Apparently he made the officials at Baxter state park in Maine pretty angry at the finish of his AT record.
Apparently he made the officials at Baxter state park in Maine pretty angry at the finish of his AT record.
Homeschooled much?
Scott Jurek didn't make the park angry. Others who came before and were getting to be a problem for the park did. The park decided the best way to handle the situation was wait and ambush a person they knew would garner the most publicity.
They would have had every opportunity to contact Scott Jurek and his party and explain their rules and what would happen if they broke them. If the party then disregarded the rules, citations would be appropriate.
From what I have read, the "littering" was the champagne spilling on the ground.
The whole thing is asinine. But Jurek did look like a douche with his champagne spraying, so I'm okay with it.
The real problem going forward is going to be further attempts at the record now that the media seems to think it is worth covering. I think the park is worried that there are going to be big corporate teams using the trail to hawk their energy bars and the ruin the aesthetic for everyone else. That may be an overreaction but I don't totally blame the park guy for his media stunt.
The park can always build a fence to keep the AT hikers out.
The park may very well build a fence. Here's a letter that Baxter State Park sent to the Appalachian Trail Conference last year about the problems they're having with "modern AT hikers", where they're experiencing the effects of a generation of people who don't like to follow rules.
Jurek's trek is admirable as a feat of endurance, but could be terrible for hikers (and thousands of volunteers) who want to maintain a trail disconnected from modern civilization.
Closing Katahdin because of the self-indulgence of one runner who is very good at cultivating a social media campaign is a sad thing for the thousands of hikers who choose not to have a Sprinter van follow them at every road crossing.
But hey, at least the memories of Katahdin will be preserved on Instagram for future hikers...
Well, now that Jurek has set the benchmark and brought attention to this new "race course", it's inevitable that more athletes will follow to try to break it. I can foresee competitions being created. Just as runners have taken over the streets in major cities with their running parades, jamming up traffic, I foresee a probable future where the AT gets taken over for a period of time by these athletes, and regular non-athletes and their enjoyment of the trail be damned.
Jurek could have just gone on vacation and tried to achieve this record and kept to himself about it. But he wants more than the simple accomplishment. Just a many people could just go run 26.2 miles on a bike trail by and for themselves and be happy they accomplished it with no one looking, but they want more than that.
And Shannon Rowbury could've just gone to her local high school track after hours and had some male training partners pace her to 3:56. Just for grins, ya know?
Correct. Rowbury at a high school track would be an appropriate place for her to attempt that. Unfortunately, what Jurek did to the hiking community is akin to Rowbury attempting her 3:56 during the Friday night football game.
Not true. There is no such thing as an official thru-hiking trail society equivalent to the IAAF.
I live on the AT and have for the past 4-5 years. My property gets vandalized by drunk Boy Scouts, thru-hikers looking for water/food, and they all leave litter behind.
Scott Jurek did what has been done even in the time of Gov Baxter.
And many of you are probably not familiar with Maine and the hypocrisy of Jensen. Baxter himself "littered" the park with his remains, as his ashes were scattered across the park upon his death.
Scott Jurek must be doped.
How is their situation any different than the Grand Canyon?
If they don't want people there, then either limit the number or shut off the park to the AT. To use Scott Jurek as a scapegoat for problems that have been increasing for years was not appropriate.
It would have been funny had they shut it down and delayed access right before he entered. Then allowed him to enter after the record time had passed.
Like most ultra runners Scott Jurek is a self-obsessed hipster, who doesn't give a damn about neither running fast nor preserving nature. It's all about himself and setting some petty "records" to get some $$$.
ultra gimmicks wrote:
Like most ultra runners Scott Jurek is a self-obsessed hipster, who doesn't give a damn about neither running fast nor preserving nature. It's all about himself and setting some petty "records" to get some $$$.
+1
ultra gimmicks wrote:
Like most ultra runners Scott Jurek is a self-obsessed hipster, who doesn't give a damn about neither running fast nor preserving nature. It's all about himself and setting some petty "records" to get some $$$.
Are you saying that T&F athletes don´t promote themselves? Are you saying that Usain Bolt is not self-obsessed? You are a first class idiot.
ultra gimmicks wrote:
Like most ultra runners Scott Jurek is a self-obsessed hipster, who doesn't give a damn about neither running fast nor preserving nature. It's all about himself and setting some petty "records" to get some $$$.
Oh please. Do you actually know any? Personally?
I do, and I can honestly say they are the most genuine, kind people I know. They are proud of their achievements, sure, but don't brag about it nearly as much as the 5K runners I also know.
So they run longer distances than you care about. So they run slower than you want. So what? Get over yourself.
They packed out - and then recycled - every piece of trash. Sure, you can be a cynic and say it's all for PR purposes. But most ultra runners I know are pretty crunchy granola tree-huggers, and damn sincere about it. They may be slow, but they are generally very Eco-friendly.
Uh uh wrote:
It would have been funny had they shut it down and delayed access right before he entered. Then allowed him to enter after the record time had passed.
So you think "dick" moves are funny?