Whereas the endurance working world was distracted by Courtney Dauwalter‘s astonishing efficiency at Hardrock 100, elsewhere in Colorado, Chicago-based runner David Hedges achieved a remarkably difficult FKT on the notorious Nolan’s 14–a route that connects a line of 14 Colorado peaks, every towering over 14,000 toes, in a single push, in 60 hours or much less. On the night of July 14, Hedges lowered the supported quickest identified time to 36 hours, 14 minutes, masking 151.4 kilometres and traversing up nearly 14,000 metres of elevation.
Insane 39 hours!!!! pic.twitter.com/5zkdd5whsV
— Daniel (@dan1elsternthal) July 16, 2023
The route is open to all and has no set course, however the runners often log 140 to 160 kilometres with a minimal of 12,900 metres of elevation acquire. To overcome the FKT, Hedges’ time wanted to greatest Joey Campanelli’s unsupported effort (41:00:33) from July 2020, in addition to the earlier supported FKT time of 46:41:00, run by Alex Nichols in 2018.
25-year-old Hedges has been hoping to problem Nolan’s 14 route since highschool when he examine it in ultrarunner Anton Krupicka‘s weblog. Whereas attending the College of Colorado, Hedges met cross-country coach Nichols, and ran with him for a big part of Nolan’s 14 when Nichols set his 2018 FKT.
Hedges informed iRunFar that watching Nichols transfer for over 40 hours made a deep impression on him: “That second was actually highly effective, it completely modified my life. I turned obsessive about Nolan’s and, later that summer time and the following, scouted the course a superb quantity and did a boatload of coaching within the mountains, large off-trail link-ups day after day.”
Hedges was supported by a small group of pacers, together with Jack Kuenzle of repeat FKT fame. He ran and hiked the route in clear climate with little snowpack, and informed iRunFar that he felt even-keeled the entire time, regardless of working out of meals and turning into overheated at one level. He revived with the assistance of his crew and had a quiet celebration of “pizza and banter” in Leadville post-FKT. Hedges stated he did battle together with his footwear, and had very chilly and moist toes for a lot of the route.
What’s subsequent for this up-and-coming endurance athlete? Hedges, who lately accomplished a grasp’s diploma in regional planning, certified for this UTMB in Chamonix later this summer time, however is not sure whether or not he’ll sort out the race. If he does, new followers will likely be watching to see what magic this younger endurance athlete can pull off.
