When a man named Brett Maune completed California’s 223-mile John Muir Trail in record time in 2009, crushing the previous mark by many hours, he was surprised to be greeted mostly by online doubters.
Brett who? In about three and a half days? Without a support team? Uh-huh. Right.
That is when a longtime ultrarunner and former atmospheric physicist named Peter Bakwin came to the rescue. He had a résumé that gave him credibility. He knew the trail well, and once held the fastest known time on it.
Most important, he ran the website that remains the closest thing the endurance genre of trail running and speed hiking has to a record book.