And this is "Unsupported", Right ? Very Impressive !Originally Posted by jersey joe
He leads me beside still waters !!
Happy Trails..... BrotherAL
Horton posted 30 minutes ago that Karl was 70 miles from the finish. I wonder if he's got 5am on his radar because that would put "45 days" on the record. Don't know what kind of night's sleep he got but that would make for an impressive finish and an exclamation mark.
As for future record attempts, I think Barkley finishers would do well. Someone like Jared Campbell or Brett Maune. There's already a precedent with Horton and Andrew. I wonder if most of the elite runners would get out there and have the kind of realization Scott and Karl had (and were able to overcome). Maybe less so since there's more info now about how gnarly the trail is. As Karl says, the AT is totally different from anything out west. Elite runners have the physical attributes, no question, but they'd have to have a paradigm shift and settle into going 3.5 miles an hour. And go without showers. Runners love their showers.
As for Scott, yeah, I think the crowds slowed him down. But for those that follow ultras, it's a little like Killian chilling for 10 minutes at the top of a pass on Hard Rock. On paper it's costing them time, but it can be rejuvenating in the long run (no pun intended). He also had a lot of support and he needed it to make up for the fact that he'd never set foot on the AT before. I think Jenny did an incredible job of holding it all together. And in the end, his other worldly talent and mental toughness carried him through.
don't think anybody will ever beat the jurek's NOBO record
That would be 9:08 this morning which would be 1 day 3 hours 59 min left. Lets just call it 28 hours left. 70 miles out from Springer is Dicks Creek (mi 69.6). With no sleep Karl will have to keep a 2.5 mph pace to tie the record. With 4 hours sleep tonight he'll have to keep a 2.91 mph to tie the record.
I hope his support crew is aware that getting to Coopers Gap can be a bit tricky. Ron Brown has picked me up there and dropped me off there before. He told me that when he first started shuttling it took him days to figure out how to get there coming in from the west. Having ridden out and back in there on those dirt roads myself with Ron I know what he means.
Jurek's record is mighty impressive and it would take a PERFECT hike to beat his time.
That's the silver lining for Scott, even if Karl beats his overall time, Jurek still has the NOBO record.
On the flip side, Jen's SOBO record is now #2.
Correct, that is unsupported.
Considering how niche this is, is there really a need to sub divide records past the supported/unsupported point? I feel like then it's just gonna end up with 8 more meaningless records for M/F, Supported/Unsupported, and NOBO/SOBO.
What is the definition of unsupported? Does that mean walking to town for resupply? Using Shuttles? Having a team at road crossing with supplies?
Not yet. Karl's still gotta finish.
Has anyone seen Karl Meltzer...? He's mere miles and hours away from setting the new record. Current location, aside from the daily Instagram posts, are scarce!!
I think it's generally accepted to be following the guidelines set out by Scott Williamson during his PCT hike
- Walk into and out of resupply towns to purchase or pick up prepacked and mailed supplies.
- Hike as a backpacker, carrying all food and equipment between resupply towns.
- Follow the official AT route, no detours, road walks or alternates of any kind.
- Do not have anyone follow, or provide support in a prearranged manner.
- Do not get into a vehicle for any reason during the attempt.
- Honestly and thoroughly document the attempt.
- Practice Leave-No-Trace ethics.
Here are the basic guidelines for a unsupported FKT that were laid out by Matt Kirk who was the unspported record holder until last year when Anish broke the record.
+Walk into and out of towns to purchase supplies, no mail drops.
+Hike as a backpacker, carry all food and gear between towns.
+Do not accept planned or unplanned support or trail magic.
+Do not get into a vehicle for any reason during the hike.
+Follow official FNST route currently open to hikers.
+Respect other trail users, practice LNT ethics.
+Honestly and thoroughly document the hike.
and can be found here
Karl and Scott ran supported hikes.
Through Day 44....
Karl Meltzer AT SB Record Attempt by JeffMeh thru Day 44.jpg
[QUOTE=Chair-man;2092974]Here are the basic guidelines for a unsupported FKT that were laid out by Matt Kirk who was the unspported record holder until last year when Anish broke the record.
+Hike as a backpacker, carry all food and gear between towns.
+Do not accept planned or unplanned support or trail magic.
As a Backpacker those two seem counter to each other - Backpacking and trail magic these days seem to go together.
"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour
Just speculating now but here's how I see how it might play out. If Karl keeps a 3 mph today he should arrive at Neels around 9 pm tonight. At that point I doubt his crew will let him continue on. He'll take 3 - 4 hours to eat and sleep then get started again around 12 or 1 am. But who knows, he might have so much adrenaline going at this point that he just blows thru Neels Gap. Good thing there's almost a full moon going on right now.
Also, following the white blazes painted on the rock slabs on top of Blood Mt can be tricky at night. I hope someone is with him there.
Actually, Unsupported means you have everything you need for the entire hike with you at the beginning, including all your food and fuel. Water can be collected from natural sources. This is obviously not possible for the AT. This applies to shorter hikes, such as the JMT.
What is done on the AT is Self Supported. You stop and get resupplied en route, but you do that on your own with no assistance.
http://fastestknowntime.proboards.co.../19/read-first
Hiker Hostel's Facebook page has a photo of Karl and Scott. Not sure where the photo was taken but...the barn is close!
hikers gonna hike
[QUOTE=Furlough;2092991]To clarify: chair man copy-pasted the guide lines I used on my Florida Trail (FNST) attempt in December 2015, which (by design) were more restrictive than the guide lines I followed on the AT in 2013 http://sub60.wikispaces.com/About, which were (arguably) more restrictive than the guide lines followed by Anish (regarding documentation/proof). Is your head spinning yet?Here are the basic guidelines for a unsupported FKT that were laid out by Matt Kirk who was the unspported record holder until last year when Anish broke the record.
+Hike as a backpacker, carry all food and gear between towns.
+Do not accept planned or unplanned support or trail magic.
As a Backpacker those two seem counter to each other - Backpacking and trail magic these days seem to go together.
[QUOTE=matthew.d.kirk;2093011]Thanks for clearing that up Matt
To clarify: chair man copy-pasted the guide lines I used on my Florida Trail (FNST) attempt in December 2015, which (by design) were more restrictive than the guide lines I followed on the AT in 2013 http://sub60.wikispaces.com/About, which were (arguably) more restrictive than the guide lines followed by Anish (regarding documentation/proof). Is your head spinning yet?
Just heard passed Unicoi Gap around 1:30
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