Brian Robinson is the first to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail and the Continental Divide Trail (or the Hiker Triple Crown) in one year, a feat that means he hiked a total of over 7,000 miles.[1]
Robinson decided (in 2000) to take a six-month leave of absence from his job at Compaq and attempt the Pacific Crest Trail with his father Roy, who himself is a seasoned back-packer. Mid-way through the trip, Brian realized the Triple Crown might be achievable in a single year.[2]
Robinson completed the Triple Crown with tremendous support from friends and family. Support ranged from notes of encouragement in trail registers to regular food re-supplies mailed to strategic points along the route,[2] and even a complete equipment replacement by a near-stranger after his backpack was lost with most of his original gear. His father maintained a website with frequent updates from his daily journal and the most current photographs.
During his travail, he had to overcome several emotional obstacles to complete his goal, including having his pack mis-routed during a bus transfer, discovering on September 12, 2001 that the US had been attacked and encountering a woman that might have been "the one."[3] His fellow through-hikers began calling him "Flyin' Brian", a trail name he continues to use.
In the years following the Calendar Triple Crown, Robinson became an active ultra-marathoner. He has completed several 100-mile races, including the Western States 100 and the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run. In 2008 he set the course record at the Barkley Marathons, a grueling 100 mile course in Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee. A feature in the Washington Post chronicles his attempt to finish the race in 2007.[4]