31-Year-Old Virginia Woman Completes Appalachian Trail in Record Time

The Appalachian Trail stretches from Northern Maine to Southern Georgia

Kathryne Rubright / USA TODAY NETWORK

A 31-year-old woman from Virginia broke the record for fastest known time to complete the Appalachian Trail.

Tara Dower completed the near 2,200 mile trail which usually takes most who are able to complete it at least five to seven months in just 40 days, 18 hours, and five minutes. Dower had to cover an average of 54 miles a day to complete the feat with a mix of running and walking over steep and difficult terrain. That means that for over a month straight, the woman was completing over two marathons per day, reportedly starting her daily runs at 3:30 a.m. and would only take extremely short breaks for 17 hours straight and what she described as '90 second dirt naps.'

She actually turned 31 about halfway through the route and celebrated her birthday of course with 50+ miles completed and another day in the pursuit of history. The trail took her through a total vertical gain of 465,000 feet. To put things in perspective, that's the equivalent of 16 Mount Everests.

Dower completed her journey with the goal of raising money for Girls on the Run, a charity organization that promotes physical and emotional health for young girls, according to their website. With the goal of $20,000 raised, she wound up achieving even more than that with $21,076.

"I hope more women get out there,” she told Yellowstone News. “It’s not about beating men, it’s about finding our true potential. And, you know, if you beat the men, that’s an extra bonus."

The Appalachian Trail is one of the most famous long-distance hikes in the world. It stretches from the southern terminus at Springer Mountain in Georgia's Chattahoochee-Oconee to the northern terminus at Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park. Since 1936, over 20,000 people are credited with completing the trail, but none recorded as fast of a time as Dower did. Every year, over 3 million people hike sections of the trail.

Thousands of people a year attempt to complete the whole thing, but only 25 percent are able to actually complete it.