We're tracking how Karel's attempt compares to current FKT-holder Joe "Stringbean" McConaughy's performance. Stringbean set the FKT of 45 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes on the Appalachian Trail in 2017.

He did it ! Karel Sabbe has set the AT FKT !

After sleeping in a lean-to 95 miles from the finish on the night of August 26, Karel ran all day on the 27th and through the night to complete his AT FKT about 12:11pm on the 28th, in about 41d7h39m, more than 4 days faster than Joe McConaughy's previous FKT! Joe retains the "self supported" FKT.

Commentary on Maine, Day 37-39: Karel's tracker relies on cell coverage to report his location, and this is lacking along much of the AT in Maine. Also, there are relatively few road crossings, so he has been sleeping along the trail. This makes it hard to know his exact overnight location, and exact daily miles. We are relying on various reports from the field. On Day 39, he tackled the Bigelow Range Traverse, and ended with the Kennebec River crossing, passing the 2000 mile mark!

Commentary on Day 36: Karel has pulled of a remarkable 2-days in the White Mtns. After yesterday's huge day, today he completed BOTH the Presidential Traverse and the Carter-Moriah Traverse. While "only" 41 miles today, the terrain is some of the most difficult on the AT, and the weather was just terrible - cold, rain and WIND. We're not aware of ANYONE on an AT thru doing these 2 big White Mtns traverses in one day. Karel called the difficulty of the day 10 out of 10. He now has less than 300 miles left to complete the AT!

Commentary on Day 35: Karel put in a monster 51 mile day in the heart of the White Mtns today, some of the toughest terrain on the AT. In the evening, he boldly launched into the first several miles of the Presidential Traverse, which includes Mt Washington and is the highest section of the AT in New England. He hiked well into the evening, which isn’t usual for him, probably to get a jump on this section, as tomorrow’s forecast goes from bad in the morning (50sF, rain, 40-55mph winds on the peaks) to worse in the afternoon (40sF, rain, 45-75mph wind). We believe he’s staying in Mizpah Hut tonight, but the tracker lost signal before the hut. If so, he has less than 12 miles before he’s off the highest summits, so this may be a good plan for him. The following section after Pinkham Notch is also high (though not quite as high), but he could easily afford to take a short day tomorrow and wait until better weather on Thursday before tackling the last harder section of the Whites. At this point he’s more than 3 full days ahead of Stringbean!

These distances are based on the Appalachian Trail Data Book for 2018, a publication of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. They are NOT consistent with the distances on Karel's tracking map above (which are given in km, and are generally about 3% short).