Not Surprising

Scott "The Runner" Horton abandoned his attempt to set a record pace for the Continental Divide Trail.

That was the day Horton called off his summer-long speed record attempt on the Continental Divide Trail, following a grueling first day of running through extreme temperatures on a poorly marked section of the trail just north of the Mexican border.

After getting lost and running out of water far short of Saturday’s first-day destination, Horton came face to face with his own mortality before stumbling upon an oasis of sorts in the 108-degree Chihuahuan Desert.

If you are not going to carry water, you can not run through the desert.

“The amount of fluid we got to carry in the desert, you just can’t carry enough,” Horton said. “I was drinking two liters every four miles and (on Monday) the first section is 16 miles, so that means I would need eight liters. The next section’s 23 miles … so I just can’t carry enough fluid and I still just feel trashed and out of it.”

He is lucky that he bailed when he did. I feared he would get lost in the high mountains and experience unfortunate weather. He just does not carry what is necessary for that type of terrain.