The Long Trail Chronicles: John Kelly's Quest to Set a New FKT in Vermont

John Kelly has always been an extremely fascinating person to me. The soft-spoke, engineer, entrepreneur, startup co-founder, and father of 4 has been around in the ultra-running world. Always humble and hungry, he seems to be the silent killer type, yet killer is certainly too strong a word for John. Methodical, process-oriented, follow-the-training plan type of winner. For crying out loud, his website is random forest runner! But he’s anything from random (though he is a forest runner). I mean, to be honest, I probably aspire to be like John while seeing similarities in our life and career quests. But then there are the FKTs, the ultra wins, oh and did I mention he’s a 2-time Barkley Marathons finisher? So yeah, that’s where our lives diverge. But I digress.

John is currently undertaking an FKT (fastest known time) on a route that is relatively short to some of his other conquests. But one that is also likely tougher than some. On Thursday, June 29, 2023, John set out from the northern terminus of Vermont’s Long Trail on the Vermont-Canada border, in an attempt to set a new supported FKT. According to the fine folks at the Green Mountain Club, here are some Long Trail stats:

• 272 miles

• 166 miles of side trails

• 70 backcountry campsites

• Oldest continuous footpath in the U.S.

• Perfect for day hikers, overnighters, and thru-hikers

Vermont’s Long Trail follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains from the Massachusetts-Vermont line to the Canadian border. Built between 1910 and 1930, it was the vision of James P. Taylor and later became the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail. The LT and AT share 100 miles of trail in the southern part of the state.

On the Long Trail, hikers encounter the best natural features Vermont has to offer, including pristine ponds, alpine sedge, hardwood forests, and swift streams. Known as the “footpath in the wilderness,” it is easy in few sections and rugged in most. Steep inclines and plenty of mud present hikers with plenty of challenges.

You can follow along with John by checking out his live tracker here. His attempt is classified as “supported” meaning that he can receive aid from crew and pacers. But he still must cover the entire length of trail under his own 2 feet. The current FKT for the Long Trail in the supported manner is held by Ben Feinson, who set the record of 4 days, 11 hours and 44 minutes, in July 2021. There are 3 types of FKT which anyone can undertake. According to the FKT website, these categories are defined as follows:

Unsupported:

Unsupported means you truly have no external support of any kind. This means you carry everything you need from start to finish except water from natural sources (public taps along the trail are fine, but no water from any commercial source even if free). This naturally limits the length of an Unsupported trip. Spectating in person by friends, family, or photographers is supportive, and thus not in the spirit of this style, and will be classified as Supported starting February 4, 2021 (all FKT classifications previous to this date will remain unchanged). Phone and digital communication is not considered support, and spectators and support people at the start and finish is also allowed. Using public bathrooms to defecate is fine, as the less feces in the backcountry the better.

Self-Supported

Self-Supported means you may have as much support as you can manage or find along the way, but not from any thing or person just for you; any support you employ must be equally available to anyone else. This can range from caching supplies in advance, purchasing supplies along the way, staying at motels, to finding or begging for food or water; camping in a friends yard would be Supported, because that is not available to the public. Most long thru-hiking routes are done Self-Supported. To get a Self-Supported FKT you also have to beat the fastest Unsupported time. Spectating will be considered as Support starting February 4, 2021 (no previous FKT classifications will be changed).

Supported

Supported trips can have as much support means you can enlist, as long as you are entirely self-powered. This can range from one person handing you water once, to an entire team that accompanies you the whole distance giving you everything (except physical assistance). Whether it’s just once or continuously, any support at all means it’s a Supported trip. On longer routes, Supported can enable the fastest trips due to the ability to carry less weight. To get a Supported FKT you also have to beat the fastest Self-Supported and Unsupported times.

Here is what John has posted about his current venture (posted prior to his start):

The Long Trail covers 273 miles of technical trail with about 66K feet of elevation gain in Vermont's Green Mountains. It's the oldest long-distance trail in the US and for FKTs (fastest known times) is a premier route. The current supported FKT is 4 days, 11 hours, and 44 minutes, set by Ben Feinson in July 2021.

Supported by a team that includes Ben, John Kelly will be attempting to set a new FKT starting Thursday, June 29th. John, best known as a two-time Barkley Marathons finisher, has set a number of high-profile speed records in recent years including the Pennine Way (Britain's 1st national trail) and a circuit of the 214 Wainwrights in the English Lake District. Visit www.randomforestrunner.com to read more about his adventures while his dot slowly makes its way down the Long Trail.

I’ve listened to pretty much every John Kelly podcast I’ve run across over the years, and I always find it fascinating how he seems to transform himself from everyday runner to mountain beast to Barkley GOAT to fell running champion. He truly is inspiring and I wish him all of the best. Vermont is a beautiful place on this earth, and this time of the year is truly special here. God-speed John.

Western States Recap

Amid traveling internationally from Stockholm to Vermont last Saturday, I was able to catch large portions of the 50th running of the Western States Endurance Run, 100.2 mile race from Palisades Tahoe to Auburn, California, and it did not disappoint (that race never does!). While the cool-ish temperatures and heavy snow pack in the high country captured much of the stories early on, it was clear as the race started to unfold that we were witnessing history. What Courtney Dauwalter did was down right bonkers. The previous course record at Western States was set in 2012 by Ellie Greewood in a time of 16 hours and 47 minutes. Since that time, no one had come all that close. Not only did Courtney beat the old record, she did so by over 77 minutes, finishing in 15:29! And we can’t overlook the effort and day of second-place finisher Katie Schide, who also finished under the old course record in 16:43. Check out iRunFar’s awesome recap of the race here.

And not to mention, I didn’t do too bad in my pre-race predictions, with Courtney, Katie and Tom Evans in my top lists. But then there are the others I predicted would finish on the podium who didn’t even finish the race. Oh well.

Closing Thoughts

What I’m listening to: I posted about Ted King’s attempt at the Tour Divide, a 2700 mile bickpacking race across the country (north to south). While he didn’t ultimately finish the race, he recently published a podcast that I found to be a very fascinating listen. From the tremendous amount of prep that goes into an event like this, to the physical turn of events that can quickly de-rail things, to the emotional rawness that creeps up after days on the trail/gravel, it is a must listen. Check out Ted’s King of the Ride podcast here.

And if you’re still counting, Andrew Drummond is still on his Mt Washington summit every day streak. This morning was day 40, stitched up and and all. Hats off, Andrew.

Until next time trail and gravel friends, enjoy the outdoors.

Ricky

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