Scott Jurek aborted his latest long distance running/hiking attempt just five days after summitting Katahdin here in Maine. He was attempting a sub 40 day thru- hike/run southbound of the Appalachian Trail ( AT), after holding the record for a brief time.
“Six years after setting the fastest known time (FKT) on the Appalachian Trail, ultrarunning legend Scott Jurek is going after the record again.
Back in 2015, the 47-year-old conquered the roughly 2,190-mile trail, stretching from Georgia to Maine, in 46 days, 8 hours, and 8 minutes. His run, and the attention it received, revived the popularity of long-trail records.
Other ultrarunners quickly followed in his footsteps. Jurek’s record fell three times over the next three years to ultrarunning legend Karl Meltzer, Joe “Stringbean” McConaughy (who completed the trail unsupported), and Belgian dentist Karel Sabbe, who holds the current record of 41 days, 7 hours, and 39 minutes”.- Runner’s World
Jurek is not the only person in the Maine news this past week related to the Appalachian Trail. There are two other stories of note:
Nimblewill Nomad, the 82-year-old long-distance backpacking legend, whose book, Ten Million Steps, recounts his 4,400 mile continuous thru hike of the east coast of North America, has been backpacking from Alabama. He hopes to emerge as the oldest thru-hiker of the AT.
Tom Jamrog's Weblog 