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 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.