It was a busy summer on the Appalachian Trail. The movie “A Walk in the Woods” made its debut, the path received national attention for a perceived party culture and the well-known endurance athlete Scott Jurek set an overall record on the trail.
Then, quietly and relatively unnoticed, a woman named Heather Anderson hiked the trail by herself, averaging more than 40 miles a day. In doing so, she set the trail’s self-supported speed record.
There are two types of Appalachian Trail speed records: supported and self-supported. A supported record allows an athlete to travel with companions and resupply at road crossings using a crew. The self-supported endeavor demands that the individual walk unassisted, without emotional support on the trail or physical support at blacktop intersections and towns.
Records on long-distance trails are akin to cougar sightings on the East Coast: rare, controversial and hard to verify. Although these endurance records, recently titled Fastest Known Times, or F.K.T.s, have been recorded on paths like the Appalachian Trail since the 1970s, there is no governing body to officiate or authenticate them. They are based on an honor system in which one’s word is generally accepted even if the feat itself is criticized. There seem to be just as many people who will belittle and berate an F.K.T. for being too fast as who will be in awe of such a raw display of endurance.
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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