Route: Mt. Emerson

Mt. Emerson via "the waterfall route" is an absolute classic run + scramble of the Bishop area. The Sierra Legend Peter Croft included this route in his book "The Good, The Great, and The Awesome", it has been contested for speed records for quite some time too with people traveling from around the state of California to time trial on this technical front-country Sierra test-piece. 

Warning: This is not a casual trail run, this route involves 5.4yds rock climbing movements and exposed 4th class climbing. People have had to be rescued, people have been injured. Have experience with routefinding, rock climbing, and scrambling on loose rock. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO! It is highly recommended to scout and rehearse the route ahead of time before your FKT attempt.

Mountain Project is a great place to start your research for this route: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106790885/southeast-face-aka-the-waterfall-route 

From mountain project you can read the following (and more):

"Description 

Short approach for a fun alpine route on solid rock with varied climbing. Short 5.4 crux.

Note that the chimney may be wet in early season or if there is significant rainfall during otherwise drier months. The route is also water polished, so be prepared.

Preventing Epics

Although in the alpine climbing sense this is an easy route, for newer alpine or trad climbers this route should not be underestimated.  There have been a growing number of rescues and unplanned bivies due to parties failing to prepare for the route finding, conditions, exposure, altitude, rockfall and arduous scree descent.  Plan accordingly and start early.  Before attempting this route:

• For newer trad climbers, have your multi-pitch trad skills down, including anchor building/equalization, efficient gear placement and removal, and downclimbing.  There are no fixed anchors on this route.  Strongly consider taking a climbing self-rescue class (or refresher).
• All members of your party should practice alpine route finding (ascents and descents) and scree descents, and mentally prepare for exposure on easier routes before attempting this route.  Physically prepare for the altitude. The Sierra has many fun opportunities for practice.  The SE Face of Emerson is not a route you can reasonably pitch out to the top.
• Study the route description and bring along beta, including any critical landmark photos.
• Check the weather and route conditions. Have a plan in case you hit unexpected adverse conditions or other reason for retreat.
• Prepare for an unplanned bivy by carrying an emergency blanket, warm clothes, extra food, and a headlamp.  Even if you call for a rescue, you may need to wait until the following day if there are no life-threatening injuries.  In general, an unplanned summer bivouac is not an emergency and doesn't merit a rescue.

Route

The FKT route starts and finishes at the Campground Trailhead Sign (see photo), take a picture with this sign at start and finish, and a summit selfie along with your gps track.

Climb the 5.4 crack. If the chimney is too wet there you can climb the face to the right of a second chimney, which is just to the right of the normal route. The chimney is blocked with a large chockstone at which point you can easily cross and move left onto an easy, but exposed ramp system that connects with the original route. Continue up class 3-4 slabs eventually leading back into the original crack for a pitch of class 4. Head up a broad chute for 500 ft, then cross left across a rib into another chute (potential for route-finding mishaps here, see 5th photo below). Aim for a notch in the ridge then proceed along the amazing ridgeline to the summit, passing several gendarmes to keep the grade at class 4."

All warnings heeded and accounted for, it is agreed by Jason Hardrath, Travis Soares, Nathan Longhurst, Jediah Porter, and Ryan Tetz that this is a great front-country test piece for runner/scramblers who are looking to cut their teeth on, provided they rehearse properly and practice conscientiousness to not drop rockfall on other climbers. All risk and consequences are assumed by the attempter.

Existing Known Times

Male: Peter Clark is known to have gone from pack station to pack station in 3hr 31min - this adds roughly 5min each way - so it is fair to assume a male should go faster than 3hr 21min from campground TH-TH to claim this FKT. -even though his data is no longer publicly available it has been corroborated by many reputable people in the local community-

Female: upon initial research of strava leaderboards no fast female time was found, asking around Mammoth and Bishop crowds may be of use before claiming a time, also speaking directly with Jediah Porter of Sierra Speed could be of use.

Strava Segment (not comprehensive due to available route variation) : https://www.strava.com/segments/32463012?filter=overall 

Have Fun!