Scott Jurek Appalachian Trail Record Attempt

Easily misunderstood wrote:

Secondly, are you using the terms "pal" and "buddy" in a genuine, or condescending way? If the later, it's a bad habit that won't really help you in life.

Thanks for the advice, friend!

ssdog wrote:

Does anyone know how he will descend the mountain after he reaches the finish? It would seem cruel that he would have to hike back down. Is their some sort of vehicular access?

I'm thinking giant eagles will carry him back to his friends.

ssdog wrote:

Does anyone know how he will descend the mountain after he reaches the finish? It would seem cruel that he would have to hike back down. Is their some sort of vehicular access?

No, he's got to hoof it back down the mountain, so I think another five miles back or so to a road crossing.

Regarding the runner v hiker discussion, I will be interested to hear what Jurek has to say about that. He really hasn't been a "runner" from what I can see since getting into the Whites. I'm in awe of what he's doing, but the Trail has taken his legs and basically turned him into a hiker, and not a really fast one at that. I mean, here's a guy who in his prime finished Badwater in a little over 24 hours and more recently finilshed Leadville in under 20. But it took him about 46.5 hours to get through the "100 mile wilderness" at the end of this trek.

11:30 and Jurek is at Katahdin Stream Campground, where he is no doubt being filmed signing in at the station and readying for the final ascent!

And I am off traveling to a wedding, so will be checking status much less compulsively. Go Scott! It's been fun tracking!

Old Man Runner wrote:

If Karl Meltzer says the AT is hard, I'm going to believe him.

I'm not sure if it's ego with Jurek. This is the guy who once showed up at Badwater unannounced and crewed/paced a runner. This is a few years after his second win at the race.

If anything, he is trying to capitalize on what "fame" he has left. I do have to wonder if there is a little bit of jealousy there with Karnazes. Everyone knows Jurek was the better runner but then Karnazes came along, got the book deal and became much more famous and well known.

You get a book deal for jogging?

fred wrote:

Old Man Runner wrote:

If Karl Meltzer says the AT is hard, I'm going to believe him.

I'm not sure if it's ego with Jurek. This is the guy who once showed up at Badwater unannounced and crewed/paced a runner. This is a few years after his second win at the race.

If anything, he is trying to capitalize on what "fame" he has left. I do have to wonder if there is a little bit of jealousy there with Karnazes. Everyone knows Jurek was the better runner but then Karnazes came along, got the book deal and became much more famous and well known.

You get a book deal for jogging?

They both suck.

The only way that either can win anything is to find or create an event that no other sane person would want to enter.

He actually averaged about 4 mph coming into the park this morning - he was probably running some of that. But you're right about the slow going through the 100 mile. I've never hiked the trail in Maine, but I've heard the footing is pretty treacherous. Plus, I don't think he's slept much. Maybe with his knee he couldn't run. I"m really looking forward to what he has to say once this is in the books.

Very cool to be able to follow along like this. Tech has really improved the fan experience in sport. I think the attention that SJ has drawn is going to inspire a lot more people to take a swing at this record. We'll know how good it is (and, thus, JPDs) in the next few years. It would be interesting to see what Jornet could do.

Final mile.

Just like Comrades we need two records south to north and north to south.

SJ will have one, assuming his likely finish, and SPD the other.

So this whole thread is really a variation on the everyone gets a medal theme.

Is Scott Jurek update?

Scott breaks the AT speed record by about 3 hours and 15 minutes. That's cutting it close.

He now owns the overall and up records, while Jennifer Pharr Davis has the down record, a la Comrades.

Did JPD use a garmin or some type of satellite tracker to account for her progress on the trail like Jurek? How was her attempt monitored and recorded? I've followed Jurek for the last 15 years and I'm a bit surprised that he had to really push hard to break this record.

That's not enough. As a "runner" he should be faster. He should have waited below the peak for that woman's time to pass. He doesn't deserve the title "fastest" because he is de facto defeated.

i agree with you. his 'record' only confirms he is not a real runner.i mean, it is impressive he did that many miles in such short time, but...he should have approached it different;y. speed Hike 30 miles, then run 20 miles slowly to finish the day. his body would feel better and he would have taken more time off.i will actively argue with people who call him a runner. i feel bad for the woman who had the record. if Jurek got the record first and she was chasing it, she would have known to push a tiny bit harder and probably would have beaten Jurek by more than 3.5 hours.i can't wait for a good ultra runner/hiker to take a stab at this in the next year or two and take a few days off the record so Jurek's adventure is forgotten.

Gddbj wrote:

That's not enough. As a "runner" he should be faster. He should have waited below the peak for that woman's time to pass. He doesn't deserve the title "fastest" because he is de facto defeated.

Gddbj wrote:

That's not enough. As a "runner" he should be faster. He should have waited below the peak for that woman's time to pass. He doesn't deserve the title "fastest" because he is de facto defeated.

Why isn't he a runner, even if he runs 20 min pace, he is running the whole time, and its 50 miles a day for 46 days, thats pretty impressive. He broke a record, whether you think he was running or not, if you do cool, if you don't, suck for you. But he de facto broke a record.

I believe Karl Meltzer is going to go after the AT speed record for the 3rd time next year.

I also believe that Jennifer Pharr Davis, if she had been chasing Jurek's record, would have bested it by a few hours or more.

It wouldn't surprise me if she went after the record once again. She's competed the AT three times.

Sigh......fart wrote:

i agree with you. his 'record' only confirms he is not a real runner.

i mean, it is impressive he did that many miles in such short time, but...he should have approached it different;y. speed Hike 30 miles, then run 20 miles slowly to finish the day. his body would feel better and he would have taken more time off.

i will actively argue with people who call him a runner. i feel bad for the woman who had the record. if Jurek got the record first and she was chasing it, she would have known to push a tiny bit harder and probably would have beaten Jurek by more than 3.5 hours.

i can't wait for a good ultra runner/hiker to take a stab at this in the next year or two and take a few days off the record so Jurek's adventure is forgotten.

Jurek has won 7 Western States titles (and is the former record holder) as well as a couple of Spartathlons, Badwater, Hardrock, etc.

What would he need to accomplish in order for you to consider him a "good" ultrarunner?

Now, he is clearly not the runner was 10 years ago and I have no idea what kind of condition he was in when he started this adventure. But he certainly knows a lot about fueling and pacing over long distances.

What is fascinating about this is how a guy with Jurek's ultrarunning credentials could barely beat the record of a woman who never ran a step. Maybe the lesson here is that speed doesn't really matter at all for this type of multi-day ordeal. After all, Meltzer and other ultrarunners have not fared particularly well in their attempts either.

In his prime he could have thrashed the record. He is an old man now, 40+ with beat up legs His diet doesn't provide the needed recovery.

Photo of finish celebration

https://www.facebook.com/ScottJurek/photos/pb.110836750328.-2207520000.1436727835./10153613494150329/?type=1&theater

Yes, maybe we should wait for an 8-time Western States champion to have a go at the AT record.

I do agree that Jennifer Pharr Davis would have broken Jurek's record by a few hours- or even quite a bit more- if she had followed him. That's not what happened though, so why waste time speculating on it?

She still has the "down record." I wouldn't be surprised if she went after it in the next year or two.

46 days is tough. Ask Karl Meltzer, who has tried and failed twice to break Pharr Davis's former record. Karl's no hack- he's won about 30 100 mile races.