Karl Meltzer Wins Big Horn 100, Faces Down Mad Moose!

Remember Karl Meltzer? He's the incredible endurance athlete that we followed last year as he attempted to set a new speed record for running the Appalachian Trail. Of course, since making a run at that record, Karl hasn't exactly been sitting at home on the couch, and he recently won the Big Horn Trail Run, competing in the 100 mile, full course version.

For Karl, this was his 25th win in a race of 100 miles in length, and he managed to set a new course record in the process, crossing the finish line in 19 hours, 15 minutes, and 26 seconds. Pretty damn impressive. There are some days where I can't drive 100 miles in 19 hours. You can read Karl's account of the race in his latest blog post, where you'll learn that one of the challenges of these epically long trail runs is that you have to deal with some unexpected surprises along the way. In this case, it was a rather pissed off momma moose who didn't appreciate Karl infringing on her territory.

It seems that while leading the pack, Karl came across plenty of wildlife including deer and a close encounter with a skunk. But that was nothing compared to his showdown with the moose that included him ducking behind a tree, and playing peek-a-boo until said moose wandered off into the woods. Thinking he was safe, the ultrarunner proceeded down the trail to a waiting aid station, only to look back and find the moose hadn't given up, and was now chasing him down the trail! She ended up kicking him in the shin and hand, and giving him quite a scare before it was all said and done, and you should read Karl's account of the story to get the full effect.

Needless to say, I now know how he set that new course record! Thanks to The Goat for this one.

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Appalachian Assault: Where's Karl? At The Finish Line!

Karl Meltzer has completed his Appalachian Assault, finishing up in the wee hours this morning, and officially reaching the end of the Appalachian Trail at 4:20 AM EDT this morning.

Officially, it took Karl 54 days, 21 hours, and 12 minutes to complete the AT, which was good enough to earn him the fourth fastest time ever. When he set out back on August 5th, Karl's intention was to set a new record by completing the entire length of the 2,174 long trail in 47 days, which would have been good enough for the fastest time ever. He got off to a good start and was meeting his daily goals, but injuries caught up to him about two weeks in. Severe tendentious and trench foot landed Karl in the hospital, and ultimately slowed down his pace.

While others would have abandoned their pursuit of the record right there, Karl never gave up, and was soon back on the trail and putting in huge mileage. Many days he as doing 50-60+ miles as he continued toward the finish line, even though he knew that claiming the record was now out of reach. Reading the daily updates on WheresKarl.com showed that he was getting strong as he approached the end.

Karl is one of the best ultrarunners in the world and can do amazing things on a trail over vast distances. But his determination and gutsy performance over the past month and a half has been quite an inspiration. Great work Karl, and congratulations on reaching the end. Amazing!

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The Appalachian Assault: 846 Miles To Go!

Karl Meltzer is still plugging away on his Appalachian Assault and has now logged more than 1,328 miles on the Appalachian Trail in just 37 days.

The latest updates from WheresKarl.com indicate that he's reached Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and has been logging a lot of mile lately in an attempt to make up for lost time thanks to the injuries he suffered early on. A few days back he even logged 60 miles in one day over a grueling 14 hours on the trail. His blog indicates that a pace of nearly four and a half mile an hour, which is very impressive considering the terrain he is crossing.

Karl set out back on August 5th in an attempt to break the speed record on the AT. He hoped to run it's entire length, all 2,174 miles of it, in just 47 days, which would have worked out to about 46 miles per day. Unfortunately, he ran into some issues early on, including severe tendentious, and thanks to the wet conditions on the trail, he even contracted trench foot.

Following those setbacks, he took a few days off to recuperate, but was soon back at it, slowly building his mileage back up. Now, he seems to have caught his stride again, and is making up for lost time. It would have been very easy to pack it in, and call it all off, but Karl has been determined from the beginning to see this through to the end, and you have to admire his tenacity.

At this point, it seems the record is out of reach with just ten days to go, but sometimes these adventures aren't about breaking records, but instead they're about challenging yourself, seeing something through to the end, and never giving up on your dream. I think Karl is showing us all how that is done.

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Appalachian Assault: Karl Makes CNN!

Check out this excellent video from CNN about Karl Meltzer and his attempt at the speed record on the Appalachian Trail.

It's great to see Karl get this kind of mainstream exposure for his epic run. For the latest on Karl be sure to check out WheresKarl.com for daily updates and photos from the trail. The ultrarunner continues his quest and his showing the heart of a champion as he presses forward, even though he's tired and still has some lingering pain in his feet and legs. He's definitely an inspiration to the rest of us mere mortals.

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Appalachian Assault: Where's Karl? Back on the Trail!

The latest news from WheresKarl.com is that ultrarunner Karl Meltzer is back on the trail and continuing his his Appalachian Assault, despite recent set backs that put him in the hospital, where he was diagnosed with trench foot and tendinitis.

Since that time, Karl's been dealing with quite a lot of pain, while he rested, stayed off the trail, and eventually resumed with slower, and shorter days. He remains determined to complete the Appalachian Trail although his speed record attempt seems to be over. The website indicates that he is frustrated with these nagging injuries, and slow healing time, but is still focused on reaching Georgia and the end of his journey.

When Karl set out back on August 5th, he was hoping to finish the entire length of the AT in just 47 days, covering all of it's 2174 mile length. To do so, he would need to average more than 46 miles a day, and early on he was hitting his target distances as he had hoped. But the moisture on the trail caused his feet to get wet, which brought on the trench foot, causing him to alter his running stride, which exasperated the tendinitis. Since the, it's been a painful and slow recovery period.

You have to admire a guy like Karl. We all know what an amazing endurance athlete he is, and he really wanted to set this record. It's particularly disheartening for a world-class athlete to be slowed by an injury, but he is refusing to give up, and he wants to finish what he started. I'm pulling for him to reach the end of the trail, and even if he doesn't get there in 47 days, my guess is that it'll still be an incredibly impressive time. Good luck the rest of the way Karl!

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Appalachian Assault: Trouble On The Trail

Rough news from WheresKarl.com today, where we learn that endurance runner Karl Meltzer spent much of the day in the hospital where he was diagnosed with trench foot due to his 300 plus miles on rough trail with wet feet. It's a good news/bad news situation however, as the pain that Karl was feeling was first thought to be the result of a stress fracture or blood clots.

Karl is of course in the middle of his Appalachian Assault, which has him challenging the speed record on the Appalachian Trail. His original intention was to run the entire length of the AT, some 2,174 miles, in just 47 days.


Obviously, having beat up feet is not conducive to setting speed records, and Karl is already behind his self imposed schedule. According to his website, he should have logged 745 miles by today, but his actual distance is 538. He took the day off today to rest and recuperate, and according to his team, he's doing fine. He has been given a prescription to take care of the trench foot, and intends to resume his Assault, possibly as early as tomorrow.

At this point, I'm not sure there is anyway that he can make up the gap that has already built up, and especially not with bad wheels. But, Karl is determined to see this thing through to the end, and I give him major respect for that. He certainly can take a lot of punishment, and it's impressive that he's still intending to continue on. I wish him the best of luck. I hope he can still achieve the goals that he set out to accomplish. He's an amazing athlete that doesn't know the word quit.

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Appalachian Assault Update: Racing The Schedule

It's been about ten days since Karl set out on his Appalachian Assault, an attempt to run the length of the Appalachian Trail in just 47 days. That 2,174 miles across challenging terrain with major vertical climbs and drops along the way as well. The hope is that he'll average roughly 46 miles a day and set a new speed record in the process.

So, how's it going so far? Well, not too bad, although it does seem that Karl's falling behind his self imposed schedule a bit. For instance, if you check out today's results, you see that he should have completed 499 miles by the end of today, and his "actual" mileage so far is 373. It's likely they haven't uploaded todays data yet, as he's probably still on the trail running, so if you add in the expected 55 miles for today, that puts him at a respectable 428 miles completed thus far. Unfortunately, that's still 71 miles behind what he had expected.

Karl's team continues to make daily blog updates at WheresKarl.com, keep us updated on his condition and location at all times. You can also track him on the trail, as he's using a SPOT Satellite Messenger to show is location at all times. The photo galleries have also been updated with new photos from much of the run as well, which help in giving us an idea of the conditions that Karl is contending with out on the trail.

There is still a long way to go on this speed attempt, and hopefully Karl can make up for the lost time and mileage further along. He's done an incredible job so far, and anyone would be hard pressed to have knocked off 400+ miles in 11 days. But I know he wants the speed record, and to do that he'll have to make up the difference. If anyone can do it though, I suspect it's Karl, who is an amazing endurance athlete.

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Appalachian Assault: Karl's Off and Running!

It seems like I've been counting down to the Appalachian Assault for weeks, but now it's finally here. Karl hit the trail this morning at 7:18 AM, and is now off and running on his speed attempt on the Appalachian Trail.

WheresKarl.com, the official site for this madness, is already updating with news from the trail as Karl warms up with a light 41 mile run today, which is expected to take him about ten and a half hours. There also plenty of images from the start and regular blog posts on his progress. Karl's SPOT Messenger is also performing admirably, charing his progress nicely and integrated into a Google Map right on the home page.

For those that haven't read about the Appalachian Assault, it is endurance athlete Karl Meltzer's attempt to complete the entire length of the AT in just 47 days. That's 2174 miles of very challenging backcountry terrain to cover in a relatively short time. In fact, he'll have to average 46+ miles per day to actually reach his goal.

Be sure to drop in regularly over the next month an a half to see what Karl is up to. I personally want to wish him luck. I think this seems like a great project, even if there is no way in hell I could keep up. :)

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