14 hours per day of moving at 4 mph is ludicrous? Having hiked sections of the AT, it’s totally doable with support. This record is a function of being able to stay healthy and fueled for 40 days, not being a genetic freak with high VO2 numbers and leg speed.
Walking and averaging 15 min miles for hours on end is pretty hard actually. Go out and try it on a trail like the AT for a couple hours and get back to us. Most ultra runners if they are reduced to a walk are putting in closer to 20 min miles.
I thru-hiked in 2021 (my trail hame is Finch). The challenge of the AT is that the terrain is really variable. A fit person could do 50 miles in a day from VA to PA without too much trouble -- it's called the four state challenge and a lot of thru-hikers do it. [0].
But 50 miles through the whites in New Hampshire, IMO, would be be a superhuman average and not just because of the elevation and but because the trail is super eroded and difficult to get into a good groove on. So to average 50 miles a day probably means that she started slower in the north and then did 60-70/day in the south. So that's basically a 100km trail race per day for many days in a row. I do think that requires being a genetic freak, although the real gift you need is probably the ability to recover on just a few hours of sleep a night.
I did the four state challenge a few years back with some college XC buddies. We were a couple years out of school but all still in pretty decent shape (personally I was in high 15 5k shape). Four out of the five us made it, but it was pretty hard for all of us.
That is 43.5 miles, which is not particularly close to the record pace - I think you'd have to be doing around 70 miles on that section. So sure, it was without any sort of preparation, but fit, male, college XC folks are hurting from not even one day of this. This record is a very impressive accomplishment.
Or do you all think it possible to run 2 marathons per day with 12,000 feet of vertical on trails for 40 consecutive days. I bet she drove 90% of it.
Ludicrous cheat!
What experience do you have running back to back ultras on consecutive days? Or even single marathons? None, right?
What is 12000 feet in normal measurements? About 4000 metres?
It would take me 12-13 hours to run a 100km trail with that elevation gain and I live in a very hot and humid climate. If I had to do it continuously day after day it might take me about 15-16 hours per 100km. If we adjust that to '2 marathons' I.e. 84km let's say I'd have to run for about 14 hours per day, or 13 hours in a cold place like the appalachian mountain range.
I have an itra score of 804. She has an itra score of 703, so a bit slower than me.
13 hours per day leaves 11 hours to rest. That's a lot of rest time. I could take it easy and jog 15 hours instead of running 13 and still get enough rest. It would just be a long run every day for 40 days.
I'm confident I could get close to this given a year or two of specific training, and there are guys with itra scores of 950, way faster than me. Its not that impressive. The hardest part is financing it and getting people to go out there to feed you for weeks on end.
As it happens I have extensive experience running and cycling marathons, ultras, multi-day adventure races, 24 hour races, and stage races.
Only 1 woman has ever finished the Barkley marathon, which is ONLY 100 miles and she needed the full 60 hours to finish.
I use imperial units because it’s an American site and the trail is in the U.S.
I’ll watch this site for news of you crushing the record like she did.
There have been a few high profile ultra performances this year where runners with several years of consistently good, but not great, ultra-trail experience have, all of a sudden, put up world class and/or record breaking performances. I'm not sure what to make of it.
There have been a few high profile ultra performances this year where runners with several years of consistently good, but not great, ultra-trail experience have, all of a sudden, put up world class and/or record breaking performances. I'm not sure what to make of it.
It's the new PEDs that everyone are using. With records falling left and right in non-running sports too, it's not the shoes. It's everyone taking SARMS or something
this is legit. I don't care what the haters say , everyone on here couldn't move that long for that many days in a row. The AT isn't like the PCT , its miserable in spots and always going up or down
Ok so she’s fast. Minus the huge backpack with gear, cars to take you to town and back, someone to hand you your food and get you a water source and put up and take down and carry your tent etc etc. it’s called completely supported. Compared to the typical thru hiker that is out there on his and her own with a ton of gear on their back day in and day out over the mountains and extreme heat and cold. Big difference
An amazing feat. she was super comfortable being uncomfortable. Sleeping at a moment’s notice on or beside the trail. It’s a level of discomfort and discipline that is quite different than a fast marathon. This was a well organized and supported effort. You better have a great team to attempt to challenge yourself to beating this
I posted a thread on Sunday about the feat. And as more information comes out, the more skeptical I become, as the details of her trek become increasingly outlandish.
For example:
- Hiking for 17-18 hours a day;
- her fueling strategy included “quick breakfast” and “short meals” while still downing over 10k calories a day;
- she had pacers for 80% of the trail;
- she was behind Saabe’s record by 100 miles when entering New Jersey, yet not only made up that time, but surpassed it by 18 hours;
- finishing the hike by traveling the final 129 miles without sleep. Not to mention the fact that she had already allegedly gone over 2000 miles before she finished that strong.
As another poster alluded to, Jasmine Paris completed Barkleys 100 miles just under 60 hours and started it on fresh legs.
How are we to believe that Dower completed 127 miles in 44 hours after spending the previous 38 days hiking 54+ mile days on 4-5 hours of sleep a night? And when she finishes, she has the strength to make a full speech and pop champagne on Springer Mountain at 11:50 pm?
No complaints of injury, pain, hunger, challenges, setbacks. Just smooth sailing for 40 days.
For anyone curious, here is the link to where she makes those outlandish claims:
Or do you all think it possible to run 2 marathons per day with 12,000 feet of vertical on trails for 40 consecutive days. I bet she drove 90% of it.
Ludicrous cheat!
What experience do you have running back to back ultras on consecutive days? Or even single marathons? None, right?
What is 12000 feet in normal measurements? About 4000 metres?
It would take me 12-13 hours to run a 100km trail with that elevation gain and I live in a very hot and humid climate. If I had to do it continuously day after day it might take me about 15-16 hours per 100km. If we adjust that to '2 marathons' I.e. 84km let's say I'd have to run for about 14 hours per day, or 13 hours in a cold place like the appalachian mountain range.
I have an itra score of 804. She has an itra score of 703, so a bit slower than me.
13 hours per day leaves 11 hours to rest. That's a lot of rest time. I could take it easy and jog 15 hours instead of running 13 and still get enough rest. It would just be a long run every day for 40 days.
I'm confident I could get close to this given a year or two of specific training, and there are guys with itra scores of 950, way faster than me. Its not that impressive. The hardest part is financing it and getting people to go out there to feed you for weeks on end.
Suuure, we'll wait for you to break that record with bated breath
I posted a thread on Sunday about the feat. And as more information comes out, the more skeptical I become, as the details of her trek become increasingly outlandish.
For example:
- Hiking for 17-18 hours a day;
- her fueling strategy included “quick breakfast” and “short meals” while still downing over 10k calories a day;
- she had pacers for 80% of the trail;
- she was behind Saabe’s record by 100 miles when entering New Jersey, yet not only made up that time, but surpassed it by 18 hours;
- finishing the hike by traveling the final 129 miles without sleep. Not to mention the fact that she had already allegedly gone over 2000 miles before she finished that strong.
As another poster alluded to, Jasmine Paris completed Barkleys 100 miles just under 60 hours and started it on fresh legs.
How are we to believe that Dower completed 127 miles in 44 hours after spending the previous 38 days hiking 54+ mile days on 4-5 hours of sleep a night? And when she finishes, she has the strength to make a full speech and pop champagne on Springer Mountain at 11:50 pm?
No complaints of injury, pain, hunger, challenges, setbacks. Just smooth sailing for 40 days.
For anyone curious, here is the link to where she makes those outlandish claims:
Thr comparison to Barkley is not a good one. Barkley is notoriously difficult for being off-trail much of the way, requiring navigation, and for being closer to like 140 miles.
I think anyone that breaks the AT FKT is going to have some outlandish claims because it is an outlandish feat.
"68:15 - Making A Statement For Female Athletes, Mindset, Launching Points" In the podcast, she literally says that "women have better endurance than men"
“Numerous studies have shown women have a greater resistance to fatigue than men; therefore, women are able to sustain continuous and intermittent muscle contractions at low to moderate intensities longer than men (Clark et al. 2003; Fulco et al. 2001; Hunter & Enoka 2001; Hunter et al. 2004; Russ et al. 2008; Russ & Kent-Braun 2003; Thompson et al. 2007; Wust et al. 2008; Yoon et al. 2007).”
This post was edited 5 minutes after it was posted.
No, she literally said "women have better endurance than men." End of sentence.
What if it was a man saying that men are faster than women?
He would be right?
The myth that women are somehow faster than men as the distances get longer is somewhat persistent. Mostly from early days when top women with more talent than the top men would sometime win events outright. Of course, when you get deeper fields, as in recent years, men typically win by the same margins as shorter events.
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