Michelino Sunseri | Grand Teton FKT & The Aftermath

The Freetrail Podcast with Dylan Bowman

Dylan Bowman

Ultrarunning, Training, Wellness, Endurance, Health, Running, Commentary, Trailrunning, Sports, Run

5 • 773 Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Michelino Sunseri is a professional runner living in Driggs, ID. In September 2024, Michelino broke the existing FKT on the Grand Teton, held for 12 years by Andy Anderson - one of the longest standing and most iconic up/down speed records in mountain running. During the attempt, Michelino made the strategic decision to take the "Old Climber's Trail," deviating from the official route for a period during the descent.

Michelino managed to lower the existing FKT by a little over 2mins, finishing in 2:50:50. A few days after the run, controversy emerged as it related to Michelino's decision to use the Old Climber's Trail, creating a debate about FKT ethics and whether Michelino deserved to retain the record even though he used a slightly different route from the previous record holder.

A week later, on September 9th, Fastest Known Time officially rejected the record based on objections from the National Park Service based again on Michelino's decision to use the Old Climber's Trail instead of staying on the officially recognized route.

On September 25, 2024, the NPS charged Michelino under 36 CFR 2.1(b) with an initial court appearance, a statute that carries a maximum penalty of $5,000 and/or six months in jail.

In this podcast, we discuss the history of FKTs on the Grand Teton, including Michelino's personal history projecting the route. We talk through the ethics of FKTs and the grey area that exists and that this event revealed. We discuss the rejection of his FKT and the subsequent legal squabble that has ensued.

Please visit the following links to learn more:

Michelino's Strava file from the attempt

Grand Teton FKT page

Written recap of the timeline

Petition to drop the charges against Michelino

Anton & Kilian video from 2012

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey fam, welcome to the free trail podcast. Of course, I am your host, Dylan Bowman. And if you're hearing this, that means you are not in the member-only feed. It's all good. Don't worry about it. But we would very much appreciate
0:26.9	it if you would consider signing up for Free Trail Pro. As a subscriber, you're going to get ad-free
0:32.1	versions of this show, along with a bunch of member-only content. I'm going to be doing AMAs and having important and
0:39.8	unfiltered conversations with the pretrial team, community members, and special guests
0:45.3	regularly there on the private feed. Your free trail membership will also give you access to
0:50.8	our extremely active Slack community of international trail runners of all levels.
0:56.0	You'll get early access to all of our merch and events, exclusive discounts with our brand partners,
1:01.9	and a lot more, including some very exciting things to be announced very soon.
1:07.8	Membership is only $96 for the year, and you can learn more at freetrail.com forward
1:12.5	slash pro or at the link in the show notes.
1:19.6	Today we're joined by Mikolino Sonseri, a professional mountain runner living in Driggs, Idaho.
1:24.6	He's a longtime friend. This is his first time on the show, but he is here to
1:28.3	speak about one topic and one topic only. In September of last year, 2024, Mikolino broke the
1:34.5	existing FKT on the Grand Teton, held for 12 years by Andy Anderson, one of the longest standing
1:41.2	and most iconic up-down speed records in mountain running,
1:45.0	a project that Mikolino had been working on for years and the biggest goal of his athletic
1:50.7	career. But during the attempt, Mikolino made the strategic decision to take the old climbers
1:56.6	trail deviating from the official route for a period of time during the descent. When he arrived
2:02.6	back in the parking lot, Mikolino, of course, thought that he would manage to lower the existing
2:06.8	FKT by a little over two minutes. He finished in two hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds, of course,
2:14.3	thinking that he had just achieved his dreams on his home mountain.
2:18.5	But a few days after the run, controversy ensued as it related to Mikalino's decision
	...

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