Read This First! « Thread Started on Nov 1, 2009, 11:00pm »
Fastest Known Time (FKT) is an archive of fastest known times for various trails and routes.
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Below are some important thoughts and guidelines. We appreciate discussion of these issues.
How do you establish a speed record? Buzz Burrell has proposed 3 common sense guidelines:
Announce your intentions in advance. Like a true gentleman, pay your respects to those who came before you, and tell them what you intend to attempt and when. Be an open book. Invite anyone to come and watch or, better yet, participate. This makes your effort more fun and any result more believable. Record your event. Write down everything immediately upon completion. Memory doesn't count.
These three rules do not "prove" you have done anything. They just make it easier for a good person to believe you.
Supported, self-supported, unsupported? What does it mean?
Supported means you have a dedicated support team that meets you along the way to supply whatever you need. This generally allows for the fastest, lightest trips, and for an element of camaraderie and safety, since someone knows about where you are at all times. Self-supported means that you don't carry everything you need from the start, but you don't have dedicated, pre-arranged people helping you. This is commonly done a couple different ways: You might put out stashes of supplies for yourself prior to the trip, or you might just use what's out there, such as stores, begging from other trail users, etc. Unsupported means you have no external support of any kind. Typically, this means that you must carry all your supplies right from the start, except any water that can be obtained along the way from natural sources. This approach has also been termed "alpine style". The longest trip I'm aware of using this style is Coup's 20-day thru-hike of the Colorado Trail. For most people, carrying enough food for more than a few days to one week will be prohibitive. Unsupported also means unaccompanied!
Thoughts on Verification: You put in a huge effort and trashed your body for the next 6 months. You want people to believe what you say you did, right?
Follow Buzz's guidelines above. If other people are involved in your trip, make sure they are involved in the telling the story as well. Photos & video really help. Independent verifiers are key. Consider passing out cards to people you meet along the way with information about your trip & asking the person to email you to confirm when and where they saw you. For shorter trips where it is practical, GPS tracks (.gpx files) are great. SPOT Tracker just might be the ultimate verification tool, and it provides a measure of safety as well. Also, it's a lot of fun for your friends to be able to watch your progress online in real time. They cost about $100 plus $100/year for the service. The current version of the Tracker weighs about 7oz, but apparently a new, improved Tracker weighing around 5oz will be available in November 2009.
Disclaimer:We generally make no attempt to verify the accuracy of the records quoted here. If you think something is incorrect or misrepresented, please email the administrator and let's discuss it. Thanks.
Buzz Burrell on the Paine Circuit, Patagonia, Chile
« Last Edit: Sept 13, 2010, 10:14am by Peter Bakwin »
Re: Read This First! « Reply #1 on Apr 18, 2012, 11:25pm »
I was led to the FKT by search engines about my previous Florida Hike. I attempted to yo-yo the state, but due to the amount of road walking, I decided well into the hike to stop at the completion of one way. All facts of my hike were recorded before and after the hike. I hiked the entire state in 35 days 22 hours, and the Florida Trail in 30 days and 3 hours. I was in constant contact with Adam Bradley, and he wrote a bit about the hike. I started in Key West, hiked to the southern terminus, took the western route around Lake Okachobee, and the eastern route around Orlando. I completed the hike at Fort Pickens, Pensacola, the western terminus. The total miles of the hike is just shy of 1300 miles according to maps and guide books, but I believe it is a bit more due to road maps and gps readings. The FTA and forest service is doing some big changes to the trail this year, and my record will most likely be obsolete due to a much shorter route. But if anyone is interested in attempting on breaking it, I would be glad to help out as much as possible. It was done unsupported, and without missing a single step. All information can be found @ joekisner.blogspot.com, and all questions can be asked @ jkhikes@gmail.com.
Re: Read This First! « Reply #2 on Sept 15, 2012, 1:49pm »
I would like to ask whether or not going for an unsupported record as a team, (even of 2) would still be considered unsupported?
I have twice gone starting at the same time as someone, but never even a single step was spent on the trail alongside them. So would starting together but not hiking together be of a considered support as a "race" type push knowing the other is out there?
There can be assistance with a team of 2. Helping to keep each other up at night, and trading places in the pacing make all of this much less demanding on a solo attempt. There have been several cases where there are more than 1 person going for the same attempt at a time but for the most part of it, starting at different times.
FKT's are getting a little more popular now and a little more rules for solo or not solo unsupported attempts to count seem to be necessary. I plan on doing many more in the years to come and would just like some more clarification...
Re: Read This First! « Reply #3 on Sept 21, 2012, 9:29am »
Aaron in my opinion, doing a record attempt as a team of 2 or more is NOT unsupported. in fact, I felt yours and Michaels push a few years back when you were racing each other on the JMT but not running as a team, pushed the boundaries of the unsupported concept. As I'm sure you will agree, the mental factor in all these efforts is a very big part.
Re: Read This First! « Reply #4 on Feb 5, 2013, 1:16am »
I'm curious as to whether a regular GPS can reasonably serve as verification. Unlike a spot you could use it to both map your route as well as navigate.
Re: Read This First! « Reply #5 on Feb 5, 2013, 10:08am »
I'm not sure I agree that the Spot is great verification. It proves that the device was there, but not necessarily that the person was there. Any time relying on blind trust is not sufficiient, the only real verification is third party verification.
Re: Read This First! « Reply #6 on Feb 11, 2013, 2:32pm »
Every method has its issues, even "third party verification". Who, after all, is the 3rd party? How do we know who they are? I realize that a person could collaborate with others to "fake" an FKT by handing off a SPOT unit, but this would require collusion of others in your lie. What do the others get out of it? You could just as easily get another person to lie about verifying your record. In fact that might be easier since you wouldn't necessarily even have to leave your house, whereas, the SPOT would have to be carried on the route. Clearly, SPOT + 3rd party verification (by people you meet along the way) + photographic evidence + a clear & detailed account of your trip = more believable.
Water: Natural vs native « Reply #7 on Apr 10, 2013, 12:01pm »
I really like the definitions to be used in this forum for the different formats.
Regarding water use in an unsupported effort: the definition says "natural sources." Some locations do not have potable natural sources but do have wells and taps. It seems these sources meet the spirit of the definition which is "found water"
Saddly, in our area natural gas fracking has made the natural sources (steam and seeps) unfit for human consumption.
I'd welcome any comments to help my understanding.
Re: Read This First! « Reply #8 on Apr 16, 2013, 11:03am »
Good question about water. First, I'd say always the most important thing is to be clear about what you did - what were the "rules" you set for yourself? Some things would be literally impossible without relying on some kind of assistance. Also, all of us show up at the start with a massive reliance on technology - all our gear, transportation to the start, etc. And, much of our environment has been altered by human influence (including the climate itself.) So, what does "unsupported" actually mean?
In general it is accepted practice that the first person to do something establishes the protocol. Certainly others may refine what was done, but I think there is always a lot of respect and deference to the pioneer(s). If there are permanent water taps in a place that lacks drinkable, natural water then it seems to me logical to use them. Everyone uses the human-modified springs along the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim route, for example. If there are human-built shelters along the way that are open to anyone, it seems sensible to allow their use (not talking about motels here). These things don't seem a violation of "unsupported" to me. But, again, be clear about what you did - that's more important than the label.
I hope this helps!
« Last Edit: Apr 16, 2013, 11:05am by Peter Bakwin »
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