Age: 32
Residence: Lyme, NH
Family: Girlfriend, Bethany Charron
Occupation: Carpenter, starting respiratory therapy school in the fall
Primary Sport: Long-distance running and hiking
VS: You are the reigning record holder for hiking the Appalachian Trail at 47.5 days. Can you tell us about that journey?
AT: The AT was a two-man effort—me, the hiker, and my best friend Jon Basham, as support crew. We had one vehicle, a Toyota Tacoma, which we lived out of. Basically, we broke it down to 45-50 miles each day, and we went north to south. Jonboy would meet me where roads crossed the trail. Sometimes several times a day, sometimes never. Nearly every day ended at a road crossing where we camped (discretely and out of sight). Jonboy cooked on the tailgate, and we each slept in backcountry tents, always tucked out of sight. I couldn’t afford to be awoken in the middle of the night by police. We only had one situation when we were in Shenandoah, and a ranger was patrolling, due to severe weather. We were moved 15 miles up the road to the nearest campsite in the National Park. After many long days of repetition, we climbed Springer Mountain, GA, around midnight, to set the record, breaking the 48-day, 20-hour mark set by a friend of mine, Pete Palmer of Bar Harbor, Maine.
VS: What did you carry with you?
AT: I carried only what I needed between roads. Sometimes it was two miles, sometimes 40 or more. Usually a fanny pack and some water bottles. I lost 35 pounds altogether, going from 195 to 160.
VS: What sort of mental state where you in?
AT: Mentally I was always pretty shaky. I pushed hard every day and was always hallucinating and babbling. It was eat, sleep, hike—sleeping 4.5 hours a day, hiking for 17 hours or more. I ate normal stuff, sandwiches, pasta, pancakes; Jonboy cooked for me each day.
VS: How do you prepare for a feat like that?
AT: Preparation was not too involved. We had each hiked the trail a couple of times and always stayed in good shape. It was just a matter of having the right gear, a reliable truck, a great support crew, and good shoes. I wore Inov8 Flyrocs, a British shoe. I went through nine pairs. I hiked southbound, which had never been done before on a speed attempt. I started mid-May, 2005, hiked the 100-mile wilderness, and bagged it. There was too much snow in western Maine. We came back a month later and did Maine in eight days flat (285 miles). Maine was a joy—overhead river fords, freezing water, as steep as ever. Then it got hot, and stayed hot the rest of the way.
VS: Do you know any of the other former record holders?
AT: A former record holder, hiking the trail in 52 days, is David Horton. I became acquainted with him in Virginia, where I attended school at Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA. David has run the AT, across America, and the Pacific Crest Trail. This summer he’s challenging the speed record on the Continental Divide trail. He started June seventh.
VS: Are there any other records you have your sights on?
AT: New Hampshire’s 4,000-footers, Vermont’s Long Trail, and Colorado’s 14ers. Jonboy also wants to take a crack at the Catskills. He set the speed record on the Colorado Trail two summers ago, 475 miles in 8.5 days. I supported him. And we broke the old record by over 24 hours.
VS: What advice do you have for other athletes who would like to try speed hiking?
AT: You can never scout too much. Leave the weaklings at home. You don’t need your support crew text messaging his girlfriend while you’re dying in the woods. Simple, simple, simple! I was offered big money from a film producer to shoot the hike. I declined for two reasons (and shelled out the money myself!). A. I didn’t want to be the jerk that brought the movie crew onto the AT. B. Anything that was not directly related to breaking the record was omitted. Extra people, extra gear, whatever. We trimmed the fat. You can’t throw money at the AT speed record and expect it to fill in all the rough spots. Another item I’d like to touch on is the motivation behind speed records. The speed hike was my third through hike. It was not a one-shot, sprint to the finish experience. I love the trail. I’ve lived within miles of it in five different states. My speed hike was another way to experience it.
VS: Do you have one piece of gear—whether it be for luck or essentials—that you just can’t live without?
AT: My gray Ultimate Direction one-bottle waistpack. I carried it on the AT, Jonboy carried it on the Colorado Trail. You’d be surprised how far you can go with just a little bit. Naturally, you refine your needs on such a long hike.
VS: What brought you to the Northeast?
AT: I was raised in southern New Hampshire, went to school in Lynchburg, VA, lived briefly in California, and have settled here in the Upper Valley. My girlfriend, Bethany, is an anesthesia provider at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
VS: You’ve said you have an “obsession” with yoga. What’s the draw?
AT: My obsession with yoga began about six months ago. I was blown away by how demanding the postures are. Simple stuff when done properly is really hard! I thought, geez, I call myself an athlete, and I can’t even touch my toes! Or balance on one leg! My flexibility has improved big-time, along with my overall posture and running form. Yoga is a safe place, where you can make mistakes. It makes me feel strong and balanced.
VS: What do you do in your free time?
AT: I do all the shopping and cooking in my household (it’s just the two of us). I love food. The colors, the textures, the aroma. There’s a lot going on. I also garden quite a bit, both veggies and flowers. I once worked on an organic farm, so I learned a few tricks. I also listen to loads of music.
VS: What’s some of your favorite music?
AT: Radiohead, Interpol, Neil Young, Lucinda Williams. Anything real, and passionate, and smart. In music, as in so many things, less is more. Some of the best songs are simple layerings of one theme. Repetition, without redundancy.
VS: You mentioned a love of wine. From one oenephile to another, what are you drinking?
AT: I generally hover around the 12- to 15-dollar range. Lately I’ve been enjoying Spanish wines. I am into one particular granache called Castell del Remei, Gotim Bru. I’d call it a big wine. Super spicy, not sweet.
—Sky Barsch
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