Pete Kostelnick


Pete Kostelnick is an American Ultramarathon runner most well known for his world record for fastest coast-to-coast crossing of the United States by foot, in 42 days, six hours and 30 minutes. In addition he is a two time Badwater Ultramarathon champion and the 5th fastest North American, all-time, at the 24-hour run, covering 163.5 miles.

Coast-to-coast run

On September 12, 2016, he set out to break the record for the United States coast-to-coast run, starting in San Francisco City Hall ending in New York City, City Hall. The previous record was 46 days, eight hours and 36 minutes, set in 1980 by Frank Giannino Jr. Frank noted that he felt "nostalgic" watching Pete break his record and commented that he was impressed with how fast Pete was running, nine and a half minutes per mile. Frank traversed America much slower, often walking, during his record, but only slept 6 hours a night, which allowed him to cover similar ground at the much slower pace of 11 plus minutes per mile. Throughout Pete's crossing, he would gather local runners to join him promoting health and fitness.
During his attempt he faced many hardships including snow storms, 35 mile per hour winds, and a major motor accident destroying his support vehicle. Several other ultramarathon runners have attempted to break the over 30 year old record, but have failed. A recent attempt by Robert Young was plagued by allegations of cheating, although Young didn't finish the distance anyway. To emphasize accountability, so there was no questions about the legitimacy of the record, Pete ran with a satellite transceiver which records his exact location at all times. In addition, Pete wore two GPS watches—in case one failed—and his team gathered witness signatures, took videos and photos, and assembled media reports daily.