Tara Dower hiked the Appalachian Trail in 40 days, breaking both the men’s and women’s records for the fastest known time of a supported run of the trail. MUST CREDIT: Courtesy of Tara Dower Courtesy of Tara Dower The first time Tara Dower set out to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, in 2017, she had a panic attack. She felt alone and overwhelmed just eight days after setting off from the trail’s southern terminus.
Hyperventilating and battling migraines, Dower cut her expedition short and returned home. “I vowed to myself,” Dower, 31, told The Washington Post. “I was like, ‘Never going to thru-hike again.
’” She broke that promise in spectacular fashion. On the evening of Sept. 21, an aching Dower staggered to the plaque at Springer Mountain in northern Georgia that marks the Appalachian Trail’s southern endpoint – just 40 days after she began the trek at its northernmost point, in Maine.
Tara Dower, left, and her friend Megan Wilmarth smile at the top of Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. MUST CREDIT: Courtesy of Tara Dower Courtesy of Tara Dower The roughly 2,200-mile trail, which spans more than a dozen states, usually takes around half a year to complete. Dower, resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia, covered around 50 miles a day en route to breaking both the men’s and women’s records for the fastest known time of a supported run of the trail.
“It’s just like this huge full-circle moment,” Dower said. “And I wish I cou.