Appalachian Trail FKT: Jeff ‘Legend’ Garmire Overcomes Two Left Shoes to Set Fastest Self-Supported Time

Jeff “Legend” Garmire has accumulated a vast resume of fastest known times — including the Arizona, John Muir, Continental Divide, and Colorado trails — but he was missing the FKT for America’s first thru-hike.

But on Sept. 21, after 45 days on trail, Garmire set a new self-supported, fastest known time (FKT) going southbound on the Appalachian Trail (AT).

Garmire, 34, completed the 2,198-mile trail, going from Maine to Georgia, in 45 days, 8 hours, and 37 minutes. He just barely beat Joe “Stringbean” McConaughy’s 2017 time of 45 days, 12 hours, and 15 minutes. Garmire overcame gear and resupply failures to add the FKT of the storied route to his name.

Garmire’s Attempt

Like other recent FKTs on the trail, Garmire went southbound so he could do the hardest hiking at the beginning, and then ramp up his mileage as the trail eased up.

The first few weeks went as planned; the thousands of feet of elevation change were rough on his legs, but Garmire kept chugging along.

Then, as happens on trail, a cascade of events and mistakes got in the way. At the 400-mile mark, Garmire opened up his resupply box, and, to his horror, found that he had mailed himself two left shoes.

Not only was he forced to hike in beat-up, worn-out shoes, but that meant in another future resupply box, there would be two right shoes.

“It was the roughest moment. I was so upset with myself,” he said.

The resupply problems didn’t end there. Rats got into one of his boxes he had shipped ahead, and the mail workers threw it all away.

“I didn’t have a resupply box, and so I tried to go to a store that’s trailside, but it was closed, so I just had about 30 miles with just a handful of calories, to a different resupply spot on the trail, and I just bought $200 worth of stuff to resupply myself,” he said.

“Things like that kept coming up, and it was just really hard to keep overcoming them.” Other challenges included poles breaking, stomach troubles, and unexpectedly warm weather.

When Garmire got to the halfway point, he realized he was behind pace. As a seasoned thru-hiker, Garmire knew that his mental game would need to be on point to find success. He used the same mentality he preaches to the athletes he coaches: Just keep yourself in the mix.

“That was always the mantra, the mindset: As long as I put myself in the position that I have a chance as late as possible, then that’s where I want to be,” he said. “I always kept focusing on that I got a shot.”

With 48 hours left, Garmire’s thinking changed in a way he admits was negative. “The mindset shifted to don’t mess it up, like, don’t do anything wrong. And that was just playing not to lose,” he said.

His immediate reaction after finishing and achieving the FKT was relief from that intense stress.

Who Is Jeff Garmire?

If it were possible to be a professional FKT-pursuer, Garmire would count as one. In 2016, he cut his teeth doing the AT, PCT, and CDT (the so-called Triple Crown) all in one calendar year. He completed this feat in a record-setting time, clocking in at 252 days and change.

Since then, Garmire has taken on trails across the country, including prestige routes like the John Muir Trail and Long Trail, setting FKTs along the way.

Recording and writing about his experiences has always been a crucial part of the process for Garmire, and he’s built a substantial social media following, with over 31,000 Instagram followers. He hosts a podcast and runs a blog, the Free Outside, and also works as a coach for endurance athletes.

Attempting to grab the record on the AT has been on Garmire’s mind since 2020, but each season, various obstacles got in the way of going for it. This year, Garmire went all in, ending his lease, putting all of his stuff in storage, and living in the Northeast for several months training on the trail.

And now, a few days later, he’s still processing how it feels. “It’s hard for it to sink in, because it is just such an immersive experience. It’s not like anything in real life. So now that it’s over, it’s hard to even connect back to it,” he said.

The Trevor Project

Even if Garmire is still wrapping his head around what the FKT means to him personally, he knows for sure that it’s taken on a larger meaning. By promoting his attempt and sharing his struggles with mental health, Garmire was able to raise $32,000 for The Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ+ youth.

“Maybe we can make an impact and save a few lives by directing attention that I’m just going to get because people like the AT, but if we can direct that to something that actually makes life-changing impacts on people, then that would be way more beneficial than just doing the AT,” he said.