After setting the speed record on the Appalachian Trail in July, covering the entire 2,160-mile journey on foot in fewer than 47 days, sometimes hoofing 50 miles in a single day, Scott Jurek should have been enjoying a spell of much deserved respite. Instead, he鈥檚 been 聽with officials at Baxter State Park, who oversee Mount Katahdin, the trail鈥檚 northern terminus in Maine.
That's聽where Jurek completed his record run, celebrating by popping a bottle of champagne that has haunted him for the past two months. Baxter officials cited him聽for littering (the champagne touched the ground, though Jurek did collect the cork), drinking in public, and hiking with an oversized group. But they didn鈥檛 stop there. Park Director Jensen Bissell posted a scathing criticism of Jurek鈥檚 run . Not only was the party inappropriate, Bissell said, but the record run was nothing more than a commercial venture designed to profit Jurek鈥檚 sponsors and exacerbated longstanding tensions between the park and the National Park聽Service about how thru-hikers on the trail are managed. Jurek , accusing Bissell of hitching unrelated issues to his high profile run and waging 鈥渁 personal attack on my character.鈥�
The citation dispute went to court. Yesterday, in a plea deal, Jurek agreed to pay a $500 fine for the drinking (about $300 more than a typical public drinking fine), and Baxter agreed to drop the charges for littering and hiking in a too-large group. We spoke with Jurek shortly after the deal was announced to talk about how this all came about, and what he鈥檚 looking forward to next.
OUTSIDE: How are you feeling today?
JUREK: I鈥檓 just hoping I can be done with lawyers and false accusations. I鈥檓 getting tired of this stuff. It鈥檚 a waste of time and energy for everyone.
Would you call this a victory?
It鈥檚 a partial victory. It鈥檚 appalling that I had to hire an attorney and go through such efforts鈥攚ait for almost two months鈥攖o get two charges lifted that were false in the first place. This whole time, the聽Baxter State Park authorities haven鈥檛 made any statements saying they could鈥檝e handled this in a different fashion. Jensen Bissell has been tarnishing my reputation and image. I鈥檓 not going to be able to get that back.
If he had wanted to send a more positive message I could have used my audience and platform to reach thru-hikers and day hikers. If he鈥檇 just cited me [without writing about the incident on Facebook], that would have been the better outcome. But he has an agenda he tried to promote.
Have you felt that negative attention in a concrete way?
Just look at the comments in the press articles. You can see people who were my fans, but now they鈥檙e angry with me because they read an article saying I littered on the trail and I have a disrespect for nature. And for people who didn鈥檛 know who Scott Jurek was before, it has an effect, for sure.
鈥淎s much as it may have seemed like I orchestrated the media frenzy, I didn鈥檛 have a publicist or a team working on this. I didn鈥檛 have time to think about how the media was portraying me during the run. I was just trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other.鈥�
You鈥檝e said that your AT run was a personal adventure, but you ran with a GPS monitor, you had professional photographers on the trail with you, you had sponsors. How do you square the private and public parts of this?
You really can鈥檛 hide on the Appalachian Trail. As much as people try to be stealth about their runs, word gets out. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a bad thing. I think it鈥檚 important these days to use a GPS tracker. People are watching under a microscope and they鈥檙e skeptical if they can鈥檛 follow you. I think, from a record standpoint, when there鈥檚 no governing body or people checking, it鈥檚 important to be transparent.
But when you open up the public to a feat like I had attempted, there are costs that come with that. For example, having fans show up on the trail wanting to run with me didn鈥檛 help my pursuit of breaking the record. But I was willing to pay that price. I definitely enjoyed that, but the media attention took on a life of its own.
But weren't you encouraging that media attention?
As much as it may have seemed like I orchestrated the media frenzy, I didn鈥檛 have a publicist or a team working on this. I didn鈥檛 have time to think about how the media was portraying me during the run. I was just trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. The sponsors I had鈥擨鈥檝e worked with some of them for as long as 15 years. People have this image that it was a corporate event and that I was commercializing it. Not at all. Like any expedition or adventure that other sponsored athletes embark on, I was doing something I love and people became interested in it.
We wrote an article聽about how sponsored events like this are contributing to the commercialization of wild places. What do you see as the larger issue here, beyond Baxter and Bissell?
First of all, there was no organized event. I鈥檓 a sponsored athlete who embarked on a challenge, much like an expedition. Whenever there鈥檚 media attention, this comes up. Look at the effect of Born to Run, for example, which featured me prominently. After that came out and more people got involved in ultrarunning, some people said the sport is changing, there are too many people. It鈥檚 the same thing on the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail聽with A Walk in the Woods and Wild鈥攕ome people might say there will now be too many people on the trail and too many thru-hikers.聽
But rather than single out individuals who are popularizing places, maybe the overreaching issue is that people fear we can love our outdoors and wild places too much. I believe getting more people out using our areas in a sustainable fashion is the best way to keep them wild because these users become passionate about the land and places they recreate. We see state parks closing their gates for lack of resources. The bigger issue isn鈥檛 so much one professional athlete, such as myself, it鈥檚 really whether we can encourage using these places responsibly. Saying that people are the problem won鈥檛 solve the problem.
Karl Meltzer said something similar when we asked him the other day about crowding on the Appalachian Trail. He helped you on your run and he鈥檚 attempting his own speed record next year. What advice do you have for him?
I don鈥檛 know if I need to give Karl any advice. He鈥檚 attempted it twice before so he knows what it takes. He came out for two weeks and told me on my attempt that he learned a ton crewing and said he realized how tough it is for everyone. It鈥檚 transformative. It鈥檚 a life-changing event.
How has it changed you?
It always amazes me how strong the human body and mind are. When I think I can鈥檛 dig any deeper I find a way through and that鈥檚 the magic of doing something like an Appalachian Trail speed attempt. Even hiking the trail in six months you have to get through those tough moments. It鈥檚 getting through those times of despair that makes it worthwhile. The transformation doesn鈥檛 come from a celebratory finish or success, it comes from adversity鈥� through sheer determination and discomfort.
鈥淭he bigger issue isn鈥檛 so much one professional athlete, such as myself, it鈥檚 really whether we can encourage using these places responsibly.鈥�
There were some indications that you鈥檇 retire from ultrarunning after this run. What鈥檚 up?
I hate the word retirement because life is a continuum. We evolve over time and a career morphs and changes. For me right now, racing 100-milers is probably something I鈥檓 retired from. But trail running and exploring my boundaries and doing more adventure runs like this, that鈥檚 where I鈥檓 more focused these days鈥攏ot so much on structured events. But doing the AT had been a dream of mine.
Any other dream runs? What鈥檚 on your bucket list?
It鈥檚 a little too soon to know. I don鈥檛 have anything that鈥檚 gnawing at me right now. My muscles are still sore from this one. All I can say is it鈥檒l be something a little bit shorter than the AT. I don鈥檛 know if my wife will agree to crew for me on another 46-day run like this.
I鈥檓 a big fan of history so I think the next one will involve traveling to another trail mecca much like I did when聽I completed the 聽[a 24-hour run over 42 fells in Northern England] last year.聽But right now I鈥檓 just looking forward to getting out for some backpack trips before the end of the summer. People are begging for a book on this experience, and maybe I鈥檒l get to that, but right now I鈥檓 just enjoying spending time with my wife and not pulling 50-mile days. But doing something like this does make me wonder what I could do next. I鈥檓 just waiting for that spark to ignite.