FKT: Kristina Schou Madsen - Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) - 2018-02-23

Route variation
ascent (any route)
Gender category
Female
Style
Supported
Finish date
Total time
6h 52m 54s
Report

Kristina Schou Madsen from Denmark lowered the women's ascent time to 6h52m54s on 2/23/2018 via the Mweka Route.  Her Garmin track shows a total round trip time of around 13h30m, so much slower than Maciel's RT FKT.  gearjunkie.com has an interview:

 Why did you choose Kilimanjaro?

Well, Josephine Dewett – who also made an attempt to break the record – wrote to me last year if I wanted to climb Kilimanjaro with her, but to do it a bit faster than a usual trek. I had a look on the internet to check out how fast you actually could do it, and I saw that the female world record at that time was a bit over 8 hours by Anne-Marie Flammersfeld. Later that year, Fernanda Maciel smashed that record down to 7:08, and I had to step up!

Had you climbed it before?

No.

What did you do for preparation?

It is hard to be a mountain runner in Denmark. Our highest peak is 187 meters above sea level, so when I do hill reps I do a lot of them!

I have also done a lot of treadmill training with elevation and lots of hours on a stair machine, but mostly I enjoy to run outside. But to get the strength in my legs I needed to train alternative ways. I run about 80–110 km per week plus strength and other sports like biking, spinning, and boxing.

What other big FKTs have you done or tried in the past?

I have never done an FKT before.

What kind of shoes did you wear?

Hoka One One Speedgoat.

What gear did you carry?

I had an UltrAspire vest with water and energy and had more water and energy on different spots on the mountain to pick up. I also had my poles with me all the time. At 4,700 meters I put on more clothes as I got more cold.

Did you have any aid?

We started two Danish women from Mweka Gate, and a Danish guide from Topas Travel, Simon Grimstrup, followed me almost to the top. During the way up, different guys from Tanzania tried to follow me.