Liz Derstine and Tara Dower. Photo courtesy of Liz Derstine.
Ultra-runner and thru-hiker Tara Dower has a tattoo on her leg that says, “suffer well.” While there are many reasons to go trail running (many of which do not involve suffering), Tara and fellow athlete Liz Derstine—both of whom are celebrated long-distance trail runners–have embraced the struggle of this endurance sport to smash records.
Tara (trail name: “Candy Mama”) is known for setting Fastest Known Times (FKTs) on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail, Colorado Trail, and most recently the Appalachian Trail (A.T.), where she shaved 18 hours off the existing record to finish the iconic 2,197-mile trek in 40 days, 18 hours, and 5 minutes—the fastest known time for any person in either direction.
Liz (trail name: “Mercury”) is a professional musician, writer, and trail athlete for Mountain Hardwear. She has set FKTs for women on the Appalachian Trail (northbound), Vermont’s Long Trail, the Pinhoti Trail in Georgia and Alabama, Sweden’s Kungsleden, and the Swiss Via Alpina. This summer, she’s got her sights set on the self-supported record on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.
Both women discovered the Appalachian Mountain Club while chasing speed records on the A.T. After her record-breaking northbound traverse, Liz returned to stay at Lakes of the Clouds Hut and Carter Notch Hut on a section-hike and has since become a passionate advocate, even speaking on behalf of AMC at the 2025 Boston Expo. “Over the years, I’ve learned that AMC’s work extends far beyond the trail maintenance and the huts—conservation, recreation, advocacy, and community are all part of the bigger picture,” she says. This May at her graduating recital at the Longy School of Music, she premiered a composition of nature-inspired art songs she wrote for AMC.
AMC’s Jenny O’Connell sat down with Liz and Tara for a behind-the-scenes look at how such a grueling sport became their passion, and what it’s taught them along the way.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Mt. Katahdin, Baxter State Park, Maine. Photo by Corey David Photography.
Jenny: Maybe we could start with each of you just telling me a little bit about your relationship with trail running. How long have you been doing it? Where has it taken you?
Tara: I’ve always been a runner. I started in middle school because I wanted to hang out with my friends at track, and I found out that I really liked the long distance. I took a break from running in college, but I was enthralled by the Appalachian Trail. In 2017 I had a failed attempt, and I went back in 2019 and finally completed a thru-hike of the A.T. in a standard five months, ten days. After my thru-hike, I was working for [adventurer and previous A.T. record holder] Jennifer Pharr Davis in Hot Springs, and I wanted to run up the trails that were all around town. It was a crash course in trail running. I’m very clumsy and I fell a lot and got bloody a lot. I still fall a lot and get bloody a lot. I think I’ve just accepted that fact.
Liz is where I got my first real-life example of an FKT in action. When I was training for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, I paced her for two days on the Appalachian Trail during her FKT and she educated me on a lot of it. And then, after 2020, everything just kind of blew up. I went head-first into ultramarathons and FKTs with a focus on doing a trail every single year — anything 100 miles and up.
Tara Dower running the Appalachian Trail, 2024.
Jenny: Liz, tell me a little bit about your entrance into the sport.
Liz: My freshman year I was starting at a new school and my dad was worried about me making friends, so I joined the cross-country team. I wasn’t competitive and I actually didn’t even like running, but being on the team was fun and the community camaraderie was great. I liked how I felt after I ran.
I stopped running when I went to college. I was a music student, and I thought I needed to really dedicate all my time to music if I wanted to take it seriously. But I was spending a lot of my time in a basement practicing alone, and I’d go outside and see this flock of cross-country runners run by looking all happy and joyful. So I joined the team, and it was to this day one of the best life decisions ever. I loved having people to run with. I loved being outside. And then, for whatever reason, I got that competitive spark.
As far as trail running goes, I’d gone to a summer camp in the Poconos, and one of the expeditions took us out on this two-day camping trip on the A.T. It blew my mind. I wanted to hike the trail one day, maybe when I retired. But then my interest in running grew. The wheels started turning. When I got out on the trails, it opened up a whole world that I didn’t even know was out there. The A.T. ended up being mostly not running because I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but I did it. And I set the women’s northbound FKT.
I’m just full in. I love trails. I love these long-distance hikes. I love being out there for days at a time.
Liz Derstine. Photo by Mike McMonagle, Mountain Hardwear.
Jenny: Do you remember your time?
Liz: 51 days, 16 hours and 30 minutes.
Jenny: That’s incredible. I’m astounded with both of you. What does it feel like to do something like that?
Liz: It’s just moving forward no matter what gets thrown at you. And that can be all kinds of things. I unfortunately had a lot of injuries so there was a lot of physical pain, and then there’s also weather, there’s the elements, there’s wildlife. I had a couple of bear encounters. Things definitely didn’t go to plan, and I didn’t reach my initial goals and had to deal with the disappointment. But what I also found was that I’m really out here ’cause I want to be out here, record or no record. And I’m really glad I did it.
Jenny: You’re running in the dark. Your knees are bloody. You’re always hungry. Why? Why do you love it? What is at the core of trail running for you?
Liz: I think for me it’s about the possibility of what could happen. What’s the adventure? Who am I going to meet? What am I going to learn about myself? It’s easy to stay with what’s familiar and what’s comfortable, but I think the way we can grow personally and as a society is to keep reaching beyond.
Tara: No one going for an FKT does it for an easy, straightforward experience. There were times where I’d have really low points. In those last days I remember one where I hallucinated Liz sitting on a log. I was like, Liz is here to pace me! and then right after that I fell miserably and started crying and I was looking to [my crew chief] Rascal. I wanted her to say, “It’s gonna be OK. We’re gonna figure this out in a mile.” I thought she would come up with a plan. I was so tired, and my mind and my body were breaking down. And all she did was just keep moving. She said, “All right, let’s go.”
It’s just movement. That’s all there is.
Liz: It’s a good life philosophy, too.
Tara: I feel like the people who are extremely successful in these long FKTs don’t go into it for fame, or just to break the record. A lot of them are going into it like, “I’m just gonna experience whatever the journey gives me.”
Appalachian Trail, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, New Jersey. Photo by Christopher Moyer, AMC Photo Contest.
Jenny: Both of you have spoken about the community that surrounds the trail. There’s your team, but then there’s this bigger community of people who inspire each other to keep going. What are some words that describe the people who gravitate to this sport?
Tara: They’re willing to try something really difficult; [something] that seems, for the majority of the population, a little impossible. At the very core of everyone who does these activities, there’s a love for nature and a desire to be out there. It just depends on how long you can go in discomfort.
Liz: I feel really excited to see more people — especially women — going for FKTs. Looking at the history of FKTs, it’s been kind of a niche thing. And then when you look at the amount of women it’s this even smaller pool. I would love to see more representation.
I really love, Tara, the message that you put out there with your A.T. hike that you want to see more women and girls going after it. You went for it. You believed in yourself, and you want other women to believe in themselves, too. And I am super inspired by that.
Tara: I’ve benefited so greatly from women mentors and women that I’ve looked up to in the sport, like you. Without them, I would never feel comfortable going for the overall record. There’s no way if you don’t know it’s possible.
Jenny: I love that there’s this positive feedback loop happening.
Liz: And it’s not an exclusive loop. Everyone, let’s go do it.
Tara: My dream is all these women on the top of these FKTs. It’s not about beating a man. I think we’re designed for these longer distances, and we can really excel at them. And my hope in the future is to see all these women going for it, pushing the limits, and seeing what is possible.
Liz Derstine and Tara Dower. Photo courtesy of Liz Derstine.