2025 was a stunningly busy year on the Appalachian Trail. There were many high profile FKT efforts and several DNFs in the final days. Three long-held records did fall, however. Sarah Baker set the women’s self-supported northbound time in 74:04:42. Lyla Harrod set the women’s southbound time in 52:18:37. And Jeff Garmire took down the men’s self-supported record in a time of 45:08:37. Tune in to learn more about these notable feats and the highs and lows of their experiences.

Stretching from Washington to California along the Pacific Ocean, the 400+ mile long Oregon Coast Trail is a mix of road, beach, and forested trail that challenges travelers with tides, estuaries, and frequent bad weather. Join host Heather Anderson this week as she chats with Katie Gunvalson who recently smashed the women’s overall record with her self-supported time of 7 days, 19 hours, and 41 minutes–two hours faster than the women’s supported time–despite logging over 20 additional miles. Katie shares her experiences with timing the tides, battling bad weather at the crux of the route, sleep deprivation, and how this record reset what she thought she was capable of.

On today’s episode we’re traveling to the High Sierra of California where Caroline Himbert recently set the women’s unsupported northbound record on the premier John Muir Trail. Her first long, unsupported effort was a way for her to go back to her roots as a long distance hiker. Along the way she dealt with excruciating foot pain, a knee injury, and the effects of sleep deprivation. Tune in to hear how she almost missed the record when her hallucinations led her off trail, her “brain said goodbye” and she fell asleep for over 4 hours, just miles from the finish and why she ended up in Urgent Care after it was all over.

Bears, sheepdogs and snakes…oh my!When you think of Armenia, you probably don’t think of a wild long distance mountain trail. However, today’s guest, Katya Guryeva, shares stories from her 21 day supported FKT on the country’s 820 kilometers of the Transcaucasian Trail.

Over the course of the record, Katya encountered a wide variety of challenges from weather and navigation, to wildlife and remoteness. Tune in to hear how she handled language barriers, planned around political security issues, and embraced the beauty of this seldom hiked trail.

This week we’re heading to the Show Me state where Tim Beissinger set the unsupported FKT on the 230 mile long Ozark Trail in a time of 4 days, 9 hours, and 24 minutes. Tune in as he and host Heather Anderson discuss methods and motivations for this former triathlete as he pushed his limits to set his first fastest known time. Tim accomplished the new record while coping with trench foot and significant pain as well as rainy weather and little sleep. He shares his encounters with wildlife, including dozens of ticks, and lack of encounters with people along the way. They also discuss the challenges of water crossings including the flooding of Courtois Creek. Drop in and take a walk on Missouri’s wild side.

In today’s episode, Chris Roberts shows us what it takes to run the longest rail trail in the United States in just 1 day 21 hours and 37 minutes. Missouri’s Katy Trail stretches 238 miles almost the entire east-west distance across the state. Chris shares how his mom joined in on bike for her first ever multi-day, no sleep adventure and how his trip prep combined with sleep deprivation led to a strange deja vu mindset in the waning hours.

Join host Heather Anderson as she talks all things Grand Canyon with Allison Baca on this week’s episode. Allison recently set the women’s unsupported FKT for the Rim to Rim to Rim route at the Grand Canyon, covering the 44 mile double crossing in just a tad over 7 hours and 31 minutes. They talk specifics of gear, fueling, and fluids as well as navigation and training prep. Allison also shares her love of the canyon, the most beautiful moment of the effort and how she and her husband balance parenthood, life, and adventure.

The tiny European country of Andorra, with a population of about 80,000 people, is home to a wide array of mountains. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Pau Capell about his experiences as a Spanish mountain runner who relocated to the Ordino region. He shares the ins and outs of the technical Estripagecs route around the Ordino Valley where he set an unsupported FKT for the approximately 50km route. He covered the distance and over 4,000 meters of elevation gain in a blistering 8 hours and 34 minutes–just in time to meet his parents for lunch! Join host Heather Anderson as they discuss how mountain projects require heart and not just legs.

Today we’re traveling to possibly the most remote mountain range in the 48 contiguous US states–Wyoming’s Wind River Range. These rugged mountains have more bighorns than people and yet our guest Kelly Halpin finds great joy in traversing them solo and unsupported.

Join host Heather Anderson in this week’s episode and learn what drove Kelly to return to this route and break her own FKT–set in 2020–by six hours. She shares what she did differently, what went well, and her tips for preparing for safe, enjoyable mountain travel. 

Drop in and be inspired to add this 100 mile route to your bucket list!

What does the infinity symbol have to do with FKTs? 

Well, if you’re in the state of Washington it’s indicative of one of the most challenging mountain routes in the state–Mount Rainier’s Infinity Loop.

Join host Heather Anderson and guest Gian Dalle to hear about his adventure that combines summiting the iconic volcano twice and completing the 90+ mile Wonderland Trail that circumnavigates the mountain. 

Tune in to today’s episode and learn about what goes into a technical glacier climb plus long trail run, how major route issues almost ended the attempt before it began, and how being a firefighter enables Gian to get out and explore more.