Following Gavin Woody on the JMT

[Aaron Sorensen]

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0BLd5ZaY2rikG5CyIPdLocLzEe1Ia6IN4 Gavin Woody Headed out for an Unsupported JMT FKT this morning the 3rd at 7:05am. I have met Gavin once and can only say that he's a pretty good distance runner (top 10%) or so. He does have some guts though. Hopefully someone will get some charts going. He's been moving along pretty good so far.

[Ralph Burgess]

It looks like he started at 7:00am, and summited Whitney ~11:15am. Now approaching Wallace Creek. Amber reported that she had surprisingly little smoke – although it may have been because she got lucky with wind conditions. http://fastestknowntime.proboards.com/post/3281/thread So maybe there is a chance that Gavin can make it too.

[Ito Jakuchu]

thanks for sharing the links

[Ralph Burgess]

Forester at 6:41pm, so that's 11h41m elapsed. That's certainly a sub-4-day pace, a little behind a steady FKT pace, but it's early yet. Let's hope the wind is kind, the forecast has the wind direction changing considerably over the next few days, so it's hard to know how smoky it's likely to be.

[Adam White]

(edit: updated through Rush Creek). The usual stuff is below. I'm pretty wrapped up in other things right now, so I can't spend too much time analyzing. I do note that Gavin was a little slower out of the gate than recent FKT attempters–Gavin was up Forester in 11:37; Ralph was on Forester in 10:14, Allen in 10:16, and Kurt in 10:37. Obviously not a prognosis–there's a loooong way to go. Hope the wind keeps the smoke at bay! If anybody has splits for Gavin, let me know–I can update the table/profile with them. (edit to add: the "REST" breaks don't show up at the right time on the clock if Gavin takes a break somewhere between two labeled points. But, the duration of the rest is correct, and the time he arrives at the next point is correct. That was just a simple way of lumping it in. Just an FYI for any detectives out there who try to tie the times in my table to his SPOT messages) Table: Profile:

[Dave G]

Gavin won this years Bigfoot 200 in 64h12, so he definitely has the ability, but that's not much recovery time. Manual OK message then static near Twin Lakes, about 25 hours elapsed, looks like sleepytime. Edit – He was only static for 10 minutes, back on the move up to Pinchot. Dave

[Art …]

agree that winning Bigfoot 200 is a strong credential. but 4 weeks recovery is not a lot. we'll see … Gavin Woody's Ultra Running

[Ralph Burgess]

He's on his way up Pinchot, and only a little behind schedule in principle. However, that's a schedule that includes ~4 hours sleep. So far as I can tell, he didn't stop last night – the track timing seems to show him moving steadily the whole night through.

[Adam White]

I agree–I suspect he's taken some breaks, but not longer than 1.5 hours. I think he's off-pace. I keep waiting for him open up the throttle, but it's not happening. There's a lot left, but at this point, he'd have to average 2.88 mph for the rest of the hike for the FKT, and he's only had one split above that since Tyndall Creek. The average speed he needs for the FKT keeps drifting upwards. There's a lot left–the fact that he's still going makes me optimistic that he has a plan that he thinks will work. Fun to watch though–there might be a a plot twist! Also, I updated the table and profile above through Pinchot Pass, which I forecast at 9:30am. I'll correct it later if that ends up being a bad forecast.

[Aaron Sorensen]

"but 4 weeks recovery is not a lot. we'll see …" Andrew only took 1 week off between the finish of the PCT and the JMT FKT. Once you get in really good shape, it is not only easier to maintain but also takes less time to recover. The main problem lately is runners have been trying to maintain that fitness level without backing off or cross training for at least a few months a year. Then everything goes to hell. 4 weeks while maintaining some type of fitness and altitude training in between seems perfect. I also don't see where he slept last night. That will play a big role on day 3. We'll see. The JMT can chew you up and spit you out if you don't maintain what your body needs. Seems everyone has gone out from either not taking care of their food and water intake or sleep they need. Not many have quit just from being physically tired. Getting behind on sleep or hydration is more a lack of mental focus. Even trying to sleep at the wrong time or place and not getting much sleep is a lack of mental focus. I'm willing to bet Gavin tried laying down for some sleep and just couldn't sleep, so kept on moving? As long as he gets to sleep when he needs it before it starts slowing him down to a crawl, he should be fine.

[Adam White]

> I also don't see where he slept last night. I think he stopped for a while somewhere between Vidette Meadow and Glen Pass, but it was brief–probably 60 minutes or less. Otherwise, many of his splits are < 2 mph, which implies to me that he's taking frequent but short breaks.

[Adam White]

Updated the table/profile through the South Fork Kings (see the fifth post in this thread).

[Ralph Burgess]

Mather at 1:45pm, that's 30h45m elapsed time. I think he's probably about 3 hours behind an ideal FKT pace, but apparently without having taken any extended break to sleep yet. But he doesn't seem to be slowing either, just continuing on steadily. Who knows what conditions he's facing – I can't imagine trying to do this in smoke. Amber said she put a wet bandana over her mouth & nose in places where the smoke was bad – that would certainly cramp your style.

[Adam White]

Bump, updated through Palisade Lakes. He's averaging 2.35 mph, so really needs to pick it up–he needs to average 2.92 mph for the rest of the hike for the FKT. I mean, he's still on pace for a raging fast JMT. Just not an FKT.

[Anonymous]

"I think he's probably about 3 hours behind an ideal FKT pace, but apparently without having taken any extended break to sleep yet. But he doesn't seem to be slowing either, just continuing on steadily." For the record, he is just four weeks past winning a 200 mile trail/fire road race with 50,000' of elevation gain up here in WA state. How he's even gotten as far as he has blows my mind. What a stud. I got this from a woman I ran into on a day hike today who ran the same race. Edited for accuracy.

[Ralph Burgess]

Continuing up Muir in darkness – that's not fun. And still no sign of sleeping! I couldn't find a report from his win at the Bigfoot 200. I wonder what his sleep strategy was there? I recall that Jared Campbell and Ty Draney were planning only shot rest stops <1hr. Is this a common strategy – do ultramarathon runners do 200 mile races without any long sleeps?

[Keith Pund]

At Bigfoot 200 Gavin slept at aid stations in a few small chunks totaling about 30 min.

[Adam White]

Gavin kept going through the night. Pretty amazing that he just keeps on truckin' without any REM sleep. He's past the Goddard Creek footbridge, but hasn't picked up the pace. He now needs to average about 3.26 mph for the remainder of the hike to break the record. Table/profile updated above.

[Ralph Burgess]

Looks like he got to the Muir hut at midnight, slept there for ~2h30m. Evolution Crossing at 6:20am. 48h elapsed, I think the FKT is probably out of reach, but a time under 4 days looks possible from here.

[Adam White]

Now atop Selden Pass, at 52h 53m. He has about 101 miles to go, and needs to average faster than 3.35 mph for the remainder for the FKT. To go sub-4 day, he needs to average 2.35 mph. I think he has a pretty good shot at that, considering the way he charged up Selden (>2.5 mph). I updated the chart and profile, and added the a break at Muir Hut, where I agree with Ralph–he did take a break. Based on surrounding points, I think it his break was probably somewhere between 2h and 2h 30m long.

[Anonymous]

" do ultramarathon runners do 200 mile races without any long sleeps?" The young lady I talked with on a day hike finished in 79 hours, and said she got by on 1 hour of sleep. Anecdotal, but it is a starting point.

[Ralph Burgess]

It looks like Gavin stopped for ~45m at the Mono Creek bridge, and left there around 5:30pm. If he keeps on at his current pace, perhaps with one more short sleep, he should be able to finish in under 4 days. But I think so far he has only had the two hours sleep at Muir Pass, all the rest has been a steady pace with maybe a couple of other short breaks of under 1hr. He has to hike through two more full nights – that will be a real challenge in a sleep-deprived state. There really are very few non-technical sections of the JMT. Aaron – if you know them, it would be good to hear from Gavin or other 200-mile runners about their thinking on sleep strategy. I would have thought that trying to do the JMT without several REM-length sleep breaks is impossible, but with Gavin & Jared/Ty trying it, maybe that's wrong. I guess it makes quite a difference how technical the trail is.

[Adam White]

Well, looks like Gavin pushed through the night again–he's now climbing towards Trinity Lakes. Sub-four-day is still a possibility–he's averaging 2.32 mph, and needs to average 2.39 mph for the remainder to go under four days. Profile and table updated above.

[Adam White]

Well, the FKT is out of reach unless Gavin runs 5 minute miles for the rest of the trail. A sub-4-day is becoming increasingly challenging–Gavin needs to average 2.67 mph for the remainder of the hike to achieve that. That may or may not be a goal of his–just pointing it out. Looks like he took about a 50 minute break between Shadow Lake and Garnet Lake. (edit: Oh yeah, I updated the table and profile, too.)

[Ralph Burgess]

I'm amazed that he's still going with only one two-hour sleep break plus a few other short breaks all under 1hr. He can't have had any REM sleep at all in 3.5 days. He has another full night to get through – I hope he's going to be ok. It looks like he missed the trail at Thousand Island Lake for a short distance.

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