That time I ran with Scott Jurek

So we all probably know by now, well at least those stalking following his progress, Scott Jurek beat the record for fastest Appalachian Trail thru hike by a matter of hours on Sunday. I think we can all sit back in awe of the miles he put on to make this happen. What my point?

Well, my point is this. Back on June 19th, some of my crazy running pals and I decided (pretty last minute) to attempt to find him on one of our local sections of trail. We all learned that this is a really tricky business because it can vary greatly depending on when he woke up and got started that day PLUS how quickly he was moving along. We had been standing around, making jokes, and goofing around for quite a while when FINALLY, his wife Jenny showed up in the crew van.  We got to talk with her for a bit and then she encouraged us to hit the trail to find him. Before departing, she told us she was going to try to nap as this is some hard work for her too.

We ran out for about 1.5 miles when we found him. We all hooted and hollered, then quickly fell into line.

Photo Credit: Michael Bupp (Sentinel)

See? How freaking cool is that? We were lucky enough to find the local paper photographer in the clearing and he got some super cool shots. 

Photo Credit:Michael Bupp (my personal favorite)

Photo Credit: Michael Bupp


I still look back and think how incredibly surreal the whole morning was. Now that he beat the record and made history, it makes that super early wake up call even more worth it.

Our crazy group with "Sam Adams" and Scott Jurek of course!

We actually made the old-school paper. There's still something so cool about that!


Oh ya know, just running with our new pal, Scott Jurek

Refueling with Jenny by his side.

The rest of the day, I was constantly checking Facebook for more pictures from others who didn't make it out with us, but were able to catch him at some other locations north on the trail. 

There is really no other experience in my life thus far that compares to this one. I am so mad it took me so long to finally sit down to write about this experience, but hey! At least by him breaking the record, I was totally re inspired to share. Scott's accomplishment is truly incredible and I sure hope he writes a book about his experience. I would love to hear about his time on the trail, victories and struggles included. 


Did you follow along with Scott Jurek's journey? Have you ever gotten to share the experience of someone meeting their goal?


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