Photos: Red Bull
The Appalachian Trail has become a test piece for ultra-runners and yesterday, Karl Meltzer set a new speed record on the trail, completing the 2,190-mile trail from Maine to Georgia in 45 days, 22 hours and 38 minutes, besting the previous mark set by Scott Jurek in 2015 by 10 hours.
It was Meltzer’s third attempt at the record with tries in 2008 and 2014.
“It’s been a long journey,” said Meltzer, 48. “I’ve been trying to get this record for eight years, and I was finally successful. It just took me three tries to do it. It’s a very special time right now, definitely a stamp on my career.”
Meltzer had 44 consecutive days on the trail where he completed 47-mile hikes. His last day was an 83-mile push to finish. He began at 5 a.m. on Aug. 3 from Mt. Katahdin, Maine and finished in Springer Mountain, Georgia before dawn Sunday. Some stats from the run: Meltzer took some 4.2 million steps (92,300 avg. per day), burned 345,100 calories (7,500 avg. per day), ran for 678 hours (14.8 avg. per day) and used up 20 pairs of shoes. He had a support crew that helped him sleep each night getting off the trail (sometimes, he would even sleep on the trail itself).
Meltzer is an accomplished ultra-runner, and according to his sponsor, Red Bull, owns the record for most wins in 100-mile races, including five wins in the Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run and six Wasatch Front 100-mile Endurance Run titles.
