New Hampshire endurance athlete Andrew Drummond has called off his attempt to set a new unsupported Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Long Trail.
Drummond announced on his Instagram story on Tuesday evening that he pulled off the trail that afternoon, more than three days into his FKT attempt. He cited a combination of blisters and trench foot from recent rain and “mentally not having the juice” to push another 90 miles on those feet.
He began his FKT attempt at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 15.
The current Long Trail unsupported FKT is a time of four days, 11 hours and 34 minutes held by Northeast ultrarunner Will “Sisyphus” Peterson.
The Long Trail stretches 272 miles from Massachusetts to the Canadian border. It traverses most of the largest mountains in Vermont and features 68,000 feet of vertical gain.
Drummond started from the northern terminus on the Canadian border and headed south.
“I have no idea if I’m even in the wheelhouse of challenging his time,” said Drummond before starting his attempt, “but two things are certain: it will be an adventure, and it will hurt.”
Hurt it did, but Drummond gave an impressive effort. For the first few days, he consistently remained slightly ahead of a pace needed to break the record before wet conditions doomed his feet.
Last summer, Drummond set the White Mountains Direttissima unsupported FKT, beating the previous mark by more than 14 hours.
After coming up short in his Long Trail FKT attempt, Drummond expressed his appreciation for the experience and an acceptance that failure is often part of the gig when you attempt difficult challenges.
“I got to experience all the feelings on the spectrum and so happy I gave it an honest effort,” Drummond wrote on his Instagram story. “Hard things are … hard!”
