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Boston College Grad Smashes AT Speed Record

Joe McConaughy, a former cross-country runner known as Stringbean, finished the trail with a 37-hour push.

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“That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” According to the Boston Globe, that’s what Boston College graduate Joe McConaughy said upon setting a new unsupported speed record for the Appalachian Trail (45 days, 12 hours, and 15 minutes—about 48 miles, and 10,000 calories, a day). It was a full nine days faster than the last record, set in 2015.

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