2,189 Miles, 40 Days, and 3 Showers: How Tara Dower Destroyed the Appalachian Trail Speed Record
Minutes before midnight on Saturday evening, Tara Dower emerged from the forest on Springer Mountain in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Trudging through the darkness, the 31-year-old wore a headlamp to navigate the last section of the Appalachian Trail—a beacon in the homestretch of a legendary journey.
With thousands of miles behind her, Dower fell to her knees and put her hands on the finish, a bronze plaque that reads, “A footpath for those who seek fellowship with the wilderness.”
On September 21, Dower became the fastest person in history to complete the Appalachian Trail, a 2,189-mile path that traverses Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia.
The professional ultrarunner, who lives and trains in Virginia Beach, Virginia, covered the trail heading southbound in 40 days, 18 hours, and five minutes, the fastest known time (FKT), pending verification. She beat the previous overall record by 13 hours.
