British athlete demolishes Pacific Crest Trail speed record

When U.K. native Josh Perry, 27, reached the Canadian border after 55 days, 16 hours and 54 minutes of “hiking, running and shuffling” along the Pacific Crest Trail, he stayed put for a well-deserved 15-hour rest. The athlete explained on Instagram that he spent the time “mostly sleeping, occasionally doing photo shoots with other hikers.”

Those finish-line photos were hard won, but Perry says the experience he had was incredible, and “the struggles are an expected part of that.” The Pacific Crest Trail begins at the U.S. border with Mexico and travels 4,270 km (2,653 miles) to the Canadian border.

Perry beat the 2009 male self-supported record of Scott Williamson by nearly 10 days–an astonishing accomplishment. He also solidly conquered the overall self-supported record famously set by Heather “Anish” Anderson in 2013, beating it by five days. Anderson’s record has outlasted a near-decade of attempts to beat it.

Even more remarkable, Perry came within four days of the supported FKT (Fastest Known Time) set by Timothy Olson in 2021. Olson, an Adidas-sponsored ultratrail icon, had hot meals daily en route, along with regular massages and physio. He also spent most nights in a trail-side RV.

Self-supported Perry, who touted the goal of beating Olson as his motivation, mailed himself shoes and care packages and hiked into towns along his route to pick them up.

“I dealt with my injuries and hardships better than I have on previous FKTs,” Perry said. “I rode the line for a long stretch without going over the edge, but I could nearly always push further when it was required.”

Along the route, Perry dealt with unexpected trail closures that forced him to bushwhack for days, delirium, dehydration, heatstroke, bruised ribs and G.I. distress. “This time doesn’t represent the best of what I can do. It represents the best of what I could do under the circumstances,” Perry told Outside.

Perry wrote about the challenges of his journey on Instagram, and shared some disappointment toward the end of his trek when he realized it was unlikely he would beat Olson’s FKT. “I know my posts throughout the latter half of the trail were fairly negative, and the result is slightly bittersweet,” he said. “I generally speaking had a great time out there.”

Perry holds self-supported FKTs on both the Arizona Trail and Vermont’s Long Trail. This wasn’t Perry’s first attempt at the PCT: in 2019 he made it roughly 1,600 km (1,000 miles) along the trail before being stung by a wasp. Perry didn’t know he was allergic; he collapsed, and was rescued by hikers three days later.

Perry faced some serious mental-health hurdles before this journey as well, experiencing a mental breakdown and a suicide attempt last year. “When it came down to decide what I was going to do this year, the healthiest option was to go for a hike,” he said.

To see other fastest known times around the world you can visit www.fastestknowntime.com.