Matt Hart Sets Trans-Zion Trek Record

Endurance athlete and good friend of Suunto, Matt Hart, recently reminded us that records are made to be broken. He ran across Zion National Park at a record-setting pace on May 14th, 2010. The Trans-Zion Trek was a sure test of endurance and took Hart just under eight hours to complete. He shattered the previous record by more than an hour! He wore a Suunto t6d, heart rate belt and Foot POD to help calibrate and pace his efforts.
The Trans-Zion Trek is a 48-mile route across Zion National Park in Southwestern Utah. This route winds through some stunning sections of the park and typically is done as a five-day backpacking trip.

Matt wrote a blog about his experience. Here are a few excerpts:

From Matt Hart: The last 3 miles felt like 20. I pushed my pace even though i was out of water and fuel. My mouth was dry and I was cramping. The wheels had come off and I was dragging axles at this point. I pushed the last two steep sections hard and when I saw Linda [support]. I just put my head down and ran the stairs (above photo), fully embracing the pain. I touched the sign and hit the stop on the Suunto before quickly laying down and begging for Nuun.
I ran the 48 miles with 10,400ft of gain across Zion National Park in 7 hours 58 minutes 07 seconds. With Jared and Christian's previous record time of 9hours 8 minutes I had managed to take 1hour 10minutes off the record. I'm happy with that.

And it's not over for Matt--he's still going full-steam doing media interviews (including one with Runner's World!)
What an impressive accomplishment, Matt--thanks for letting us be part of it.