Appalachian Trail speed records just keep falling.
After enduring 70-mile-an-hour winds, hail, rain and a 37-hour stretch of sleepless running and climbing all during his final hours on the AT, Joe McConaughy, a former track and cross-country runner at Boston College, stood atop Katahdin on Friday having set both the unsupported and supported speed records for the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail.
McConaughy completed the trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Maine’s Katahdin in 45 days, 12 hours, 15 minutes – an average of roughly 48 miles a day. He bested the old unsupported AT record, set in 2015, by nine days. And his impressive, courageous final push allowed him to beat ultrarunner Karl Meltzer’s supported AT record by 10 hours.
Meltzer set his record last year, one year after ultrarunning legend Scott Jurek had set a new fastest supported AT record.
During his final 37 hour push, McConaughy covered 110 miles of running, climbing and rock scrambling, which, he said, was more than he had ever run at one time by more than 50 miles.
In an Instagram post, McConaughy said “I am in shock and pain, joyful and thankful, humbled and tired, in disbelief and exhilaration. I will be forever perplexed and appreciative of what the wilderness brings out in myself and others. I hope anyone watching is at least inspired to become more involved in the outdoors.”
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