(Worldking) An ultramarathon runner overcame an early injury, sleep deprivation and steep terrain to complete an astounding 2,189-mile (3,523 kilometers) run along the Appalachian Trail in 46 days and 8 hours, breaking the previous unofficial record by 3 hours.

Scott Zurek (the runnerstrip.com)

Scott Jurek, who lives in Colorado when he's not sprinting to new records, persevered through knee pain and a muscle tear, as well as getting just 10 hours of sleep over the final four days of his trek, to claim the record. Successfully running an ultramarathon is a highly scientific process — not only do these athletes need to manage nutrition and energy, but they also need to be able to hold their bodies at the brink of exhaustion and yet remain in their right minds.

Jurek set off from Springer Mountain in northern Georgia on May 27 and wound up on the 5,270-foot-high (1,606 meters) peak of Mount Katahdin, in Maine, on July 12. The average hiker typically takes five to seven months to complete the hike.

Source: livescience.com

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