New Speed Record for Smokies A.T. Traverse

Nearing Newfound Gap I passed former Smokies Traverse record holder Will Harlan heading the other direction. Upon realizing who he was I blurted out something like "Are you Will Harlan! Oh cool. I'm going to break the record today!"

Yesterday I received an email from Gatlinburg resident, David Worth, announcing that he just broke the record for the fastest trek across the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains. Last Thursday, May 19th, David ran/walked/trekked 72 miles - from Fontana Dam to Davenport Gap - in 14 hours, 50 minutes and 22 seconds, besting the previous record set by Will Harlan of 15 hours and 57 minutes.

To break down his stats a little; it took, on average, just under 12.5 minutes for David to complete each mile. Or, to put another way, he was moving at roughly 4.85 MPH. Considering the extreme distance, the terrain, and the elevation gain, you could say that was flying!

Major congrats and kudos to David for an awesome feat!

You can read about his adventure on his blog by clicking here.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com