I am on an e-group pertaining to backpacking and hiking a certain National Trail. I am of course opinionated about certain things. One of them is "speed-hiking:" trying to best someone else's record while hiking the entire trail. This trail is over 2100 miles long and was not built to be hiked day and night to create a record of how quickly the trail can be hiked. Someone did it in the 1970s and I think that "record" was beaten in the 1990s. Now it's been bested again. The only reason I can find for it being hiked this fast is because the person hiking this year wanted to take the record time away from the last "speed hiker."
In my not so humble opinion, there's no need or rhyme or reason to hike just to beat someone else to the finish line. Backpacking isn't a competition sport. It's done for enjoyment. I suppose the hiker could say that "his enjoyment is beating other people to the finish line" of a hike. "Go run a couple marathons" would be my reply.
If a person has a life threatening illness and his goal in life was to hike this trail, then that would be a reason to hike it quickly. If a person is about to go to jail for a crime and only has a few months of freedom left, that would be a reason to hike a trail quickly. If a person was about to join the military and had a short time before boot camp, that would be a reason to hike a trail quickly. And there are other life-situations that would give some explanation to why a person wants to hike a trail as fast as possible. But to hike just to be able to brag about being the fastest? That makes absolutely no sense when discussing hiking or backpacking on a trail. As previously stated: Go run a marathon. And get back to me.
Too many people, young and old, seem obsessed with doing something the fastest way possible. And then they're left with time on their hands and inevitably, they find something illegal, immoral or fattening to direct their energies to. Case in point would be the rampant use of methamphetamine. If people took their time living a full life, would they have so much time on their hands that they would need to create a false sense of heightened awareness? I read about it all the time. The use of something (usually illegal) to create a "high" -- when success at mountain climbing is a much more valuable 'high' or riding a bike 100 miles in a weekend, or backpacking for a week with no resupply, or obtaining a black belt in martial arts. Or any number of natural ways to get an adrenaline rush.
Every day, it seems like "rush, rush, rush" and then let's get high on drugs (or alcohol). Why not "slow down and enjoy the moment" and not have the time or inclination to use drugs to obtain a false high? A true 'high' is obtained by accomplishment. Anyone can set a goal and focus on that goal until it is achieved. There are people who are walking today after having broken their backs because they focused on walking. There is Lance Armstrong who has overcome cancer to win 7 Tour de France victories in a row. And I suppose, grudgingly, there are those who, only for the glory, have to hike the fastest in order to obtain their fifteen minutes of fame. What does one do for an encore?
Slow down you move to fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kickin' down the cobblestones
Lookin' for fun and feeling groovy
Hello lamp post, whatcha doin'
I've come to watch the flowers growin'
Ain't cha got no time for me?
Doot'in do do do do bein' groovy
Got no deeds to do
No promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and
ready to sleep
Let the morning-time drop
all its petals on me
Life I love you,
all is groovy
"Feelin' Groovy", the Lovin' Spoonfuls' big
hit from the 60s.
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