Karel Sabbe Breaks the Appalachian Trail Supported Fastest Known Time (FKT)

Karel Sabbe set out to break the record for the supported FKT on the Appalachian Trail. Tuesday, Aug. 28, he accomplished that goal with flying colors. His time was 41 days, seven hours, and 39 minutes, making the new FKT more than four days faster than the previous record set by Karl Meltzer in 2016.  The fastest overall time on the AT belonged to Joe “Stringbean” McConaughy, who finished in 45 days, 12 hours, and ten minutes, though his hike was self-supported, which means he’s still the fastest time in that category.

In the year 60 B.C., Julius Caesar wrote: “Of all Gauls, the Belgians are the bravest.” Over 2000 years later there is still some truth in that sentence. We have set a new speed record on the epic Appalachian Trail !! The Fastest Known Time is now 41 days 7 hours 39 minutes, which is over 4 days faster than the previous record, held by an incredibly strong and unsupported @thestring.bean. I want to thank my dear friend @jorenbiebuyck from the bottom of my heart as without his incredible crewing and support I would never have made the PCT as well as the AT speed records. Fun facts: nobody has ever held Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail speed records at the same time. Nobody had averaged more than 50 miles on the Appalachian Trail. More than proud, I feel privileged for having lived these incredible adventures. It was a blast from start to finish ! Thanks @skinssportwear for making this possible, without you there would have been no new FKT. Thank you everybody for the support! #AppalachianTrailSpeedRecordAttempt #teamSKINS #BestInCompression #HOKAONEONE#TimeToFly #TraKKs #Suunto #Selfpropelled#Ledlenser #kleankanteen #nordisk #trekneat #ultramarathon#speedrecord #AppalachianTrail #ultrarunning #ultratrail #trailrunner #trailrunning

A post shared by Karel Sabbe (@karelsabbe) on Aug 28, 2018 at 6:27pm PDT

Sabbe now holds the supported fastest known time for the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail, the first time this feat has been accomplished. Heather “Anish” Anderson has been the only person to simultaneously hold the self-supported FKTs for the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. McConaughy broke her AT time last year.

Sabbe posted a live video from the summit of Katahdin around 2 p.m., showing his followers that the final stretch of his journey had finally come to an end.