I just submitted an article looking at characteristics of Southbound thru-hikes just like the article I did for Northbound thru-hikes a few years ago. Here is a link to it:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/cont...T-Hiking-Rates
You can also find the article by clicking on "AT Data and Schedules" in the articles side bar in the left hand column of the WB home page. It turns out there are significant differences in the hiking rates and zero day propensities of NOBOs and SOBOs.
I want to thank Ric (attroll) for helping me out after I spent several hours typing my article into the article editor and it disappeared into the ether when I tried to submit it. He spent some time that evening and the next morning figuring out how to bring it back, much to my relief.