Rib Mountain Woman Sets Women’s Speed Record for Running the Superior Hiking Trail in Northern Minnesota

Tuesday, October 24th, 2023 -- 8:17 AM

(Keith Uhlig, Green Bay Press-Gazette) She reckoned she had about a 50-50 chance to set the women's speed record for running the Superior Hiking Trail in northern Minnesota.

According to Keith Uhlig with the Green Bay Press-Gazette, if she didn't set a record, or even if she didn't complete the 310-mile trek along Lake Superior's North Shore, Andrea Larson of Rib Mountain figured she would learn valuable lessons about the limits of endurance and have spent time in a beautiful area.

She did all that and more. By completing the route in 6 days, 9 hours and 52 minutes between Aug. 30 and Sept. 5, the 38-year-old ultrarunner set an FKT, or "fastest known time," for completing the Superior Hiking Trail, eclipsing the previous female unsupported record by nearly 17 hours.

In doing so, the mother of three persevered through heat, rugged terrain and the tricks that her own mind played on her. And she did it all without any outside help. FTKs are speed records for hiking, running, cycling and even paddling routes.

They are most often done solo or with a small team of athletes. This is a niche genre of endurance sports, although a growing one. FTKs have their own rules and expectations. Competitors use GPS coordinates to mark their times and progress and to prove their accomplishments.

Participants can choose to go for FTKs fully supported, meaning they can have a team of helpers shuttle in food and water along the way, or even get pacing help while on the trail.

There is a self-supported category, in which participants cache supplies in locations along the trail. And there is the unsupported category that Larson completed her trek in, in which runners have to carry everything they need with them throughout their effort.

Larson originally planned to go self-supported. But a few days before she planned to set out, she changed her mind. The logistics of dropping supplies along the trail was cumbersome.

So she decided to pack everything she would need in a backpack about the size of two loaves of bread and in the pockets of her running pants. In doing so, Larson was breaking a cardinal rule in endurance sports: Don't try anything new when striving for a goal.

"When I switched from self-supported to unsupported, my chances went way below 50-50," Larson said. She set out at the end of August, she said, with low expectations and "a child-like mentality of, I'm not going to let it get in my head how daunting this is. ... I'm going to learn a lot from this experience. And that was my primary goal."

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