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On September 2, 2022, the worldwide ultrarunning group did a double take when a brand new pace report was set on some of the revered mountain routes on this planet — the Bob Graham Spherical within the U.Ok.’s Lake District, a 66-mile loop that summits 42 fells and positive aspects 27,000 ft of elevation. The report had been held since 2018 by none aside from Kilian Jornet, who took it from British fell operating legend Billy Bland, who had held it for 36 years.
However what made this new pace report extra astounding was that it was set by neither a local mountain goat-like fell runner nor one other worldwide Jornet-type celebrity — however by the comparatively unknown and unsponsored American, Jack Kuenzle, who had been spending just a few months residing in a van and immersing himself within the U.Ok. fell operating scene.
Just a few months on, when the mud had settled, I caught up with Kuenzle to seek out out extra about his background in operating, the spherical itself, and the set of circumstances that led to him setting out from Moot Corridor in Keswick, England, on that Friday morning.
Jack Kuenzle (left) on the end of the Bob Graham Spherical with former report holder Billy Bland. All images courtesy of Jack Kuenzle except in any other case famous.
Jack Kuenzle grew up in Connecticut, within the northeast United States. Rising up, he performed ice hockey and ran cross nation and monitor in highschool, however he humbly identified, “I wasn’t all that good.” After highschool, he joined the U.S. Navy, which funded his faculty schooling, after which he was required to serve for a time. He mentioned, “I used to be lifting weights rather a lot, preparing for [Navy service], I used to be operating rather a lot. Additionally, I performed membership ice hockey in faculty, which was an actual time dedication. Once I went into the navy after that, I needed to do a few years coaching that was fairly bodily intense.”
With already a number of endurance coaching below his belt, he dabbled in ultramarathon operating in 2018 and 2019 however wasn’t overly enamored with the format, saying: “Again in 2018, I did a 50 miler. It was first rate, however I wasn’t too into it. Then in 2019, I did a handful of different races out to 100k distance. It was high-quality.” Though toeing a begin line with tons of of different runners wasn’t one thing that significantly appealed to Kuenzle, he did log some good outcomes, profitable the Iron Mountain Path 50 Mile in 2019 and putting second within the Lifeless Horse Extremely 50 Mile and the Hellgate 100k that very same yr.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t till he started to pursue quickest identified time (FKT) initiatives that Kuenzle really discovered his groove within the ultrarunning sphere. He mentioned: “2020 and 2021 are once I actually began specializing in FKTs. I began specializing in extra mountainous FKTs. Then in 2021, I did a mission to attempt to set data on all essentially the most aggressive one-day FKTs within the northeast United States.”
Kuenzle earlier than his Mount Shasta ascent FKT run. Picture: Jay Kuenzle
He factors to this mission pretty much as good preparation for his enterprise into U.Ok. rounds, saying: “That type of operating is similar to fell operating. And that’s type of the place I acquired a greater begin.”
When he completed his service with the Navy in 2021, Kuenzle was capable of incorporate a full ski season into his athletic yr and mentioned: “Earlier than, I used to be snowboarding some, however I used to be residing in Virginia, so I wasn’t capable of ski all that a lot. So in 2021, I used to be capable of ski full-time within the winter. I went for a handful of winter mountaineering-style FKTs out within the western U.S. Some on skis, some operating on ice and snow.”
Jack Kuenzle snowboarding throughout the Mount Hood FKT. Picture: Wes Bochner
When the summer time of 2022 rolled round, Kuenzle made a whimsical resolution to go to the U.Ok. for what was initially deliberate to be a brief journey. He recounts:
“I completed up a 100-mile mission that I’d began within the northeast [the 104-mile section of the Appalachian Trail as it passes through the White Mountains]. I wasn’t capable of end it in 2021, however then I did end it in June 2022. After that, I used to be initially planning to exit and run the Hardrock course — the Hardrock 100 route, however FKT type — however I used to be anxious in regards to the smoke. It ended up being a great smoke yr, so it in all probability would have been alright to do it, however I didn’t.”
He continued, “My dad was a pilot for Delta Airways, so I might fly very low cost and final minute, and I’d at all times thought of doing among the pace data within the U.Ok. So I simply selected a whim to fly out. Initially the intention was to simply do the Ramsay Spherical and to return again a pair years later and do the Bob Graham Spherical as soon as I used to be extra skilled. However I purchased a van, and I had to purchase automotive insurance coverage, and it was £200 a month, and the minimal I might purchase was three months, so I used to be dedicated [to stay a bit longer]. So I mentioned I’ll do the Bob, or if I feel the Bob [speed record] is just too quick, I’ll discover one thing else to do.”
The primary port of name for Kuenzle within the U.Ok. was the Ramsay Spherical in Scotland, which, over 58 miles, summits 24 mountains and climbs round 28,500 ft. However as an alternative of the total route, he opted to run the Tranter Spherical — a shorter variation of the Ramsay, for which Scottish hill runner Finlay Wild held the pace report. Wild additionally holds the report for the longer Ramsay Spherical and had contested Jornet’s Bob Graham Spherical report in 2021 however got here up seven minutes quick — operating 12:59 to Jornet’s 12:52, for what remains to be the third quickest time on report.
Kuenzle (left) with Finlay Wild.
Kuenzle spent a while attending to know the routes and mentioned: “I ended up doing the Tranter.” This lesser-known variation of the Ramsay Spherical takes in 19 mountains over about 37 miles with 18,000 ft of climbing. It has an extended historical past than the total Ramsay Spherical, and as Kuenzle outlines: “The primary 24-hour report in Scotland on the Munroes was the Tranter, that was within the early Nineteen Sixties. Then within the ’70s, Charlie Ramsay did the Ramsay Spherical, which is an extension. It simply provides 5 peaks onto the Tranter Spherical.”
He defined why he opted for the shorter Tranter Spherical, saying: “I didn’t just like the Ramsay very a lot. The extra 5 peaks it provides, they’re not very aesthetic. It’s type of nasty operating, it’s like heather, up and down. It’s not very nice. … The Tranter does have an enormous historical past of competitors, and Finlay Wild’s report on the Tranter was arguably higher than his report on the Ramsay, so it was a worthwhile purpose.” Kuenzle ended up taking 14 minutes off Wild’s 8:52 report on the Tranter Spherical, and this consequence was a part of what planted to seed for his try at breaking Kilian Jornet’s Bob Graham Spherical report.
He mentioned: “My thought was Finlay’s time on the Tranter as a result of he had raced it a number of instances, and it was in his yard. I figured his time on the Tranter was higher than his time on the Bob. Additionally, I felt like Finlay was in all probability higher on the shorter stuff relative to me, as a number of the fell racing he does is shorter. So I figured that as the gap acquired additional alongside, I might in all probability do some higher.” He went on to say, “I feel if you happen to had been to take a look at my time on the Tranter alongside Finlay’s instances on each, you can in all probability precisely predict what time I used to be going to do the Bob in.”
To check his concept a bit additional earlier than committing to the hassle, Kuenzle — who was nonetheless on the time in Scotland — calculated the peak achieve to distance ratio of the Bob Graham Spherical and the tempo required to interrupt the report and ran a equally paced 2-mile run within the Pentland Hills — which have considerably related terrain to the Lake District. He mentioned, “It was only a regular cardio run for me, simply to really feel it out. And after that, I used to be like, possibly [I could run the Bob Graham Round speed record].”
One rule of the Bob Graham Spherical is that each one aspiring rounders should have a minimum of one pacer accompany them to every summit — a convention that started for security and verification within the days previous GPS tracker know-how. Additionally, the foundations enable pacers to hold no matter vitamin and kit the runner requires, so it has turn out to be the norm for runners trying a quick spherical to avail of this and carry nothing on their individual.
Kuenzle set about recruiting a workforce of quick pacers. From scouting round at native fell races and inquiring with golf equipment, he had compiled an inventory of some 50 potential pacers, however below the understanding that he would run on the weekend and never earlier than September 9, when on account of climate and different elements, he ended up operating on Friday, September 2. It was a scramble to seek out anybody accessible to tempo. He mentioned, “Happily, I whined sufficient … and finally, I acquired sufficient individuals to return out of the woodwork and assist!”
Kuenzle with a few of his Bob Graham Spherical pacers (l-to-r): Jonny Cox, Jack Kuenzle, Matt Atkinson, and Jack Eyre.
On the day of the spherical, Kuenzle deliberate to keep away from falling into the pitfall of many previous runners by beginning too quick and was glad to separate the primary leg slower than Jornet’s time. He was of the opinion that when Billy Bland set the unique report, Bland had began very aggressively, and it was doubtless that each one subsequent challengers to the report had adopted go well with in making an attempt to match Bland’s early splits.
Talking of the quick males who had tried the spherical prior to now, Kuenzle mentioned: “Everybody appeared to explode by Gray Knotts on Leg 4, so I feel they actually went out too shortly.”
He additionally aimed to make up time by shifting effectively by means of the transitions and mentioned: “For no matter purpose, Kilian stopped [for several minutes] at among the highway crossings. I feel possibly ways in ultrarunning had been just a bit bit completely different again in 2018.”
He recollects: “I cut up Leg 1 eight minutes slower than Kilian. On the primary peak of Leg 2, we had been nonetheless two minutes behind Kilian. We tried to match that cut up however missed it, so after that, I made a dedication, I must beat Kilian on these subsequent couple of splits, simply because I wanted the arrogance. So I instructed my crew we had been going to hammer the following couple of splits, and we did that. I used to be feeling fairly good, and by the point we acquired to Dunmail Elevate [at the finish of Leg 2], we had introduced the tempo right down to one thing fairly manageable, and we had been nonetheless gaining on [Jornet’s time]. That was once I began to really feel that I might in all probability do it — which was solely like hour 4, actually.”
Kuenzle throughout his Bob Graham Spherical pace report. Picture: Andy Berry
He went on: “I knew myself effectively sufficient that except I fell or one thing, I wasn’t going to explode.”
The route ends with a highway part into Keswick, which many discover soul-destroying, owing to the discomfort of switching gears again to highway operating after a day on the fells. Kuenzle recounts, “I had been dreading the final highway miles a lot that when it occurred, it actually wasn’t that dangerous. I feel it simply felt good being to this point up on the report, figuring out I’d get it.” At this level, he was virtually half an hour forward of Jornet’s time, that means he might cruise the previous couple of miles as a victory lap earlier than lastly touching down in Moot Corridor in a time of 12 hours and 23 minutes.
Kuenzle felt indebted to his workforce of crew and pacers. Within the traditions of the Bob Graham Spherical, he returned the favor per week later in pacing one other runner on their spherical, which gave him an perception into the calls for of the duty. He mentioned: “It was actually onerous to do. Since you aren’t in the identical headspace because the runner, you’re carrying all their stuff, and also you’re making an attempt to do the pondering for them. It’s a number of strain. It’s actually, actually onerous to do.”
Jack Kuenzle (middle, white shirt) together with his crew at Moot Corridor, the place the Bob Graham Spherical begins and ends in Keswick, England.
After the spherical, he wanted a bit timeout and mentioned: “It took me some time to get well. I began coaching fairly decently per week later. I skilled for 2 or three weeks, after which I ended up having to take 10 days off firstly of October as I used to be so burned out.” He additionally mentioned that, as somebody with a give attention to FKTs quite than races, it was onerous to know the place to go subsequent — as he thought of the Bob Graham Spherical to be the “world championships of pace data.” He mentioned: “So far as pace data go, broadly, except you go for the Appalachian Path, the Bob Graham is just about the head. There are different quick efforts on the market, however when it comes to historic significance and every thing, the Bob Graham Spherical is just about the height.”
Though he factors to Kilian Jornet’s run because the time when the Bob Graham Spherical first piqued his curiosity, he added: “I feel Jasmin [Paris] first began the golden period of the Bob Graham.” In 2016, Paris set the ladies’s report on the spherical in 15 hours 23 minutes, taking greater than two-and-a-half hours off Nicky Spinks’s earlier finest. He continued, “[Jasmin Paris] did it in 2016, Kilian Jornet did it in 2018, after which Beth [Pascall] did it in 2020. After which Finlay Wild tried it in 2021, and now Tom Evans goes to do it in 2023.”
Kuenzle has stored in contact with Jornet, who reached out to congratulate him on his report, and likewise with Wild, who performed an enormous function in his U.Ok. journey. Removed from being too guarded or territorial of his pace report, Kuenzle mentioned: “Personally, I might like to see Kilian or Finlay do the Bob Graham Spherical once more.”
Trying ahead to his personal plans, he mentioned, “I feel I’ll positively do one thing else within the U.Ok., possibly in preparation for the Lakeland 24-hour pace report.” He has additionally been racing Trofeo Kima in 2024 and is exploring the opportunity of spending that yr in Europe.
You continue to received’t discover out a lot about Jack Kuenzle from race outcomes — owing to an absence of current races, his present Worldwide Path Operating Affiliation (ITRA) efficiency index is 0 — or sponsored content material — he’s not keen on that side of the game. However he has nonetheless proved himself to be up there with the very best mountain ultrarunners on this planet.
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Jack Kuenzle on a mountain run in Bosnia in 2020.
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