What's it like to set a new fastest-known time for an 800-mile Utah-to-Mexico trail that passes through both deserts and the Grand Canyon? In a word, painful. Outside Online reports on the hiker Nick Fowler's feat: On Nov. 9, he reached the southern end point of the Arizona Trail after 12 days, 17 hours, and 33 minutes. The Trek reports most thru-hikers complete the trail after 40 to 50 days. In doing so, Fowler did away with two records: His self-supported speed record (which Outside explains allows for the use of any "equally available" infrastructure, from gas stations to scheduled resupply caches) was nearly two days shorter than that of the record set in 2019.
But he also bested the fully supported fastest known time of 13 days, 3 hours, and 21 minutes set in 2021—a race where a support team can assist along the way. The stats don't fully capture how impressive an accomplishment it was. Fowler ended up "puking my guts out just getting passed by hikers in flip-flops" 100 miles in. He hitched a ride back to the trail's northern start, recuperated for two days, then tried again. He knocked off the first 143 miles in two days and the initial 460 miles in the first seven days, "a blistering pace for a week on the trail."
He pushed through a thunderstorm, below-freezing temps, and uncomfortable chafing. Two weeks after finishing, his body was still recovering: "I've never had this much foot pain before," he said. The Trek notes Fowler wasn't the only person to set an Arizona Trail record in 2024. Heather "Anish" Anderson set an unsupported—meaning she carried all her food from the get-go and didn't resupply—fastest-known time of just over 24 days. (More trail racing stories.)
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