A Season of Record Attempts (II)

A.K.A., a follow up on the multiple speed record attempts going on in the US trails right now and others ready to kick off soon.  But first, a look back on the results of those attempts done in the past couple of months:

Colorado Trail: David Horton could not break Paul Pomeroy’s current time and had to stop before finishing the ful distance. After completing 330 miles in 6 days, the severe dehydration and lack of nutrients (he wasn’t able to eat sufficiently due to stomach issues since day one) forced him to make the difficult decision of abandoning the attempt. In David’s words “Averaging over 54 miles per day on the CT was VERY tough. I started very day before daylight, usually around 4:00 AM and finished every day after dark. My average time on the trail was around 17 hours per day.” Read the full report from David’s own hand.

Pacific Crest Trail: Scott Williamson and Adam Bradley set a new Pacific Crest Trail record! They started in Baja California Norte on June 8th 6and finished at the Canadian border on Auguest 12th. 65days 9hours and 58minutes to beat the until then current record holder David Horton (sounds familiar? :) by 22 hours. ”This was NOT and easy hike, we had to stay focused and hiking nearly every minute of all 65 days“, said Williamson in an email to Horton. There’s a great interview with Bradley at Patagonia’s employees blog (he works there as a customer service reps) and a pre-attempt video interview embedded right below:

John Muir Trail: several records were attempted this summer in California’s classic trail. But of all of them, Brett Maune was the one who crushed both the unsupported and overall records. He failed his first attempt in August but succeeded in a second attempt and broke Sue Johnston’s supported record by 5h47m and Michael Popov’s unsupported record by 19hours. 3dys 14hous 13minutes was his final time. There’s a long thread with Bretts comments at backpackinglight.com. Michael Popov himself tried to beat his own record a few weeks before Brett, but lack of sleep forced him to quit after what he called “the worst night of my life”. Many pictures of Michaels quest here.

Pemigewasset Loop: Inov-8 team members Kevin Tilton and Ben Nephew broke the Pemi Loop speed record (a 31.5 mile loop in the White Mountains of New Hampshire). That happened on Setpember 4 and it took 7h4m47s to complete the course. Full report at team.inov-8.us

Long Trail: at this very moment Jonathan Basham is on the trail. He is tackling 50+ miles a day since September 7 and according to Buzz Burrell he is on pace for a new record. This is his itinerary:

Day 1: Canadian Border –to– Bear Hollow shelter 53.6 miles
Day 2: Bear Hollow shelter –to– Birch Glen shelter 53.6 miles
Day 3: Birch Glen shelter –to– Green Rd. 52.4 miles
Day 4: Green Rd –to– VT 11/30 58.7 miles
Day 5: VT 11/30 –t0– VT/Mass border 54.4 miles

The crew for this supported attempt are Andrew Thompson, Kyle Klingman, Travis Wildeboer, and his wife. “I have no set goal other than to go under the current time of 4d13h15m.” wrote Jonathan a few weeks ago.  Latest updates of his progress at adventure running blog.

Tahoe Rim Trail: after the negative answer from US National Parks department to Kilian Jornet/Salomon on his plans to run the JMT, he will tackle the TRT in a date still not revealed. He will face the impressive record of 45h48min set by ultrarunning legend Tim Twietmeyer in 2005.

[Update 09/11/09 from Brian Culbert] – Bruce Trail: 2 runners 850km 6 days running the entire length of the Bruce Trail (Ontario Canada) in a relay race to benefit HealthyKids International. Attempting to set a trail record and raise $1,000,000 for HKI. Sponsored by Salomon,Sugoi,E load, E Terra, Kamikaze Starting this Sunday in Queenston @10:00 AM finishing six days later in Tobermoray. Follow Brian Culbert and Dave Battison at www.The850race.com.

To keep up to date with the latest record attempts, visit the best source of information: FKT

Scott Williamson (or Adam Bradley) at the PCT

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