Join Date
    04-27-2010
    Location
    Nashville, TN
    Age
    40
    Posts
    198

    Default

    Selfsupported AT is normal. A male selfsupported LT doesn't even exist. It's been too long since I did the LT but I can't remember what the closest resupply even was. We hitched everything.

  16. #36
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-08-2008
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Age
    31
    Posts
    205
    Images
    2

    Default

    Stringbean ultimately called his Long Trail hike self-supported because he accepted water from a stranger. Actually you're only supposed to accept aid on supported hikes. Still probably the most impressive speed hike of the LT.
    Big Hike: the first iOS app for the AT and BMT

  17. #37
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-04-2017
    Location
    Central CT
    Age
    37
    Posts
    475

    Default

    I thought self-supported was general rules for a thru hike on your own and something that happens rather then something planned out for you would be accepted... but what do I know, and I also thought there's no definitive FKT rules either. I don't see how excepting water from a stranger would make it supported, same as a stream you weren't expecting or a rain storm your able to collect some water from.
    NoDoz
    nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
    -
    I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind

  18. #38
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-08-2008
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Age
    31
    Posts
    205
    Images
    2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by LazyLightning View Post
    I thought self-supported was general rules for a thru hike on your own and something that happens rather then something planned out for you would be accepted... but what do I know, and I also thought there's no definitive FKT rules either. I don't see how excepting water from a stranger would make it supported, same as a stream you weren't expecting or a rain storm your able to collect some water from.
    I looked it up and you’re right - self supported precludes prearranged support. That leaves open the option for a contender’s fans to provide him or her excessive support as long as it wasn’t pre arranged. To me it feels weird if the contender is hiking to and from towns to reapply but also accepting trail magic. I think this has been discussed and is a bit of a gray area. Good for stringbean for being transparent about what happened.

  19. #39
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-05-2010
    Location
    southern appalachians
    Posts
    230

    Default

    Interesting discussion. Both Joe's self-supported AT and LT FKTs are mind-blowing. I don't see it being a big deal that he accepted some water from a hiker on his LT FKT. However, given his dramatic finish (running out of a light source on a bog bridge on the last night), had he accepted batteries like he did on his AT FKT (if I recall correctly), it could've had a substantial impact on his performance by at least a few hours. So... the trail magic thing is definitely a slippery slope. In hindsight, I wish I had the discipline to nip it in the bud and eschew it (along with the hitching) back in 2013. Of course, it's not too late for someone to set a higher standard, they just have to also be faster than Joe

  20. #40

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by chknfngrs View Post
    Yep. Mind blowing.

    Question: what does “overall” pertain to?
    I've seen in AT FKT's where "overall" means fastest "overall". Meaning both directions (nobo and sobo) in the case of the LT, AT, etc.... For example, Liz Anjos "Mercury" who just did an AT FKT set the womens supported nobo FKT I think, in 51 days 16 hours and 30 min. Jennifer Phar Davis holds, I think, the "overall" women's supported FKT, which she did sobo in 2011 with a time of 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes.

    I'm only guessing here, but maybe "overall" doesn't refer to gender, but refers to direction(s) hiked/ran.

    willin'

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •