Endurance runner Tara Dower broke one of the toughest records in sport.
The Appalachian Trail (AT) is the longest dedicated hiking trail in the world, stretching 3,535 kilometers from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia.
On September 21, Dower finished running his entire distance in the fastest known time: 40 days, 18 hours and six minutes.
This is 13 hours faster than the record set in 2018 by Belgian runner Karel Sabbe. Before Dower's advance, only 10 people had managed to traverse the AT in 50 days or less.
But while the 31-year-old from Virginia Seashore is showered with praise for the greatest feat of endurance ever accomplished, Dower prefers to pass the praise on to her support team, which included her mother, who often had to exhort her exhausted, hurt and amazing. daughter to continue trying a little harder.
“[My own effort] It doesn't seem that heroic, honestly. “I remember some really tough days and some very messy days… it's very overwhelming to get that amount of recognition,” he told CBC Sports.
Dower ran from north to south, clearing the tallest, toughest mountains in the first 10 days. But those two weeks also included day after day of rain. Lots of stumbles and rocky landings. Dower developed extraordinario sores and craters on his feet. The physical agony and universal exertion caused some periods of hallucinations.
SEE | Dower explains how and why he was able to win a 3,500+ km road race:
The Endurance Phenomenon describes the method and motivation behind his 40-day race from Maine to Georgia, battling anxiety and intense fatigue to shave 13 hours off the fastest known time for the 2,000-mile course.
Races that involve such long distances and times are not easy to understand, much less attempt. Dower ran more than 90 kilometers every day for almost six weeks. There are 15 complete marathons every week. In the mountains. On muddy trails.
Winning a foot race that spans 14 US states requires physical excellence, but also mental strength that goes beyond the ordinary. Dower is no stranger to mental health challenges. His first attempt on the AT in 2017 failed after just 129km, when he suffered a panic attack.
Did the experience of 2017 prepare you for this triumph?
“Out there [on the trail run]there is a lot of potential for many anxious moments. I think now I feel like it's a moment of coming full circle. I have had a very long history with the AT.”
Canadian elite runner and performance coach, Dr. Sasha Gollish, works at the Psychological Health and Physical Activity Research Center at the University of Toronto. She marvels at Dower's toughness.
“It is not just the mental resolve to get up every day to run very far, but the strength to overcome such adversity. It is the resistance to mental fatigue that I think makes Tara's achievement so powerful,” Gollish said.
“Mental toughness is partly innate, but it absolutely can be taught and honed,” said Hannah Spence, a Welsh-Canadian duathlete, coach and extreme endurance cyclist. “Depending on the race, a mentally stronger person will finish ahead of a physically stronger person.
“People like Tara Dower… have refined their mental training to perfection.”
“It never always gets worse”
Dower's mental routine for fighting burnout includes a repeated mantra: It never always gets worse.
“The idea is that it may be very difficult for an hour or two hours or a whole day, but it won't always be that bad,” he said. “It may get an inch better, but it will never continue to get worse. Eventually, the effort and pain will end… But it will also probably be very difficult and it will hurt. And the fact that you can look forward to that next really nice moment is encouraging.”
Spence considers mental tactics from another angle.
“The rollercoaster of emotions, the positive and negative personal tasks, the self-bribery and all the little games you go through in any race can be very effective because they keep you in control of the moment and the outcome,” Spence said. . “But it is also very exhausting. Enduring that roller coaster for 40 days is beyond impressive.”
Women endure more just to live
Epic trail races aren't just about top speed.
On the AT, Dower was very consistent and worked 18-19 hours every day. These are much longer operating hours than other competitors have attempted. Dower realized he didn't have to go full speed if he could keep going for miles while everyone else was sleeping.
Dr. Gollish sees some evidence that women have a competitive advantage in extreme endurance.
“When we look at psychological differences, women may be more resistant to mental fatigue. There is a theory that around 195 miles, women will outperform men… we really need to do more specific medical and sports science research across all sports, to better understand what's going on.”
Spence agrees.
“Women are used to fighting for things for much longer than men: education, voting rights, discrimination, procesal and health rights, and so on. Women are used to enduring physical pain and discomfort throughout their lives: menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, menopause. .
“Women have to endure more than men just to live. I think that results in women having a more refined mental strength to resist.”
Dower's goal was also to raise money for Women on the Run, an American nonprofit organization focused on running for girls between third and eighth grade. Statistics show that if a girl continues to play sports during puberty, she is likely to be an athlete for life. Dower has raised $34,000 so far.
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