A Tale of Two Records on the Arizona Trail
Nick Fowler and Georgia Porter set FKTs on the trail by wildly different methods
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If you want to set a fastest known time on the 817-mile Arizona Trail, you have to start fast. At least, that鈥檚 what both Nick Fowler and Georgia Porter proved this fall.
On October 28, they independently set out from the Utah-Arizona border and started their trek south with the goal of setting a record. While Fowler was traveling in a self-supported style and Porter enlisted a crew, the two shared numerous commonalities beyond the same start date, chosen to capitalize on the ideal fall weather.
Each exceeded record-setting pace over the first few days on the . Both ended up sleep deprived, with immense foot pain, and practically hobbling to the finish line at the U.S.-Mexico border. And both completed their attempt with a record: Fowler with a self-supported Arizona Trail FKT of 12 days, 17 hours, and 33 minutes鈥攖he overall record on the trail. And Porter with a women鈥檚 supported Arizona Trail FKT of 16 days, 22 hours, and 6 minutes.
But dig into their approaches, and it鈥檚 clear that even with similar goals in mind, no two FKT setters think alike.
A Rough Start
Fowler didn鈥檛 run or sleep much in the lead-up to his FKT attempt. Since setting the self-supported FKT on the Pacific Crest Trail last summer, Fowler had his sights set on Arizona. He had already done the AZT in 30 days in the spring of 2023, prior to his PCT attempt. He knew he wanted to shoot for the record in the fall, and started working out what he鈥檇 have to do to achieve it. But in early September, less than two months before Fowler鈥檚 attempt, a new priority came into his life: Canyon, his new son.
鈥淢y training program was calf raises in the kitchen while holding my son,鈥 Fowler says. 鈥淎nd then when I go in the living room, holding my son, I would do single leg squats.鈥
With a new baby in tow, Fowler didn鈥檛 get in quite as many pre-trail miles as he鈥檇 hoped. A couple weeks before starting the AZT, he headed out to Arkansas for an attempt at a 70-mile day on the Ozark Highlands Trail, but 鈥渋t absolutely kicked my butt 43 miles in.鈥 Nonetheless, he showed up to the Utah-Arizona border and set out feeling confident that his training from the summer, which included an FKT on the 425-mile Oregon Coast Trail, would carry him through.
鈥淏y day two, I was puking my guts out crossing the Grand Canyon, curled up in the fetal position, being passed by hikers in flip-flops, and I slowed down to two-hour miles,鈥 Fowler says. 鈥淎nd I quit.鈥
About 100 miles in, on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Fowler turned off his tracker. He caught a hitch to Flagstaff, feeling defeated. But after a night of rest, he realized all was not lost.
鈥淚 was like, maybe I can still do this,鈥 Fowler says. 鈥淓verything鈥檚 already in place. I鈥檓 already here. And if I鈥檓 spending time away from Canyon, it鈥檚 gotta be something.鈥
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