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Across the Smokies: The New Endurance Record

Friday, July 29, 2011

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

I didn't realize it at the time, because I don't know him, but David is a park ranger for the Smokies, and works as an interpretive ranger atop Mt. LeConte.

Earlier in the week the Great Smoky Mountains Association published a video about his recent feat. The narrator makes the points that David gained a total of 18,660 feet as he crossed the crest of the Smokies. This compares to "only" 13,000 feet of elevation that climber gain from base camp to the summit of Denali in Alaska.

David is also quoted as stating that he may be interested in tackling the speed record for the entire Appalachian Trail someday. He might want to note that his goal is about to get a little tougher. Jennifer Pharr Davis is just days away from shaving roughly a half-day off the existing record of 47 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes.

Anyway, here's the video:


© GSMA 2011. All rights reserved.



Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
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Much Pharr-ther down the road

Saturday, July 23, 2011

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Since the last time we checked-in on her, Jennifer Pharr Davis has made some serious progress in her quest to break the overall record for the fastest hike of the Appalachian Trail.

By my calculations she's hiked 1656 miles through 36 days, and has averaged 46 miles per day! During one 5-day stretch Jennifer put in a whopping 261 miles!

Although the terrain in Maine is quite tough, I was a little concerned that her daily mileage was a little low after averaging "just" 40 miles per day over the course of the first 10 days. But once she got into New York her daily mileage really picked up.

On the latest blog posting, which is likely through July 20th, her crew estimates that she will be finishing up at Springer Mountain in Georgia either on Sunday night, July 31st, or Monday morning, August 1st.

As of that last posting she was in southwest Virginia, and has 524 miles to go, meaning, she expects to average roughly 47.6 miles per day over the final 11 days of her quest. This also means she will have surpassed the current record of 47 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes, by roughly a half day!


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
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Jennifer Pharr Davis set to begin A.T. odyssey this week

Saturday, June 11, 2011

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If all goes as planned, sometime this week Jennifer Pharr Davis will begin her much anticipated attempt at breaking the overall Appalachian Trail speed record. Jennifer already owns the Women’s Speed Record for the fastest thru-hike of the A.T., setting the record in 2008 after completing the trail in just over 57 days.

To break the overall record she'll have to hike the entire 2,180-mile trail in less than 47 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes. That's an average of 47 miles a day!

She plans on making a southbound hike on this occasion. Her start date will depend on trail and weather conditions in northern Maine, and she'll only depart from Mount Katahdin if there's a clear forecast.

As part of her strategy, when possible, she plans hiking up mountains and running down them. To get through her 16-hour days she'll consume at least 6,000 calories per day. This is 3 to 4 times what the average person typically consumes in a day!

As you might expect, Davis has generated quite a bit of publicity after making her formal announcement of the attempt back in April. Women's Adventure Magazine published a nice feature article on her in late May, and earlier in the week, National Geographic Adventure published an excellent Q&A with her.

Also, take a look at author Johnny Molloy's interesting piece in Blue Ridge Outdoors about the recent phenomenon of "speed hiking".

I'm not sure how often her team will be providing updates, but she told me in an email that people will be able to keep up with her progress on her blog.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
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New Speed Record for Smokies A.T. Traverse

Thursday, May 26, 2011

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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
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Jennifer Pharr Davis announces speed record attempt on A.T.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

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In an article published today, North Carolina native, Jennifer Pharr Davis, announced that she will be attempting to break the overall speed record on the Appalachian Trail this coming June.

In 2008 she became the women's speed record holder by completing the entire length of the 2175-mile Appalachian Trail in just 57 days, 8 hours and 35 minutes - averaging 38 miles per day - with no rest days!

Davis told writer Marty Basch in a recent phone interview that she plans to tackle the overall speed record, held by Andrew Thompson who completed it in 2005 in only 47 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes. Next June, Davis plans to depart from the northern terminus of the trail at Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

Davis is also the author of a new book - Becoming Odyssa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail. The book chronicles her adventures, experiences and challenges during her first A.T. thru hike just out of college in 2005.

Incidentally, I'm quite familiar with the author of the article. I've read a couple of books written by Marty Basch - an accomplished adventurer himself. Against the Wind, about his solo bicycle ride from Maine to Alaska, is a particularly good read.





Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
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Meltzer’s Bid for AT Record Not Likely

Friday, August 22, 2008

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If you’ve been following Karl Meltzer’s bid to break the Appalachian Trail speed record then you may have heard that he ran into a little trouble that has put his record quest in serious jeopardy. In fact, based on his last blog entry, he has more or less conceded that he won’t be breaking the record this go around.

Problems began for the ultra marathon runner early on when he was forced to trek through several days of rain in Maine that resulted in a nasty case of trench foot. He also contracted poison ivy on the toes on his left foot, forcing him to over-compensate on the other foot which resulted in tendonitis. All of this has forced him off the trail for at least three days in-a-row now.

In his last blog entry he vowed to continue on for the learning experience, and suggested that he will try for the record again in the future.

Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
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New Speed Record on the Appalachian Trail

Saturday, August 16, 2008

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If all goes as planned this weekend, 25-year-old Jennifer Pharr Davis will set the women’s record for the fastest assisted thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

If she reaches Springer Mountain in Georgia by today she will have completed the entire Appalachian Trail in just 58 days. Her initial goal was to complete the trail in 60 to 80 days. Currently, Jenny Jardine holds the women’s AT speed record, setting-it in 1993 when she and her husband hiked the trail in 87 days.

There’s one key difference between the two treks though: Jardine hiked the trail unsupported, whereas Davis is hiking the trail with support from her husband, whom she married just days before launching her quest. Jennifer’s husband supplies her with food and water at road crossings and takes her camping gear to the next overnight spot. She only carries food and water in a waist-pack and doesn’t carry a backpack.

Davis began her southbound hike on June 20 at Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Once completed, she will have covered the 2,176 miles on the world-famous path for the second time. For most thru-hikers, this trek usually takes five to six months.

This is no fluke for Davis. She holds records for the fastest unsupported hikes on the 270-mile Long Trail in Vermont and the 660-mile Bibbulman Track in Australia. She has also completed the Appalachian Trail in 2005 and the 2650-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2006.

Each day, Davis covers almost 37 miles during 13 hours of hiking, while burning an incredible 4,000 calories. She estimates that she’s run about 30 percent of the miles along the way. She’s also gone through 10 pairs of shoes so far.

Davis has undertaken this personal challenge, in part, to honor victims who have been murdered while hiking within the last year. She is honoring Meredith Emerson who was killed while hiking on Blood Mountain in Georgia this past January, and John and Irene Bryant, an elderly couple who were murdered in October while hiking in Pisgah National Forest. She hopes her record hike will assure others that, despite these isolated tragedies, they shouldn’t fear the woods.

You can follow her journal entries at: blueridgeoutdoors.com/content/category/Pharr-Out/

BlueRidgeNow.com is also covering her trek.

Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
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