McConaughy resets John Muir Trail FKT at 2 days 16 hours
iRunFar says the mark beats a record that had stood since 2017.
Joe "Stringbean" McConaughy has the men's supported FKT (fastest known time) on the 223-mile John Muir Trail, iRunFar reports.
His time of 2 days & 16 hours bests François D'Haene’s 2017 record by 3 hours & 26 minutes
His time of 2 days and 16 hours bests Francois D'Haene's 2017 record by 3 hours and 26 minutes, according to iRunFar. That is the headline number here. Three and a half hours is a big chunk to take out of a record on a route this long, and D'Haene's mark had sat untouched since 2017.
What supported means
Supported is the FKT category where the runner can use a crew, pacers and aid along the way, as opposed to self-supported or unsupported efforts where the runner carries or caches everything. It is the fastest of the three categories on almost every route, because the athlete can keep moving while someone else handles food, gear and resupply. The men's supported line on the John Muir Trail is the one D'Haene held and the one McConaughy now owns.
Why this one mattered
The John Muir Trail runs 223 miles through the California high country, and it is one of the American routes trail runners actually watch. D'Haene is one of the most decorated mountain runners of the last decade, and the fact that his time stood for years says plenty about how hard it is to line up fitness, weather and a clean effort on a route that long.
McConaughy is not new to this. He goes by "Stringbean" and has built his name on long trail records rather than race results, which is why his name showing up on a trail FKT list is not a surprise to anyone who follows this corner of the sport.
What it actually means is simple. A record that was treated as close to untouchable has moved by more than three hours, and the John Muir Trail supported FKT now belongs to an American. Splits, crew details and the full trip report were not in the announcement, so the number is the story for now.
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