Ultrarunner Sets New Record Across Great Smokey Mountain National Park

An ultrarunner, who also happens to be a park ranger, set a new record for running across the Great Smokey Mountain National Park a few months back, when he ran the section of the Appalachian Trail, which crosses that region. According to this story, from the Knoxville News, 26-year old David Worth covered the 72-mile distance in 14 hours, 50 minutes, and 22 seconds.

Worth actually made his record breaking run back on May 19, but this story of his epic run is just now starting to leak out. He began his journey on the North Carolina side of the national park before dawn and then proceeded to run west. He took a break at about 12:40 in the afternoon, in the parking lot of Newfound Gap, the halfway point of the run, where he ate three boiled potatoes, before he hit the trail once again. Just after 7 PM that evening, he reached the finish line at Davenport Gap, where the AT exits the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

As the Adventure Journal, who linked me to this story, points out, Worth averaged more than a 12-minute mile while on his run. Any runner will tell you that that isn't incredibly fast. But what is impressive is that he managed to keep running, across often difficult sections of trail, for nearly 15 hours. That is quite a display of endurance to say the least. Still, at that pace, he did manage to break the old record, held by Jon Lawler, by more than an hour.

Worth says he isn't done with the AT yet and would like to give it another go to see if he can shave even more time off his record. In August, he also ran a series of interconnected trails in the park that covered about 44 miles in length, which he completed in 10 hours, 3 minutes, 41 seconds. Those trails were almost entirely up or down mountains however, which was a very different experience than the one that he had in May.

Reading this guy's story makes me want to hit the trail myself.

Jennifer Pharr Davis Sets New Speed Record On The Appalachian Trail

Way back in early June I posted a story about Jennifer Pharr Davis, who held the women's speed record for thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, but was just about to set out on an attempt to break her own record. Now, just a couple of months later, she's completed the hike and set a new record in the process.

Jennifer first hiked the AT end-to-end back in 2008, completing the 2200 mile (3540km) trek in 57 days, 8 hours, and 35 minutes. The record she established yesterday, upon reaching the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia, shaves more than ten days off that mark, as she finished the entire hike in 46 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes. For those doing the math at home, that means she averaged about 47 miles per day. This time out she not only set the speed record for women however, but for all hikers. She beat the old record, held by Andrew Thompson, which was set back in 2005 and was 47 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes.

Setting out on June 15th, Jennifer had planned to walk for longer days than she did on her 2008 AT hike. She began at the trail head on Mount Katadin in Maine and kept chugging along south until she reached the end in Georgia over the weekend, where she was met by about 50 people, who were on hand to welcome her to the finish line.

The full story of her trek will probably come out once she's had time to rest and recover, and I'm sure she has some interesting stories from the trail. Along the way, she had to deal with some nagging injuries, intense heat, and plenty of other obstacles, and yet she stayed focused, hiked 15-16 hour days, and averaged about 3 miles per hour while on the move. Not bad all things considered.

Congrats to Jennifer on this impressive feat. The AT is no easy trail to tame and to do it in a month-and-a-half is really amazing. Well done!

Thru-Hiker Looks To Break Own Speed Record On The AT

Hiking the Appalachian Trail end-to-end is no easy feat. Stretching from Maine to Georgie, the trail is nearly 2200 miles (3540km) in length, winding its way up and down, and back up again, through the Appalachian Mountains. Next week, thru-hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis will set out to break the women's speed record for the trail by averaging more than 46 miles per day, which is obviously a very ambitious pace. If anyone can do it however, it'll be Jennifer, who set the current record herself back in 2008.

Before setting out, Jennifer sat down with National Geographic Adventure and gave an interesting interview about her approach to long-distance hiking. That interview is now available on the NG Adventure Blog.

In the interview, Pharr Davis discusses why she wants to go after her own record, and possibly the overall record for men or women, how she approaches a 46-mile per day pace, and the training she has been going through in preparation for the hike. She also says she expects to go through six or seven pairs of shoes (Salomon are trail shoes of choice!) along the way and burn in excess of 6000 calories per day as well. She also touches on her favorite pieces of gear, her bid to become a "professional hiker," and what's next after she conquers the AT for a second time.

Jennifer's current record for the end-to-end hike is 57 days, 8 hours and 35 minutes. Her pace on that hike was about 38 miles per day, and while she intends to complete the trek sooner this time out, she doesn't expect that her pace will increase. Instead, she plans to hike for two additional hours each day, as on her last hike, she wasn't prepared to continue into the night. That has changed, and since she wants to make a serious assault on her own record, she knows she'll have to find ways to stay on the trail longer.

Good luck to Jennifer on her hike. Don't forget to enjoy the walk while you're out there Jen!

The Appalachian Trail Done In Five Minutes

I posted this cool video over at Gadling this past weekend, but wanted to share it here as well. It was put together by thru-hiker Kevin Gallagher, who spent six months covering the Appalachian Trail end-to-end. When he got home, he made this video using still images that he took along the way. The result is a stop motion depiction of what it is like to hike all 2175 miles of the AT. It is also the perfect way to starty your morning. Enjoy!



Green Tunnel from Kevin Gallagher on Vimeo.

12,500 Mile 'All-In Trek' Is Underway

Way back in September I told you about Samuel Gardner and his "All-In Trek." It was around then that Samuel first announced his plans to hike the North Country Trail, Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail and Pacific Crest Trail, all back-to-back. On January 1st of this year, he set out to do just that, and now, a month and a half in, he's started to receive a great deal of attention for his efforts.

If successful, Gardner will cover more than 12,500 miles (20,117km) on his adventure. He began his journey on the North Country Trail, which stretches 4600 miles from New York to North Dakota. At the moment, he is 45 days into that march, and when you consider that it is still deep winter in the states he's crossing through, you begin to have an appreciation for what he has undertaken. In fact, the weather has been down right awful for him on the trail thus far, but he was well prepared for that and has made solid progress thus far.

Once he finishes off the North Country Trail, Gardner will move on to the 2650 mile (4264km) Pacific Crest Trail, which he'll travel south to north, ending at the Canadian border. Then it's off to the Continental Divide Trail (3100 miles/5000km) which he'll tackle going north to south, before finally heading over to the Appalachian Trail, which is 2175 miles (3500km) in length, and will cap the expedition. The plan is to complete the journey in just one year, which means that Sam will have to average roughly 34 miles per day to achieve that goal.

National Geographic Adventure recently did a brief interview with Gardner, which you can now read on their Adventure Blog. In the interview, Sam talks about his inspirations for the trek, what weather conditions have been like so far, as well as his favorite trail foods. You can about his thoughts on those subjects, and a whole lot more, by clicking here.

You can also read daily updates on Sam's progress on his website's Journal section, which offers plenty of great insights into what it is like on the trail.

Good luck Sam!

Blind Hiker Preps For Continental Divide Trail

This was my story over at Gadling.com this morning, but definitely worth sharing here as well. The current issue of Expedition News reports that blind hiker Trevor Thomas will attempt to thru-hike the entire length of the Continental Divide Trail, covering more than 3100 miles (5000km) from the Canadian border south to the Mexican border.

The trek is set to begin in June, when Thomas will set out with three companions who will assist him through some of the more challenging, harder to navigate, sections of the CDT. As the name of the trail implies, the route runs along the Continental Divide, the line from which rivers on one side of the Rocky Mountains head east, while those on the other side travel west. The trail passes through five states, including Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

The CDT makes up one third of the "Triple Crown" of thru-hiking in the U.S., with the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail rounding out the list. Those trails are 2175 miles (3500km) and 2650 miles (4264km) in length respectively, and Thomas has already covered both of them. He went solo on the AT back in 2009 and had some assistance through deep snow on the PCT in 2010.

Find out more about Trevor and his team at TeamFarsight.org and expected updates on that site once the expedition officially gets underway in a few months time.