Garmire completed the path in simply over 45 days, elevating $29,000 for the Trevor Challenge within the course of.
The plaque on Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Path (Picture: sshepard / iStock Unreleased by way of Getty)
Revealed September 22, 2025 06:45PM
On September 21, Jeff “Legend” Garmire made it to Springer Mountain the place he set a brand new self-supported quickest recognized time for a hike of the Appalachian Path.
Garmire hiked and ran the two,198-mile path southbound in 45 days, 8 hours and 37 minutes, making it to the end about 4 hours quicker than the earlier FKT, which Joe “Stringbean” McConaughy set in 2017.
Garmire has been setting FKTs for greater than a decade, with profession highlights together with unsupported information on the John Muir Path, Lengthy Path, Colorado Path, Wonderland Path, and Arizona Path. After he obtained a three-week discover saying that he wanted to vacate his residence this summer time, he determined it was time to double down on coaching for an FKT try on the AT
His prep included conducting a two-week coaching camp in southern Maine and New Hampshire that took him to among the most rugged elements of the path testing a diet plan in Montana, and gearing up for the try. Previous to setting the report, Garmire mirrored that “the premise of a few of this coaching is the right intersection of through mountain climbing, FKTs, and Path working. The attractive course of of mixing the strengths from every and minimizing the weaknesses.”
Whereas early FKTs on lengthy trails predominantly concerned quick strolling, the bodily necessities that former athletes have set in these areas has required that subsequent report makes an attempt up the ante. Now, report setters usually mix working and mountain climbing and forgo sleep.
An ordinary thru-hike of the Appalachian Path usually takes about 5 months to finish. Garmire’s accomplishments concerned mountain climbing and working about 49 miles per day for a month and a half. Alongside the way in which, he confronted obstacles like receiving two left sneakers in his first resupply field, breaking a trekking pole, and discovering considered one of his resupply containers trashed.
“It’s okay to care. To essentially, obsessively, spreadsheet-wieldingly care about one thing,” Garmire wrote in a put up about his FKT try. “Attending to the beginning line after dedicating a lot time, cash, and energy is a victory in itself.”
Garmire used his hike to boost greater than $29,000 for the Trevor Challenge, a corporation devoted to suicide prevention amongst LGBTQ+ youth. He discovered encouragement from digital supporters on his fundraising web page who left feedback that cheered him on.
Garmire’s record-setting journey is a minimum of the second time he had accomplished the path. He accomplished a Calendar 12 months Triple Crown in 2016, which concerned tackling the Appalachian Path, the Continental Divide Path, and the Pacific Crest Path inside a 12 month interval.
In a congratulatory put up, McConaughy praised Garmire’s grit.
“I’m proud to see him put up such a stout effort via a plenty of ups and downs!” he wrote.
