Ultrarunner Timothy Olson just posted the fastest known time for running across the Pacific Crest Trail.
The route stretches over 2,650 miles, starting at the U.S.-Mexico border all the way to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington, crossing deserts, mountain ranges, and everything in between. Olson started the journey on June 1 and finally finished on July 22.
He clocked in at 51 days, 16 hours and 55 minutes on the trail, besting the previous fastest known time by a day. Olson often ran for 16 to 17 hours each day to keep the pace. To put the feat into perspective another way, he averaged 51 miles per day during the challenge—meaning he essentially ran the equivalent of nearly two marathons per day for 51 straight days.
We caught up with the runner via phone, as he recuperates back home in Boulder, Colorado.
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“Recovery is taking longer than anticipated. I am hurting a lot,” he says. “My muscles went into complete spasm. I couldn’t walk or do anything besides lay down. I just had t0 surrender to it. For an ultra, it takes a week to recover. This is that times a thousand! Everything feels really weak, and I’m up for a little bit then just want to take a nap. I am extremely exhausted, and rightfully so.”
Olson shares that he’s struggled with terrible leg spasms that have lasted over a week and prevented him from walking. But his body is recovering, and he was able to make it up the steps in his home to get into bed.
Olson burned around 5,000 to 7,000 calories a day while on the PCT. To keep himself on his feet, he took any and all opportunities to get fuel. He had a support team following in an RV, and some mornings he was able to get in a big breakfast of eggs, pancakes and bacon. He also ate lots of cereal (including Captain Crunch, Chex and Honey Nut Cheerios).
“It turned into eating whatever calories I could get,” he says. “I was eating Captain Crunch cereal towards end… [and] I don’t eat sugary cereal!” Most mornings, he sucked down a protein smoothie before hitting the trail, where he packed and carried his food that was “thrown in a backpack.” On the trail, he scarfed down turkey and avocado wraps, Snickers Almond bars, Honey Stinger waffles, nut butters, beef jerky, and energy chews. Still, he lost around 10 to 15 pounds over the course of the run.
All those miles took a toll on his gear. Olson is an adidas Terrex athlete, and he estimates that he cycled through “at least eight” pairs of shoes between three different models from his sponsor—the Terrex Speed Ultra, the Terrex Two Parley, and the Terrex Agravic Boa—over the course of the 51 days and 2,650 miles. Since it’s recommended that most shoes have a lifespan of around 300 to 500 miles, that’s not a bad track record.
While he crossed the line and finished the ultimate goal of completing the course, Olson didn’t emerge from the experience totally unscathed. He developed a serious shin and calf injury caused by overuse, which made “every single step painful,” he says. “I was limping and willing myself to the finish.”
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Olson kept his mind focused on the trail by falling back on a technique he’s practiced for more than a decade: meditation.
“I’ve been practicing mediation for over 10 years, so I meditated and did a lot of body scanning, breathing up from my feet and checking in with different parts of my body, from my ankles, knees, pelvis, lungs, stomach, heart, throat, and head,” he says. His mantra was ‘Be here now’, and that worked to help him to stay present and concentrate on the trail ahead of him.
It was painful. It was glorious.
He also thought of his family, who followed him along the journey: his wife, Krista, who is expecting their rainbow baby (a daughter) in a few weeks, and his two sons, Tristan and Kai. “We went through two miscarriages. That was definitely a huge motivator and inspiration to continue on,” he says. “I thought of being able to spend time with [my family] afterwards, and it would light up my heart and my feet.”
As he continues to recover, reflecting back on the journey is still overwhelming. But he knows the experience fully changed him.
“It brought up a lot of emotion. I went into this to go into nature and purify the soul and explore the depths of my mind, heart and body,” Olson says. “When you do something for that long and that deep in nature, you have no choice to become nature and to become wild. And that’s what happened. It was painful. It was glorious. I can feel really proud I left everything I possibly had in me out there.”
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