The act of setting FKTs (fastest known times) has been popular for decades. But in 2020, the endeavor saw more participation than ever before.
In 2020, FastestKnownTime.com received 3,054 FKT submissions in North America alone. “This is an almost 400% increase year over year,” said Fastest Known Time staffer Craig Randall. Worldwide, the site saw a 438% increase in participation.
And that surge of running, hiking, and biking as fast as possible was clearly evident to our staff as well — we covered more than 20 individual FKTs in 2020.
“For the fifth year in a row, we asked our voters to pick their five favorite men’s and women’s FKTs,” Randall said. The FKT team then counted the votes for each athlete and put together a final list.
Amazingly, three of the top 10 were the same route. Read on to see the top women’s and top men’s FKTs of 2020.
The Best FKTs of 2020
Top Women’s
1. Kelly Halpin, Wind River High Route (WY)
Halpin broke the FKT for the Wind River High Route, running a 97-mile route with 30,000 feet of vertical gain. She finished in 2 days, 11 hours, 37 minutes.
“The majority of the route stays between 10,000 and 12,000 feet, over loose mountain passes, glaciers, snowfields, and alpine tundra,” Halpin said. “I didn’t pack sleeping gear or a shelter or a stove.”
2. Sabrina Stanley, Nolan’s 14 (CO)
In the summer of 2020, Nolan’s 14 (a route with a 15% overall success rate) saw five female FKTs in just 87 days. Stanley’s supported FKT of 2 days, 49 minutes came just 54 days after her first FKT record, besting both her previous time (by over 2 hours) and Meghan Hicks’ time (set in September) of 2 days, 2 hours, 32 minutes.
3. Sarah Hansel, Nolan’s 14 (CO)
Nolan’s 14 is grueling as is, but running it unsupported is even more of a task. In the same week that Joey Campanelli set his men’s unsupported record on the route, Hansel set her record for the first women’s unsupported.
Hansel ran northbound and finished in 2 days, 9 hours, 43 minutes.
4-5. (3-Way Tie): Michaela Osler Colorado Trail (CO) / Kaytlyn Gerbin, Wonderland Trail (WA) / Alyssa Godesky, Adirondack 46 High Peaks (NY)
Michaela Osler hiked (really, ran) the Colorado Trail in August 2020. She finished the 500-mile trail in 10 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes — 4 days ahead of schedule. And she hiked it self-supported.
Kaytlyn Gerbin completed her FKT on Mt. Rainier’s 93-mile Wonderland Trail in a speedy 18 hours, 41 minutes. She completed the route clockwise and supported, beating the previous record by over 3 hours.
Alyssa Godesky completed the 46 High Peaks route in the Adirondacks supported in 3 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes. She set the first and current women’s FKT for the 160-mile standard route.
Top Men’s
