As much of the trail running world was focused on the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run last weekend in the San Juan mountains of southwestern Colorado, David Hedges quietly and stunningly put his name in the record books with a prodigious effort in Sawatch Range a few hundred miles to the northwest.
The 25-year-old somewhat nomadic trail runner who originally hails from Chicago lowered the supported Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the daunting Nolan’s 14 route on the evening of July 15. Nolan’s 14 involves connecting a line of 14 Colorado peaks that tower over 14,000 feet in a single push of 60 hours or less. The route is open and largely off-trail, but the typical distance is 95 to 100 miles with about 40,000 feet of elevation gain at a minimum.
Starting from Blank’s Cabin west of Salida early on July 14, Hedges went up and over the fourteen 14,000-foot-plus peaks and rambled his way to the Mount Massive trailhead the following evening at the Leadville National Fish Hatchery in 39 hours, 6 minutes, and 40 seconds. Hedges’s Strava report shows that he covered 94.12 miles with 45,594 feet of elevation gain.
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