The Challenge: Run, walk, or hike 2197.4 miles in 2025 which is the current official distance of the Appalachian Trail. This is north of 6 miles per DAY but without the mountains (depending where you are walking). Here’s the thing–it’s a challenge. Yes, it will be hard, but see how far you CAN go.
First of all, this is simply a personal challenge I’ve created to give some idea of what hiking this many miles in a year feels like. It’s not a competition but it will be fun to see where everyone is at during the year. I thought it would be good to have some “rules” so that everyone is doing the same thing through the year. I’ve set up a blog located here for updates. Send me your noteworthy pictures from your hikes throughout the year and I’ll include them in the updates.
I linked the official AT “Media Room” below. It states that the mileage of the Appalachian Trail varies from year to year, but currently stands at 2197.4 miles.
Rule 1: All miles should be logged on some sort of GPS device. That could be a phone, watch, or other device.
Rule 2: The distance should be part of a walk,run or hike. Incidental steps/distance from day to day living do not count. You can have as many different walks or hikes during the day as you want and as short or as long as you want, but keep track of those numbers only.
Rule 3: Treadmills are fine. Outdoors is preferred, but I realize our normal life schedules will probably necessitate some treadmill time to accomplish this.
Rule 4: You must send me your total at least once every 7 days. The total can be zero, but just let me know. The total should be sent to: distance@marcusvaldes.com. Make sure your name is on there!
That’s it. If I need to modify something let me know and I’ll suggest it to the group. Let’s get hiking!
