I think we can all agree that if Jennifer Pharr Davis and Scott Jurek ran the same distance but on flat trails/road, Scott will absolutely crush Jennifer. However that is not what the AT record is about. It's not just distance. It is also terrain.
To everyone who is calling out Scott for not "being a runner" because he barely beat a woman at this event; I think I can easily counter the argument by saying "Scott amazingly beat Jennifer and he's not even a hiker!". In other words, nobody ever says they are going to go "run the AT". They say they are going to go "hike the AT.
It's like if an MLB player decided to break this record and did it successfully by 3.5 hours, but all the MLB fans respond by saying "he's not a real MLB player because he barely beat someone is a completely different sport".
Running does not equal hiking. This record is about hiking... Scott Jurek is a great ulta runner and apparently a very good speed hiker.