vivalarepublica wrote:
You shouldn't go about doing things hoping it will give you your 15 minutes of fame. Just do what you know is best for you (which Mr. Jurek probably did, because he wanted to challenge himself and break a record rather than worry about the media coverage), and whatever happens, happens. Chasing fame is an empty pursuit.
If Jurek wasn't in it for the fame, he would have done it quietly, without posting constant updates of his progress for the world to see.
I wouldn't do it but if I were to do it, it would be to sell books.
sacred link wrote:
Breaking the record by 3 hours over an "event" that takes 46+ days is like a photo finish right?
Actually, his margin of victory relative to overall time is like a 20-second victory for a 2:03 marathoner.
well said.
It sounds to me he wanted to challenge himself and share his experience with those who wished to follow him. Good for him. He provided some entertainment for me the past couple weeks as I checked his progress.
rojo wrote:
Bad Wigins wrote:Wait a minute... all that drama and he only beat a woman? And not by much?
It does amaze me that the record was held by a woman. I saw he doing a record attempt and then saw the runner's world interview with the former record holder who said she was ready for her record to be broken.
When I saw it was a woman, I was stunned.
I'm just amazed by the old record holder. She is described as 'a hiker'.
Jurek isn't some sort of good ultra guy.
http://www.runnersworld.com/trail-racing/scott-jurek-breaks-appalachian-trail-thru-hike-record[BRW wrote:
The Appalachian Trail record caps one of the most decorated ultramarathoning careers in history. Jurek’s resume includes wins in nearly every prestigious ultra race in the country. Among them: seven consecutive Western States Endurance Runs, two Badwater Ultramarathons, the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance run, and a runner-up finish in the Leadville Trail 100.
So i'm shocked he barely beat some female 'hikers' record. Not knowing much about it, I don't think I can agree with RW's conclusion:
Seeing this record makes me wnat to do a story on the woman who set the record. ANyone know anything about her?
Someone could definitely put this record much faster. Maybe I should sponsor my old boy Sage Canaday. That being said, 47 miles a day for 46 days in a row doesn't sound like fun.
How rocky is the trail?
I can't imagine doing that every day, day after day. If I was simply walking on a railroad track, yes. I could walk for 15 hours a day, stopping for an hour for lunch and sleeping 8 hours. But I imagine it's a hilly, muddy mess.
Congrats on the new record.
You're right, you have no clue, and you don't sound awfully intelligent by chiming in before you get one.
Yes, this makes the woman's performance awfully impressive.
However he got injured very early in the attempt, and continued anyways. How would you like running/hiking injured for about 2000 miles in 40-odd days?
Posting any critique being ignorant of the AT terrain is face-palming at best. "how rocky is the trail?" Really" FFS.
Is it really a few minutes of fame OR is it a guaranteed instant career and fortune?
In other words, what makes it worth the effort to set the AT FKT??
Some of these ultrarunners and hikers are millionaires. So yeah, it is worth it.
Seriously, the hate and ignorance about this is mind-boggling. Both Jurek's new record and the old record are unbelievable feats of endurance. As others have said, Jurek suffered an injury very early on and still managed to get up and do the work he set out to do.
It just seems mind-blowing that people are so quick to hate on this. I have a massive amount of respect for anyone that sets out to even hike or camp the AT at a normal or slow pace. It's a challenging trail and a beautiful experience. Why anyone would try to take that from anyone and diminish it is beyond me.
DMVarea wrote:
Seriously, the hate and ignorance about this is mind-boggling. Both Jurek's new record and the old record are unbelievable feats of endurance. As others have said, Jurek suffered an injury very early on and still managed to get up and do the work he set out to do.
It just seems mind-blowing that people are so quick to hate on this. I have a massive amount of respect for anyone that sets out to even hike or camp the AT at a normal or slow pace. It's a challenging trail and a beautiful experience. Why anyone would try to take that from anyone and diminish it is beyond me.
Because most people on LR are jealous nobodies.
Injury? Excuses, we have heard it from teammates since childhood.
No, because the AT is a boring walk through boring trees for the vast majority of it. There are many much better places to spend the time taking really long hikes, in the western US and abroad.
I agree. 515,000 feet of elevation change, over 2,180 miles. Most days, Jennifer Pharr Davis hiked from 5 in the morning until 9:30 at night. For nearly 47 days. Scott wrenched his knee nearly right off the bat... and carried on... at nearly 50 miles per day. Nothing but respect from me, for both of them.
RunAnnArbor wrote:
I agree. 515,000 feet of elevation change, over 2,180 miles. Most days, Jennifer Pharr Davis hiked from 5 in the morning until 9:30 at night. For nearly 47 days. Scott wrenched his knee nearly right off the bat... and carried on... at nearly 50 miles per day. Nothing but respect from me, for both of them.
I agree. It's a great feat.
DMVarea wrote:
Seriously, the hate and ignorance about this is mind-boggling. Both Jurek's new record and the old record are unbelievable feats of endurance. As others have said, Jurek suffered an injury very early on and still managed to get up and do the work he set out to do.
It just seems mind-blowing that people are so quick to hate on this. I have a massive amount of respect for anyone that sets out to even hike or camp the AT at a normal or slow pace. It's a challenging trail and a beautiful experience. Why anyone would try to take that from anyone and diminish it is beyond me.
Why would anyone want to diminish the "beautiful experience" by turning it into a competition? Seems to me Jurek is the one who's soul purpose for this "beautiful experience" was to set a record - why? What exactly is the point of being able to say I hiked that trail faster than anybody else? What's beautiful about turning a hike into "I bet I can do it faster that a woman".
That's why he's getting hate. It wasn't done for some noble purpose - it was to set a record, set by a woman and he barely did it. How many people have ever even tried to set the record? Is he like number one out of 20?
Anyway, good for him. He set a record that a handful of people actually even care about.
Onward wrote:
As you're probably aware, Scott Jurek just set the new AT FKT record by a whisker at 46 days, 8 hrs, and 8 min...just in over 3-hrs vs. Jennifer Pharr Davis' previous AT record. How many of you LRCers have the potential to break the record but just haven't yet tried? Would you do it for 15-min of fame. For instance, USA Today has a front page/online blurb about it. Or, what would it take (e.g., dollar amount? sponsor requirement? other? ) for you to become a legend of the AT? I ask because when Davis did it, she became a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year with lots of perks, including speaking and travel allotments...but probably because she set the overall record as a female.
In other words, what makes it worth the effort to set the AT FKT??
Basically, you're asking what it would take to convince me what it would take to grind myself into an emaciated, sleep-deprived, limping husk of a human being. Let me be clear: not fame, not love nor money would move me to seek an AT FKT.
Not that I have or have ever had the physical capacity for that sort of ultra-endurance endeavor. Even on a distance running forum like Letsrun, I'm not sure what percentage of board contributors would have the physical capacity for such a demanding ultra-endurance event. You probably have to be on the exact opposite end of the fast twitch/slow twitch distribution from Usain Bolt.
Not to mention my emotional/psychological insufficiency as well. No way that I could feel myself wither away when all I would have to do is stop.
But I am impressed. Certainly, Jurek and Pharr Davis have in common the fact that they're both trying to earn livings as writers, speakers, "public figures" -- and setting a FKT. Consequently, the "15 minutes of fame" or the 150,000+ likes that Jurek has on his facebook page are probably motivators. On the other hand, to do something on this scale, you really have to believe in it. It can't be just a stunt to impress sponsors, etc.. I think that this record attempt is something that does have deep personal meaning to both Jurek and Pharr Davis.
Anyway, good for him. He set a record that a handful of people actually even care about.
Only a handful of people (relatively) care about any running/endurance records anyway. While the people who know or care about the AT record might be a niche group, what makes it any different than, say, caring about Shaheen's 7:53.63?
It might not be running, but having hiked small stretches of the AT, it's hard to think about doing that for 46 days.
15 minutes of fame for nothing more than attempting it? Sure, I'll take it.
wellactually wrote:
Anyway, good for him. He set a record that a handful of people actually even care about.
Only a handful of people (relatively) care about any running/endurance records anyway. While the people who know or care about the AT record might be a niche group, what makes it any different than, say, caring about Shaheen's 7:53.63?
It might not be running, but having hiked small stretches of the AT, it's hard to think about doing that for 46 days.
The steeplechase is a race. It started as a race and has always been a race. Turning a 2,200 mile trail into a race? Obviously a difficult feat for the few that try it, but, still smacks of gimmicky self promotion.
What slow twitch city said below...In terms of a marketing perspective unless your name is Killian Jornet, you're probably not going to get very much press for just attempting the record (and you'd probably still get less press/media than Jurek even it you beat it).Scott may have gained several thousand followers through this journey, but the fact that he has 84,000+ followers on Twitter, 50,000+ Facebook Fans and was the star of "Born to Run" is what made it impossible for him to go about this without being noticed....and it's also what made him a trending topic on Twitter a couple days ago! JFD got a bit of press when she initially set the record...but probably not nearly as much as SJ.
slow twitch city wrote:
Onward wrote:As you're probably aware, Scott Jurek just set the new AT FKT record by a whisker at 46 days, 8 hrs, and 8 min...just in over 3-hrs vs. Jennifer Pharr Davis' previous AT record. How many of you LRCers have the potential to break the record but just haven't yet tried? Would you do it for 15-min of fame. For instance, USA Today has a front page/online blurb about it. Or, what would it take (e.g., dollar amount? sponsor requirement? other? ) for you to become a legend of the AT? I ask because when Davis did it, she became a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year with lots of perks, including speaking and travel allotments...but probably because she set the overall record as a female.
In other words, what makes it worth the effort to set the AT FKT??
Basically, you're asking what it would take to convince me what it would take to grind myself into an emaciated, sleep-deprived, limping husk of a human being. Let me be clear: not fame, not love nor money would move me to seek an AT FKT.
Not that I have or have ever had the physical capacity for that sort of ultra-endurance endeavor. Even on a distance running forum like Letsrun, I'm not sure what percentage of board contributors would have the physical capacity for such a demanding ultra-endurance event. You probably have to be on the exact opposite end of the fast twitch/slow twitch distribution from Usain Bolt.
Not to mention my emotional/psychological insufficiency as well. No way that I could feel myself wither away when all I would have to do is stop.
But I am impressed. Certainly, Jurek and Pharr Davis have in common the fact that they're both trying to earn livings as writers, speakers, "public figures" -- and setting a FKT. Consequently, the "15 minutes of fame" or the 150,000+ likes that Jurek has on his facebook page are probably motivators. On the other hand, to do something on this scale, you really have to believe in it. It can't be just a stunt to impress sponsors, etc.. I think that this record attempt is something that does have deep personal meaning to both Jurek and Pharr Davis.
Does anyone know when they started keeping records? I just looked at my log and in 1979 I thru-hiked the AT Northbound in 51 days.
Local feature on Scott Jurek's AT effort in the Duluth, MN newspaper:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/running/3797532-2189-miles-zero-regrets-proctor-native-jurek