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Liz Anjos "Mercury" FKT Attempt

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    • Liz Anjos "Mercury" FKT Attempt

      I have almost zero interest in supported FKT attempts, but I thought I'd mention this becasue I was impressed with her first day.

      Liz Anjos AKA Mercury started a supported FKT attempt on the AT July 7 from Springer Mountain. She is being supported by Warren Doyle.

      That first day? Springer Mountain to Dicks Creek Gap. 69.3 miles.

      Hike updates:

      mercuryontheat.com/
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      I have almost zero interest in supported FKT attempts, but I thought I'd mention this becasue I was impressed with her first day.

      Liz Anjos AKA Mercury started a supported FKT attempt on the AT July 7 from Springer Mountain. She is being supported by Warren Doyle.

      That first day? Springer Mountain to Dicks Creek Gap. 69.3 miles.

      Hike updates:

      mercuryontheat.com/
      That took me nearly a week of hiking over 5 months (Thanksgiving and Spring breaks). 8o
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Day 2 54.8 miles to Burningtown Gap -- which is about 13 miles S of the NOC.

      (I'm afraid to look at my journal and see how long it took me to get to the NOC.)

      Hope she enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast at the NOC. Good food!

      Ominous note by Doyle that shin splints are decreasing her pace. I had those once back in my running days. :(
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      Day 3 43.1 miles to the border of the GSMNP.

      3 days Springer to the GSMNP. Wow.

      No water or showers at Fontana Dam which would be a real kick in the pants if that came as a surprise.
      I thought Warren Doyle and Dave Horton were supposed to be supporting her. ?(
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • max.patch wrote:

      Day 2 54.8 miles to Burningtown Gap -- which is about 13 miles S of the NOC.

      (I'm afraid to look at my journal and see how long it took me to get to the NOC.)

      Hope she enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast at the NOC. Good food!

      Ominous note by Doyle that shin splints are decreasing her pace. I had those once back in my running days. :(
      Got my first shin splints in high school in Belle Glade when their "cross country" course was mostly through concrete. Guess they didn't us running through the sugarcane fields. :rolleyes:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      Day 2 54.8 miles to Burningtown Gap -- which is about 13 miles S of the NOC.

      (I'm afraid to look at my journal and see how long it took me to get to the NOC.)

      Hope she enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast at the NOC. Good food!

      Ominous note by Doyle that shin splints are decreasing her pace. I had those once back in my running days. :(
      Got my first shin splints in high school in Belle Glade when their "cross country" course was mostly through concrete. Guess they didn't us running through the sugarcane fields. :rolleyes:
      lol, if the choice was concrete or muck, maybe concrete was the lesser of two evils. :)
      2,000 miler
    • Pace continues to decline
      Along with mpd

      As Doyle says, shes walking now mostly.
      At least hes straightforward...on her blog.
      Gone from 3.6 mph pace on a long day1, to 2.4 on shortest day yet. Sure seems shes hurtin. or maybe she took it easy today because newfound Gap was the only meeting point.
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      Shes out of running for overall, and got lost for several hrs apparently....I guess it could happen. No phone.....? No guthook?

      Doyle proudly put forth that she made it the whole 31 mi from newfound to davenport without any suppport......
      Maybe that is her problem, she thought she was doing a supported instead of unsupported attempt. :rolleyes:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Well, she hasn't given up -- day 6 52 miles from Davenport Gap (E border of the GSMNP) to Log Cabin Road (about 16 miles N of Hot Springs).

      HIked from 2:55 am to 11:15 pm. Those hours are crazy!

      To kinda put this in perspective on a personal level -- my first 20 mile day on my thru was exactly 20 miles into the town of Hot Springs. So she basically started off walking 16 miles, then hiked the same 20 miles that I did, and then added another 16 miles. Or to put it another way, she hiked in 1 day what took me 3 days to do. Oh yeah -- and she did all that with shin splints.
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • she's done in a week what most take 3 to 4 weeks to get to.

      "lack of blazing".....Don't know the area, but the only places I've ever seen multiple complaints of "blazing" issues, is up in the North. They might need a better electronic strategy before they get to the NE.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Gsmnp doesnt allow blazes in wilderness

      Theres a couple...but not routine. There are signs for trails at intersections. Mostly.

      However I recall an endless amount of white paint drips on the trail....... Way too much to have been by chance.

      I only recall one place where it might have been confusing on the whole AT in gsmnp, and if you just took the better traveled path ....wider....you'd stay on it.... There was a blaze on rock also it just wasn't clear which way you should go ... Rock was kind of in the fork.....But the blaze leans in the direction you should go in that case....
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      Gsmnp doesnt allow blazes in wilderness

      Theres a couple...but not routine. There are signs for trails at intersections. Mostly.

      However I recall an endless amount of white paint drips on the trail....... Way too much to have been by chance.

      I only recall one place where it might have been confusing on the whole AT in gsmnp, and if you just took the better traveled path ....wider....you'd stay on it.... There was a blaze on rock also it just wasn't clear which way you should go ... Rock was kind of in the fork.....But the blaze leans in the direction you should go in that case....
      Thanks. So if she was also moving fast and it was dark, easy to understand.
      I hiked a "Wilderness" designated place. One trail is a Creek trail and was easy to follow. Only "huh" moments where when crossing the wider part of creek and figuring out from one side, where the trail was on the other. We guessed. Missed it once or twice. But a trail in the same area, on top of a ridge, was difficult to follow and find the turn point where it dropped off the ridge.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Da Wolf wrote:

      she came thru damascus around 4:30 today. not on record pace
      The very fast pace the first few days, resulted in the shin splints and now the longer days walking to keep going. A lesson for any of us. Do 8 to 12 miles for a week. Then 10 to 14 for a week. Then 12 to 16 for a week. Before any big days. But that is for us mortals. Wishing her the best. See where a person from JPD's hiking company was with her for a time.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Seems to be common among these FKT folks. Fast start and burn out. I recall reading one ultra marathoner's post (pre hike) saying he does 50 mpd all the time. But he never did it every day for weeks, up and down mountains. I think he quietly disappeared within a week. I'm curious what her training regime was. My suggestion would be to "warm up" by starting in HF and running/walking all day every day to Springer. Then turn around and start. You know what they say. The only way to prepare for a long distance hike is to take a long distance hike.
    • Doyle's recap after 2 weeks:

      Mercury continues to impress with her ability to put in long days solo through the heat and the darkness. After two weeks, she is getting into a groove and is now even with Odyssa (Jennifer Pharr Davis) and Stringbean. Barring accidents, if Mercury is able to increase her pace to 3.3 or 3.4, she will get more sleep and have a decent chance to have the second fastest AT traverse (both genders) and also set the American overall record.
      Karel and Joren's 41+ day record will remain safe for another year.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      Doyle's recap after 2 weeks:

      Mercury continues to impress with her ability to put in long days solo through the heat and the darkness. After two weeks, she is getting into a groove and is now even with Odyssa (Jennifer Pharr Davis) and Stringbean. Barring accidents, if Mercury is able to increase her pace to 3.3 or 3.4, she will get more sleep and have a decent chance to have the second fastest AT traverse (both genders) and also set the American overall record.
      Karel and Joren's 41+ day record will remain safe for another year.
      overall the AT is in America......right ?
    • Theres 4 records ...fastest supported and unsupported
      For each men and women. if the unsupported is fastest overall then there's only possibly one , or 2.

      if someone need to differentiate between north and south then they just didnt pick the right direction, and they want to claim something.

      It's a little premature to talk about claiming anything as well....... Correction it's a LOT premature....

      The post was edited 3 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • Hello, my name is Odd Man Out. At some time in the future, beginning from some point on the AT, I’m attempting a supported FKT on the AT for a Swedish-American retired Chemistry professor born in Iowa before 1960. Hiking the AT has been my dream for a long time, and I will be fortunate if I can realize that dream before my body or brain turns to mush. I will hike every inch of the trail, unless some parts are too hard or the weather is bad or I just get really tired. But I will probably hike most of it. It doesn't really matter since there is no known time for my demographic so anything I do will be a FKT. My hike will be supported by random strangers who are dumb enough to give crap to an old fart. I don't expect any support from my family as they are smart enough to know better. The women’s record is safe as I have a Y Chromosome. The overall record (41 days, 7 hours, and 39 minutes) is also safe as there is no way I could do that. Their achievements, and those of all other thru hikers are feats of extraordinary athleticism, but pale in comparison to people who actually work for a living. If this hike takes place in the midst of a global pandemic, I will lock myself in my house and walk on a treadmill until I finish binge watching all of the Star Wars movies on Disney+. I will not be posting updates on my progress or use a tracker as no one gives a rat's ass about this hike and I still can't figure out how to use Tweeter, Instantgram, or PGS. If you really need proof of what I've done then you need to get a life. My trail name Odd Man Out is inspired by the fact that I am an odd man out hiking (duh). If you are inspired by my accomplishments, then you really should set your sites higher. Cure cancer, raise great kids, learn a foreign language. In embarking this journey, I hope to not die.
    • Looks like the end may be near because of shin splints.

      Day 19 stopped early (8:30 pm is considered early) after 39.2 miles to get additional rest and healing for her shin splints.

      Day 20 had to stop after 12.8 miles becasue of shin splints. She is now 42 miles behind JPD and 32 miles behind Stringbean. (After day 19 she was 6 miles behind JPD and 6 miles ahead of Stringbean. The impact of 1 bad day is dramatic.)
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • Bummer. Tough to recover from.

      I'm dealing with plantar fasciitis in one foot right now. IF I remember to do what my doctor (Had my physical last week and discussed it with him then) said, it noticeably improves....IF....

      I stick by my post #24.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • max.patch wrote:

      rhjanes wrote:

      I'm dealing with plantar fasciitis in one foot right now. IF I remember to do what my doctor (Had my physical last week and discussed it with him then) said, it noticeably improves....IF....
      I feel your pain; I've had it twice. Those stretches really help.
      Part of my morning routine everyday.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General