Trail runner Kyle Williams describes himself as a nearly 40-year-old man who could barely run for 20 minutes without pain 18 months ago – not bad for a fellow who currently holds the record shortest time in which anyone has climbed to the summit of the tallest mountain in each one of Australia’s states and territories.
Dubbed by Williams as the ‘Peak-to-Peak Adventure’, this feat was previously undertaken by a group named Sum8 in the winter of 2014, with a completion time of six days, 21 hours and 30 minutes.
Not satisfied with simply bettering this time, Williams set himself the challenge of completing in less than six days.
On Saturday, October 24, Williams succeeded in his aim with his summit of Mount Bartle Frere with a completion time of five days, 22 hours and 35 minutes.
Throughout the challenge, Williams (with the assistance of his support team), posted images and updates live to his Facebook page and, upon completion, published a post that specifically thanked his supporters and acknowledged the previous record holders.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to my super support team: Tina Sander and Dave Bremers,” Williams wrote. “Words will be never be enough to describe the high level passion, commitment and enthusiasm for helping me see this adventure through in the face of ridiculous sleep deprivation, kamikaze wombats, and some tough grinding mountain climbs.”
“I’d like to publicly acknowledge the efforts of the previous record holders, The Global Adventurers and Sum8. The Global Adventurers were the first to set the record for this adventure in 2013, with Sum8 breaking that record with an amazing effort during the winter of 2014. It took me an incredible amount of logistical planning, research and problem solving to come up with a schedule that allowed me to take this World Record even lower still – not to mention the fact of actually getting out there and running over 150 kilometres across eight mountain peaks!”
Sum8, consisting of Dale Cokley, Tom Cramer and Henk Morgans, today responded to new record by Williams.
“The three of us from Sum8 know all too well what’s involved after setting the record in winter unsupported and want to congratulate Kyle for setting a new time,” they told Wild. “It is a huge logistical exercise on top of hiking some of the most stunning mountains in Australia.”
For now Williams has indicated he is looking forward to some much-needed ‘R&R’ before turning his mind towards the next big challenge.