AT thru hike speed record

[jersey joe]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

[Slo-go'en]

Don't even try! (Yeah, I know, real helpful)

[vonfrick]

why does no one ever mention the record for longest time to complete a thru?? stupid elitists

[JustaTouron]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

should do: walk fast
shouldn't do: walk slow

why does no one ever mention the record for longest time to complete a thru?? stupid elitists

hmmm...would be hard to define....how many zeros can you take before you stop being the longest time to complete a thru and start becoming the quickest to complete it as a section hiker?

[Jeff]

Lone Wolf here at Whiteblaze would be an excellent resourse.

[nitewalker]

start early and finish late!!!

[fiddlehead]

Go out and do some things like: CT in a day or the Smokies in a day or similar and then talk to Lone Wolf about possibly support people or guys like Ed Kostak or Warren Doyle, somebody who has already tried.

You'll need lots of luck, good people behind you and of course a strong will.

What you shouldn't do is go out and set a schedule and stick to your start date even though it just rained 7 days in a row like the guy last year. He didn't respect Maine's weather or the trail enough to know he had to work with it instead of against it.

I have no idea if any of the records will be broken.
I guess it depends on luck, the weather, and people trying that can do it, aye?

[Ox97GaMe]

I find this topic to be somewhat comical. The ATC does not recognize any speed records for the AT. In order to have a record, there needs to be some sort of constant in the equation. The exact length of the AT changes each year, actually several times per year, as new relocations are put in place. Some make it longer, some make it shorter. Some make it easier, some make it more difficult.

There is nothing worse than to speed hike the whole trial and then find out you missed the 'record' by 37 seconds (yes, they measure it that way) and then find out that there was a 1.2 mile relo opened up in Virginia just before you hiked through there. Are we going to have to put an asterick (*) beside the various attempts? Will we see records for each differing distance? What about a summer record vs. a winter record? What about NoBo vs. Sobo? As already stated in this thread, was it supported or unsupported? Just too many variables in the equation to be able to actually state a 'record' has been broken.

And at the end of the day, what does the record really mean? It is a personal goal for an individual. Maybe there is a small circle of hikers that follow this (or even care).

[Jonnycat]

You just need the right pack.

[Lone Wolf]

I find this topic to be somewhat comical. The ATC does not recognize any speed records for the AT.

it doesn't matter what the ATC recognizes. there are a lot of folks that do

[Lone Wolf]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

Go SOBO. the supported record will be broken next

[jersey joe]

I find this topic to be somewhat comical. The ATC does not recognize any speed records for the AT. In order to have a record, there needs to be some sort of constant in the equation. The exact length of the AT changes each year, actually several times per year, as new relocations are put in place. Some make it longer, some make it shorter. Some make it easier, some make it more difficult.

The fact that the distance of the AT changes every year is not a big deal. Many things change from attempt to attempt, not only distance but weather, amount of daylight and many other factors. If the distance is a little bit greater, that just adds to the challenge.

One of the best pieces of advice I saw during Karl's record attempt was to not limit yourself to camping at road crossings to meet your support team.

[Lone Wolf]

One of the best pieces of advice I saw during Karl's record attempt was to not limit yourself to camping at road crossings to meet your support team.

David Horton would still have the record today if his crew were willing to set up camps on the trail instead of picking him up nightly at a road crossing then going into town

[stranger]

My "era" of AT hiking has been early 90's to present, and what still stands out as most impressive for me are the hikes that David Horton and Maniak did in the early 90's, as well as Ward Leonard's unsupported record in 1990. The fact that some of those "records" have been broken since doesn't mean much to me, those guys still have my respect based on how they hiked, the choices they made, their lack of resources, etc...

Even if Ward's record is broken this year, it won't really matter, he will still be the man, and his "record" stood for 20 years. The fact that he did it 20 years ago means more than doing it today as far as I'm concerned.

[Walking Thunderbird]

I concur with the assessment of going SOBO. Unless you're already an ultramarathoner, you'll need time to get adjusted, and you might as well do your smaller mileage days in ME and NH, where you can somewhat compensate due to the increased elevation.

What is Ward's unsupported "record"? Is is still 61 days? I think that's fairly attainable if you're in good shape and you have the right drive. I did a SOBO in 75 days last year (with one zero day due to injury), and I could've cut some days off that if I was really focused. Anyone who attempts the record just has to remember that you're going to be walking just about constantly from the time you wake up until you get in, which will likely be after dark quite often.

[jersey joe]

I concur with the assessment of going SOBO. Unless you're already an ultramarathoner, you'll need time to get adjusted, and you might as well do your smaller mileage days in ME and NH, where you can somewhat compensate due to the increased elevation.

What is Ward's unsupported "record"? Is is still 61 days? I think that's fairly attainable if you're in good shape and you have the right drive. I did a SOBO in 75 days last year (with one zero day due to injury), and I could've cut some days off that if I was really focused. Anyone who attempts the record just has to remember that you're going to be walking just about constantly from the time you wake up until you get in, which will likely be after dark quite often.

Interesting reasoning behing going SOBO...to "warm up" with lower milage days in the rougher terrain. I sort of agree that the 61 days is probably more attainable, but I also think that the supported record will fall first. Mainly because I think that there are more ultra runners that would go for a speed record and not a lot of backpackers going for speed records.

[Bearpaw]

why does no one ever mention the record for longest time to complete a thru?? stupid elitists

They'll have a tough time beating Wyoming Skateboarder's record of 328 days. He definitely hiked his own hike!

[jersey joe]

Wyoming Skateboarder is certainly a unique individual! It's just a matter of time though until someone does a 365 day thru hike, maxing out the one calendar year requirement for a thru hike.

[Roland]

If the fine people at whiteblaze were going to advise someone on the things they should and shouldn't do to successfully break the AT thru hike speed record, either supported or unsupported, what advice would you give? And which record (supported or unsupported) do you think will be broken first?

Are you asking because you're considering a fast hike?

[jersey joe]

Are you asking because you're considering a fast hike?

A speed hike is something I would love to try someday, but is NOT something I'm considering doing in the near future because of my family situation (Just had my first kid).

I guess the reason for asking is that I really enjoyed following Karl's speed hike attempt and was intrigued by the comments from the whiteblaze crowd on how one could more effectively execute a speed hike.