Karl Meltzer – AT

Karl is on his 37th day on the Appalachian Trail. A few of the big questions have been answered:

Q: Will he break the record?
A: No. A very rainy New England summer meant wet feet which led to bad blisters which caused him to favor one leg which contributed to an Anterior Tibialus injury which necessitated a 4 day layoff to let it heal. This is not a soft record; one can no more take a 4 day break and still get it than one can stop and eat a watermelon during a Marathon and still win.

Q: Will he quit if he can’t get the record?
A: No again. Pre-attempt speculation arose on this point, because experienced multi-day runners knew how hard it would be to nail this the first try, and since Karl is a very successful ultrarunner, would he bag it and get out of sight at first sign of failure? Karl is soldiering on, putting his head down, respecting and honoring the sport and the Trail.

Q: Is Karl tough enough?
A: You’d better believe it.

 

AT Record – Day 7

 

Here’s the update at Day 7 of Karl’s attempt to break the AT record. 

The going has been tough.  A summer of torrential rain has left the trails sloppy and slow, and it’s been raining on them since they started.  A veteran New Englander told me:  “2008 is going to be a very tough year to break any record out here”.

However, Karl is in good spirits, continues to move well, and has great support.  His current crew chief, Marit from backcountry.com told me:

“Yesterday was the hardest day so far.  The boys got 47 miles, with almost 14,000′ of vert, and the last 13 miles were in a torrential downpour.  They got in the miles but it took 2.5 hours longer than expected.  The conditions are super horrible.  Last night was the first night Karl couldn’t smile. He’s looking gnarly.  He has on huge blister, as his feet haven’t been dry for 7 days.”

“Matt is going to stay with him thru Maine.  It’s better to have someone out there.  They are using every second of daylight, like you suggested.”

They are only 18 miles behind schedule, all from Day 4 when they didn’t take a ferry across the Kennebunk River; this is nothing considering the conditions, and Karl’s timetable thru the White Mountains was quick to begin with.  If the conditions dry out further south, 18 miles will not be a problem.

The whereskarl.com website is state-of-the-art, and the excellent blog Marit is doing includes photos, video, and more.

Karl is carrying a SPOT locater beacon that pings every 10 minutes, and is then plotted on the same website.  To find the tracking map, click “On the Trail” from the menu on the bottom left.  The forest cover is quite dense, which may have explained why the early days were not tracking well; the company sent the crew a new unit via Overnight Delivery last Thursday to make sure the problem wasn’t with the device.

A very good local story, worth reading, can be found here. 

The best background/overview of the AT Record attempt is found here.

Karl Meltzer live online

Yes,  July 29, from 4 – 5 pm MST, this Post hosted a live online chat with Karl Meltzer.  

Karl is going for the renowned Appalachian Trail Record, starting Aug 5.  For very thorough background on this project, including interviews with David Horton, Flyin’ Brian, and Andrew Thompson, check out this website.

Check out a Karl video here:   http://youtube.com/watch?v=U5K3WJ31kV0

How the Chat works: you post a question (click “Comments” at the bottom of this Post).  Karl does the same in reply to you.  Read Comments below for the very informed questions and his responses.

Karl is now driving the RV across the country, and out of touch until he arrives in Maine in 3 days.

Multi Multi Days

Here’s a summary of notable multi-day action:

RUNNING AMERICA

Well known ultra/adventure runners Charlie Engle and Marshall Ulrich announced plans last winter to set a new record running across the US.  They had major funding, publicity, and an extremely ambitious plan: 70 miles per day.

Their May 24 start date came and went and I didn’t hear anything.  A recent web search disclosed that they apparently have made the project even larger, by combining it with a National Geographic documentary, and the run appears to be still on for Aug 8.

Other than that website I know nothing; if anyone does, please post a Comment.

CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL RECORD ATTEMPT

An even better known ultra runner (one of the best actually), David Horton, set out on June 7 to set a new record on the CDT.  This had obvious appeal, as David is the current supported record holder on the PCT as well as the previous speed record holder on the Appalachian Trail.  The CDT would complete his Triple Crown of long trails.  The plan was to cover the estimated 2,959 miles in 69 days (42.9 mpd).

However, the CDT was not to be.   The effort was abandoned at the end of the first day due to dehydration and exhaustion.  Yikes.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL RECORD ATTEMPT

Starting on August 5, Karl Meltzer will attempt to do the 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail in less than 47 days (46.25 mpd).  Like David before him, Karl is one of the best-known and accomplished ultrarunners in the country.  It’s gonna be good.

This blog will have more updates and a live “chat” with Karl in mid July.  In the meantime, there is excellent info here, including interviews with David, Flyin’ Brian, and Trail Dog:  http://www.mountainrunning.com/