Here’s Why a Speed Record on the Grand Teton Was Rejected

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On September 2, mountain runner Michelino Sunseri of Idaho appeared to break the speed record for ascending and descending the 13,775-foot Grand Teton in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Sunseri, 32, did so on his 44th climb of the iconic peak—he wrote online that he’d done 43 practice ascents over four years before his successful attempt.

“I finally felt confident enough to lay it all on the line and go for this record that I once deemed impossible,” he posted to Instagram.

His time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, and 50 seconds shaved more than two minutes from the prior record, set by Coloradan Andy Anderson in 2012, on the 13.1-mile out-and-back route. At the trail’s finish, an elated Sunseri fell to his knees, and the moment was captured by photographers. Two days later, his sponsor The North Face catapulted the feat into the mainstream with an Instagram post of the moment, alongside the words “2:50:50. An impossible dream—come true.”

But the new speed record never went up on FastestKnownTime.com, the official registrar of speed records worldwide. As first reported by Jackson Hole News & Guide, the organization, which is owned by Outside’s parent company Outside Interactive, rejected Sunseri’s time. The reason? Sunseri had cut across at least one trail switchback on his trip.

Local news outlets published images of Sunseri’s Strava map, which showed the deviation: he cut across the highest switchback near Delta Lake on the route’s lower portion. The shortcut shaved approximately half a mile in distance from the route.

The decision led to a flurry of news reports, and spirited online chatter in the world of mountain running. Allison Mercer, the director of Fastest Known Time, said it’s the first time the organization has flat-out denied a speed record on any route due to a deviation from the standard course. Trails up mountains are notoriously hard to follow, especially above tree line, where there’s scree and talus. And other professional runners have gone off route while setting FKTs. Some on purpose, as Sunseri did—he wrote on Strava that he cut the switchback to avoid hikers—and others unintentionally.

Famed Catalan runner Killian Jornet cut switchbacks on Grand Teton when he set a prior FKT in 2012. FastestKnownTime still lists Jornet’s time as the second-fastest, albeit with the word “flagged” alongside it—a scarlet letter in running parlance. In 2017, Darcy Piceu, while setting an FKT on the 223-mile John Muir Trail, accidentally veered off route onto an entirely different trail for 1.3 miles. Her record wasn’t rejected, and still stands today at 3 days 7 hours and 57 minutes.

So, why did FastestKnownTime reject Sunseri? Mercer said the company sought to uphold NPS rules, which specifically forbid visitors from going off trail or using unsanctioned routes. “We can’t accept it because then we are condoning going against laws and regulations,” she told me. On other trails, deviating from the agreed-upon route isn’t expressly forbidden.

In recent years, FKT has attempted to reinforce the rules established by land managers like the NPS. “We’re record keepers, not referees,” Mercer says. “You have to go with what the trail says.”

Why did the organization allow Jornet’s record to stand in 2012, but reject Sunseri’s in 2024? Fastest Known Time is attempting to foster good stewardship of these backcountry routes, as crowds swell and speed record attempts become more frequent.

For context, Grand Teton National Park saw 2.7 million visitors when Jornet set his FKT 2012. It will see about a million more this year. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, visitation to Grand Teton National Park surged by 22 percent.

There’s also more people than ever pursuing FKTs, with more than 6,300 routes and 10,300 athletes currently listed on FastestKnownTime.com. “There’s been a massive boom in people chasing FKTs and trying to go after Strava records and segments and all of that,” says Jackson-based runner Kelly Halpin, who, since 2014, has set 27 FKTs herself.

In other words, the stakes are higher today than in 2012. With so many people getting out there, off-trail human foot traffic is destroying sensitive flora and fauna that live in mountain environments. And Fastest Known Time, like other organizations, is trying to alleviate the damage caused by foot traffic.

In March, Halpin worked with Mercer to address the damages caused by route cutting on FastestKnownTime.com’s Guideline page: “Please keep to existing trails where applicable; submissions that cut switchbacks—whether route or FKT submissions—are likely to be declined,” the warning reads.

After Sunseri’s FKT was rejected, Mercer added stronger language to the route’s description on the site. The new language warns that the FKT will be rejected and that the NPS will pursue criminal charges against athletes who cut switchbacks on Grand Teton.

Halpin says that Jornet’s FKT on the route did spark anger within the running community back in 2012. “People were very, very unhappy about that,” she says. But the 2012 ascent occurred during the early years of FKT, before the website established rules of decorum, and a more formal processes for verifying records. Buzz Burrell, co-founder of Fastest Known Time, said that prior to 2018, aspiring FKT record holders weren’t even required to send in a GPX file for verification.

“It was looser back then,” Burrell said.

Rather, the website operated on an honor system. Standards, rules, and ethics varied by region. In the Swiss and French Alps, where Jornet established multiple records early in his career, there was no such thing as cutting a switchback: “You start at the bottom, you go to the top,” Burrell said.

Burrell and team decided to add the words “flagged” to Jornet’s Grand Teton record alongside a written note explaining that Jornet had cut switchbacks, which is forbidden by the Park Service. “The idea with the flag was that people would see it, and the next time someone attempted the record on that route, they’d do better,” Burell said.

The plan worked—ten days later, Anderson beat Jornet’s record on the route by 59 seconds. He stuck to the trail.

Burrell applauded the decision to deny Sunseri’s record. While disappointing to the athlete, he believes it sends a powerful message to the FKT community that environmental regulations will be upheld. Burrell said he had to make a similar decision in 2021, when he removed the 2,592-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Fastest Known Time’s “Premier List,” a move that essentially shut down new FKT attempts permanently. Wildfires in the Pacific Northwest had closed parts of the trail that summer, but record seekers were still attempting to chase the FKT by hiking on closed trails and traveling through fire zones, Burrell said. “It was the right thing to do,” Burrell said. The restriction remains in effect today.

Sunseri declined to speak to Outside for this story, but he did send a statement, saying he intentionally followed the same route used by Jornet. He also pointed out that the women’s record holder, Jen Day Denton, also cut a switchback—her record is also “flagged” in the official FKT standings.

“I accept and understand that Fastest Known Time has chosen not to accept my record,” he said. “Given the circumstances regarding route selection, I look forward to next summer, when I hope to again attempt The Grand Teton FKT, on the officially accepted section of this trail.”

Jornet hasn’t made any public comments about the situation, but in November 2023 he wrote a personal essay about the importance of following established routes. “We should all ensure the environmental rules already in place in those national parks and conservation areas are fully respected,” he wrote.