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    Could you walk 50 miles in a day?

    Posts: 10,968 Member
    edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
    Joe McConaughy of Seattle finished setting a new fastest known time on the AT last week. He hiked 2,190 miles in 45 and 1/2 days without support. That's an average of 48 hilly miles per day, carrying his shelter on his back.

    The previous record was 54 days. This one seems likely to stand for a very long time.

    It's hard to imagine the physical and emotional toll this must take on a person, or the dedication involved.

    https://gearjunkie.com/appalachian-trail-unsupported-supported-speed-record-fkt-string-bean

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    • Posts: 1,921 Member
      Probably not. If I could, it would likely be for one day only (unless slow zombies were chasing me, in which case I think I could find the motivation).
    • Posts: 25,763 Member
      I am confident I could walk 50 miles in a day. But for 45 and 1/2 days in a row? That's amazing.
    • Posts: 6,474 Member
      SURE!
    • Posts: 34,592 Member
      You sure he didn't have an alpaca hidden somewhere? I mean, "unsupported" means "no one keeping track," right?

      It's quite an accomplishment!
    • Posts: 5,424 Member
      For one day, yes, maybe even 2. After that...no. I can't even imagine what it took to get to the level of maintaining that over 45 days
    • Posts: 1,232 Member
      Not likely. My pace unburdened, without actively trying to walk faster, is about 3 mph. It would take me over 16 hours to walk 50 miles, not accounting for breaks or terrain. So I'm going to say nope.
    • Posts: 8,423 Member
      His record is safe from me!
      I might be able to walk 12-20 miles in a day right now assuming carrying stuff and breaks but would probably not be able to walk the next day so 45 days of walking all day is out.
    • Posts: 3,997 Member
      No way.

      20 max @ 2.5 miles/hr for 8 hrs on foot for me.

      Otherwise, I'll take a bike, cab, Uber, bus, train, Sega, horse, mule or donkey instead.
    • Posts: 3,563 Member
      Not me! I've walked maybe 20 - 22 miles with a daypack, but anything more would be waaay out of my range :)
    • Posts: 955 Member
      Not over the Whites. Maybe JMT or PCT. The AT over the Whites goes straight up and down rock fields.
    • Posts: 2,245 Member
      Very inspiring!

      With some training and under the right conditions (able to take breaks, decent weather, doing it to challenge myself and it's not a stressful situation) I believe I could!

      I can walk 4 miles in just under one hour at a comfortable, moderate pace.

      So it would take me 12.5 total hours to get it done.

      Hmmm.....
    • Posts: 1,433 Member
      I ran/walked an ultra marathon.... 50 km of up & down trails ..... once..... I'm good with that. :)
    • Posts: 85 Member
      No, my max was in the Lake District in the UK for 18 miles and it took hours and destroyed me
    • Posts: 7,865 Member
      edited September 2017
      Back to back marathons and/ or short ultras are quite enough for the moment.

      A couple of days of 50s are feasible, but not for more than that.
    • Posts: 13,575 Member
      No, not through those hills!
    • Posts: 3,376 Member
      Yes, but not for 50 days in a row...
    • Posts: 955 Member
      XMJ6pL
      That's one of the trails in the Whites. Its like that for 1 mile while gaining about 3000'. There's a tent platform, but it's a mile of constant boulders. Feels like it never ends :smiley:
    • Posts: 612 Member
      Nope. My physical limitations say heck no.
    • Posts: 237 Member
      NorthCascades wrote: »
      Joe McConaughy of Seattle finished setting a new fastest known time on the AT last week. He hiked 2,190 miles in 45 and 1/2 days without support. That's an average of 48 hilly miles per day, carrying his shelter on his back.

      The previous record was 54 days. This one seems likely to stand for a very long time.

      It's hard to imagine the physical and emotional toll this must take on a person, or the dedication involved.

      https://gearjunkie.com/appalachian-trail-unsupported-supported-speed-record-fkt-string-bean

      I don't know if that's possible for the average person. An average pace is like 3.0 miles per hour...that's like 16-17 hours of walking and 7 hours sleeping. Sacrificing one or the other or walking faster at some points. Geez.
    • Posts: 478 Member
      Farthest I've ever walked in a day is 12 miles and that nearly killed me..
    • Posts: 237 Member
      GlassAngyl wrote: »
      Farthest I've ever walked in a day is 12 miles and that nearly killed me..

      Farthest for me is 3.2 miles :D and i got blisters after the first mile.
    • Posts: 58 Member
      Ran a 50K two years ago, took 9.5 hours, I iced my legs and still could just barely hobble the next day.....so NO!
    • Posts: 26,077 Member
      Could you walk 50 miles in a day?

      Possibly ... but I have a bicycle to do those sorts of distances. :)
    • Posts: 5,283 Member
      So far, I think I can do ten... Based on how long it took me to walk to my destination and how fast I usually walk.
    • Posts: 6,840 Member
      I think I could do 24, which is 8 hours at a 3 mph pace, over level ground. So nope, no way.

      I vaguely recall my husband had to do 40 on a road march once when he was in Ranger training. He was something like 19 years old and very fit. I'll have to ask him.
    • Posts: 3,213 Member
      On one of his bad days he said he had to stop running after 10 miles. Meaning he tends to run most of it.

      So could I walk 50 miles on one day? Possibly. Could I do what he did for even one day? No chance.
    • Posts: 63 Member
      If my children life depended on it - but otherwise, n to the o
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