31-Year-Old Virginia Woman Completes Appalachian Trail in Record Time

A 31-year-old woman from Virginia broke the record for fastest known time to complete the Appalachian Trail. Tara Dower completed the near 2,200 mile trail which usually takes most who are able to complete it at least five to seven months in just 40 days, 18 hours, and five minutes. Dower had to cover an average of 54 miles a day to complete the feat with a mix of running and walking over steep and difficult terrain. That means that for over a month straight, the woman was completing over two marathons per day, reportedly starting her daily runs at 3:30 a.m. and would only take extremely short breaks for 17 hours straight and what she described as '90 second dirt naps.' She actually turned 31 about halfway through the route and celebrated her birthday of course with 50+ miles completed and another day in the pursuit of history. The trail took her through a total vertical gain of 465,000 feet. To put things in perspective, that's the equivalent of 16 Mount Everests. Dower completed her journey with the goal o