faster

I wrongfully accused Waynowski of being a biased moderator in my original post and I apologise for that - he is not a moderator. That’s bad form on my end. Furthermore, the rules state we must not target people directly on this forum but talk in general terms. So I’ve amended this post to comply with the forum rules. However... I will reiterate something I've noticed during the past 25 years of experience - I've never seen a fellow hiker criticise someone else for going slow, carrying a heavy pack or taking their time while tramping. Never. However it's very common for criticism to come in the reverse context. From those who disapprove of someone who may appear to be stronger, faster, more driven or more experienced than themselves. Rather than let them hike their own home, they feel compelled to voice disapproval. Why? I think we all know why.

At the end of the day there are many ways to tramp and as long as what you do is safe and fun then thats all good. The question starts when another sport called mountain running gets confused with tramping. Mountain running is a perfectly fine sport but the goals are quite different to tramping. A lot of us like to go places for the joy of going to those places. The level of fitness and time affect how many places we can get to. Also the social aspect of tramping leads most people to go with others of similar capabilities. For most of us its not a target to cover x distance or to do extreme trips at record time but that doesnt mean that is wrong to do that. As long as its fun and safe why not.

I am not and have never been a moderator on this group... there has never been any indication from the site administrator that i will become a moderator, i didnt even know there were moderators other than the admin. i have no envy, none was stated. do not make attacks on people i disagreed with a way of hiking i did not attack someone, do not attack me or anyone else on this site. read the forum rules and calm down

I stand corrected if you are not a moderator, I thought I had read that you were, that's my bad. I apologise. Other than that - my point stands. I wouldn't expect you to admit to envy.

I'm with geeves on this; the great thing about the outdoors is the sheer variety of ways people engage with it. To my mind there are four fundamental aspects to what we do; the terrain, the weather, the gear and what you carry between your ears. For each of these dimensions there is a huge range of possibilities, and when all four are combined there are millions of possible permutations of how any given tramp might play out. Of course we can always look to what others are doing for inspiration and guidance; but ultimately each of us makes our own unique path, develops our own style and can only compare ourselves to our own potential, our own dreams.

i'm getting old. my friends are too. i know a few people who used to do the really hard long trips. their bodies have given out a lot more than mine have over the years i eased off a lot earlier than they did... just know when to stop before your body ends up like that... long miles is one thing, long miles with endless junk food is worse on the body, you can get away with it for a while , but not forever

I found mountain running a challenge to think about when it became really popular a few years ago. I think that was because for a while it wasn't well established, that highlights were often people who'd almost never visited remote areas suddenly running through them, and yet it's difficult to functionally distinguish it from tramping because in many respects it's just tramping with less stuff. For something like mountaineering it's much easier to tell the difference from tramping. They occur in distinctly different environments and involve different skills. There's an easier distinction. ie. If you choose to do this, which is in a different place and with different skills, then these are the risks and that's the best practice way of doing it. Mountain running and tramping are harder to distinguish, though. For decades trampers have been visiting these places and figuring out best practices, largely through experience, deciding what's "right" and "wrong" especially when it comes to deciding if people deserve criticism when something goes wrong. Then suddenly a wave of different people come through. They visited the same places over the same distances but with what seemed like different best practices Faster, lighter, but arguably the same hazards that can cause things to go wrong, so seeming to take different levels of risk. Especially with PLBs becoming popular at the same time, it arguably meant using someone else to compensate for increased risk. That messes with what were some established perceptions for trampers of when it's okay to be critical of others and when it isn't. I think I'm over it now, though. It's been going long enough that I can appreciate there's a well established community that has its own best practices for things like safety. When they're followed they look alright, and some of them are leaking into tramping best practices, too. It helps even more that there's now more crossover between mountain running and tramping communities, including in some clubs, and so people are actually talking to each other.

its the combination of speed and very long distances that i've seen burn people out... i've had it myself,

On a positive note....i recently was part of a rewarding experience which was seven years in the making. It all started more than a decade ago when my partner, Kathryn and i undertook to see if we could walk 100km in under 24hrs. In our naivety we carried all we needed, our only preparation was physical conditioning and there was no support enroute. The wheel fell off our wagon at 72 klms in 18hrs. (no, we didn't have a wagon). In 2013 some squash friends and i took on the Brisbane Trailwalker event. ie 100km as teams of four with 48hrs to complete it. It is NOT a race. It is a fundraiser for poverty. A perfect vehicle which could help achieve the goal of 100k in 24hrs. The encouragement you get and the reminders of why you're doing it overshadows most things. The difference between getting 1 person across the line as opposed to getting 4 over is massive. Something like 38% of teams finish with a full compliment. The first three events we did, we encountered problems within. Injuries, exhaustion but we did finish with 4 and improved our time, each time. The point is that we learnt, built the experience and took some things on as second nature. It is impossible to see how much that experience means when you're first starting. The last two events for us, in 2016 and 2019 we hit our stride as a team and finished in 21 hrs and then 19.5 hrs. Each time as we did it we all said we wouldn't do it again. All indications from the last time clearly indicate we could do better. We are all around 50 and we are NOT runners. We will not say we won't run. There are always others who can do a better time. The worst thing you can do for yourself is to compare. The greatest thing is seeing the reward for effort. We aren't doing it for anyone but ourselves. With the added bonus of charity.