Karl Meltzer is on pace to break Jurek's Appalachian FKT

Go Karl! Redbull gives you wings!

I think it's hilarious that Jurek "ran" the trail to get the "record" but only beat the woman who held it by a few hours, she did it walking.

BigDuh wrote:

I think it's hilarious that Jurek "ran" the trail to get the "record" but only beat the woman who held it by a few hours, she did it walking.

I can vouch that Jurek wasn't running after the first month.

Yea the walking approach is the best because you can cover slightly less distance but... needs less recovery time in between effort so you end up doing longer bouts with less sleep. So it about equals out and the impact is almost gone.

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lol the guy looks like he has a broken leg... shin swelling, compression sleeve, walking sticks, struggling on the downhills

Throw in the towel.

isn't he going SOBO? If he breaks it I would consider Jurek's FKT still intact - I think NOBO is significantly harder. The 2nd half of the trail going south is a walk in the park.

That article is a little misleading. Meltzer is 25 days in, and has completed 1095.3 miles. There are 1094.7 miles remaining, so he is 0.3 miles past halfway. He has just 21 days (plus 8 hours) to complete the second half.

So, on a strictly "miles per day" basis, he is not on pace. He is a day or two behind. Another way to put it is that he has averaged 43.8 miles per day so far. He will need to average 51.2 miles per day for the second half in order to equal Jurek's record. That said, the half he just did is considered the slower and tougher half.

It's certainly possible for him to succeed, but he has been suffering with shin splints the past week, including some severe shin swelling. He's also 0/2 at this point. But don't underestimate the Speedgoat!! Personally I give him like a 30% chance, I am definitely rooting for him though!

Considering your average thru hiker who completes the trail is doing 30 mile days in their last weeks when finishing north bound after beginning the trial with 10 miles days, it's safe to say that the trail will be a breeze to the finish. Putting in 3 extra more miles per day now than he has in the first half per day shouldn't be hard. The recovery is the hardest part. He just needs to walk it home from here: walk 20, nap, walk 20, nap, walk 20, nap until his legs break off or he gets the record. Day/Night/The honey badger doesn't give a ____.

not really on pace wrote:

That article is a little misleading. ...Another way to put it is that he has averaged 43.8 miles per day so far.

Jennifer's walking record which was beat by Jurek by only a couple hours was 44.08 miles per day average in the same direction at this same halfway point for comparison.

BigDuh wrote:

I think it's hilarious that Jurek "ran" the trail to get the "record" but only beat the woman who held it by a few hours, she did it walking.

I forgot this is letsrun, where everyone can average 43 to 45 miles a day (which is 300+ mile weeks), on sometimes gnarly trails, with about 5,000 feet of climbing for 6 straight weeks?

If it's so funny, go out and try to do it.

I did not follow when Jurek did it but I thought he suffered an injury somewhat early on and then kept going anyway. Can someone clarify what occurred when Jurek set the record?

considering that recently he's done some 50+ mile days as the terrain got easier, I'd think that he can get this if injury doesn't stop him. It does get a lot hotter from here on, but then the weather has just started to cool a bit in the south and of course he stays in cooler stretches in the mountains.

This kind of thing just spells P-A-I-N. "Can you withstand the suffering for weeks on end?" No thanks.

This was my thoughts when I read that "update". I read it and went "How are you 1/2 way in 25 days and on pace when the record is 46 days?"

I want him to get it. Great mountain runner, but even nicer person. As you said, he is 0 for 2 and fell apart around this point in the first two attempts. (Hell, I think he dropped in Virginia the last time) It's hard to imagine if you are dealing with those kinds of issues (shin splints and swelling) that it is going to get easier. As you said though, the trail gets "easier" in Virginia and North Carolina. This is a guy who, even with 2,000 miles on his legs, ran the last 100+ miles of the Pony Express in like 19 hours (IIRC).

Ton of it wrote:

I did not follow when Jurek did it but I thought he suffered an injury somewhat early on and then kept going anyway. Can someone clarify what occurred when Jurek set the record?

Torn quad, week one.

FWIW when I sectioned hiked the trail I tore an achilles on week one and still covered over a 1500 miles that summer. Despite what people tell us, you can actually walk/hike during an injury. After about 500 miles it was stronger than it was before. Of course this is not anywhere in comparison for these FKT guys and I was about half their age but it does show that injury doesn't have to knock you out.

Old Man Runner wrote:

I forgot this is letsrun, where everyone can average 43 to 45 miles a day (which is 300+ mile weeks), on sometimes gnarly trails, with about 5,000 feet of climbing for 6 straight weeks?

If it's so funny, go out and try to do it.

Yep, most of us here are doing 45 miles of uphill tempo runs at elevation, everyday. This Meltzer dude is soft.

"Running 60 or 70 percent of the time at the outset, Jurek had gotten a jump on Pharr Davis’s ghost. But in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains, less than 300 miles in, he came down with patellar tendonitis in his right knee and, compensating for the injury, quickly acquired a quad tear on his left side. After just seven days, he was running on two bad legs."

Old Man Runner wrote:

I forgot this is letsrun, where everyone can average 43 to 45 miles a day (which is 300+ mile weeks), on sometimes gnarly trails, with about 5,000 feet of climbing for 6 straight weeks?

If it's so funny, go out and try to do it.

UltraTempos wrote:

Yep, most of us here are doing 45 miles of uphill tempo runs at elevation, everyday. This Meltzer dude is soft.

In trainers!

Old Man Runner wrote:

BigDuh wrote:

I think it's hilarious that Jurek "ran" the trail to get the "record" but only beat the woman who held it by a few hours, she did it walking.

I forgot this is letsrun, where everyone can average 43 to 45 miles a day (which is 300+ mile weeks), on sometimes gnarly trails, with about 5,000 feet of climbing for 6 straight weeks?

If it's so funny, go out and try to do it.

It's funny because people still act like it's a running event/feat, when in reality it's along hike. And this ultra "runner" barely squeaked by a WOMAN that WALKED.

I never said it was easy. But this is something more for Outside Mag. than running.