FKT Podcast

Ann Burchfield joins host Heather Anderson on today’s episode to share about her supported FKT on the 112-mile Bartram Trail. Ann covered the distance in one day, 19 hours, and 42 minutes, taking just under an hour off of the previous time. Tune in to hear how Ann balanced training with parenting a toddler and how she found crew and pacers without a robust running group to draw from. She shares stories of both the challenges and beauty of this lesser known, highly varied route in the southeastern U.S.

On today’s episode, host Heather Anderson is joined by François D'Haene, who recently brought the record for Corsica’s iconic GR20 route under 30 hours for the first time. François shares his personal history with the 160-km trail, including his prior FKT set in 2016 and the lessons learned on that run that helped him set this new record. He talks about his training and shares the challenges of setting this FKT, from technical rocks, heat, and battling a hot wind to the stress of questioning his pace until the very end. François also shares his thoughts on balancing rest with effort and the importance of including friends and family into yearly adventures.

Spanning 2,000 kilometers across eight European countries, the Via Alpina is a highly varied, challenging mountain route through the Alps. Today’s guest, Sophie Woods, just smashed the overall supported FKT by running the trail in just 28 days, 17 hours, and 59 minutes. She talks with host Heather Anderson about the challenges of this unique route, including technical trails, logistics of overnighting, and navigation. She also shares how the multiple heatwaves impacted her run and how she dealt with a wildfire closure along the way. Tune in to be inspired!

This week, host Heather Anderson is joined by Nathan Frantz who shares the literal and figurative ups and downs of setting the supported FKT for the Carolinas’ Foothills Trail, but running the 74-mile trail out and back in two days, one hour, and 35 minutes. Nathan shares the challenges of the journey but also his powerful why and how running for those who can’t helped him keep going.

On today’s episode we’re traveling to the Lake District of England with Katharina Hartmuth who set a new Bob Graham Round FKT. She joins host Heather Anderson to talk about her experience with running this iconic 100K route in 14 hours and 11 minutes. She also shares how attempting something different helps her maintain motivation as well as how the required aspect of community involvement became such a fulfilling element of her run.