New FKT Editor for Australia

Keelan Birch, 26, has been an AURA member since 2020, and hails from Coffs Harbour in NSW. He's been running ultras for a good 7 years now and has developed a passion for the sport through his experiences in the great outdoors. Events and FKTs Keelan completed in 2023 included Coffs Hinterland Round 100km FKT, Point Lookout to Bellingen 72km FKT, Australian Regaining Champs (3rd), Grampians Peaks Trail 100mi, Hume and Hovell, and the Duval Dam Buster. Events Keelan has helped organise in 2023 - because being a participant just isn't enough! - include Washpool World Heritage Trails, Rumble In The Jungle, and the Coffs Harbour Running Festival.

Fastest Known Time is a website that lists routes and, you guessed it, the Fastest Known Time. The website allows unsupported, self-supported and supported styles in either a group or as an individual. There are hundreds of FKTs in Australia ranging from the multi-day Bibbulmun Track to single-push efforts like the Cape to Cape Track. Fastest Known Times surged in popularity in 2020 and 2021 during COVID-19 with many attempts registered each week. We caught up with Keelan Birch who is the new regional editor for the Fastest Known Time in Australia, and find out what it’s all about, and why record keeping for FKTs is vital.

How did you get into this role?

To be honest, I just sent a cold email to a contact on the website and hoped for a reply. I love the concept of FKT and have created a few routes close to Coffs Harbour. I think FKT has enormous potential to continue growing in Australia as we have so many amazing routes. This year I attempted a few FKTs and I was a bit disappointed by their processing time. It turns out that there was no regional editor for Australia and someone in America was processing them. I also saw a few FKTs pop up that were duplicates or were frankly a bit sub-standard. Clearly, it was being approved by someone who didn't know the Australian FKT scene and was time poor. So I emailed FKT and was happy to receive a response back that they were looking for someone to help with processing FKTs in Australia.

What does the role entail?

It’s a volunteer role that I only started about two weeks ago (early December 2023) but have already seen some excellent FKTs being set in Australia. On average, there are about 2-5 FKTs that hit my inbox each week. I’d love to see that reach 5-10 FKTs per week. I’m responsible for reviewing the GPX file, Strava or link, checking the time is correct (FKTs count elapsed not moving time), communicating with the athlete if needed and entering the FKT in the database. It’s not a lengthy process but an important one. 

A similar process happens for when people create Routes. I think it’s important that the Route is special in some way. The FKT guidelines state ‘Not everything is an FKT Route. The route must be notable and distinct enough so that others will be interested in repeating it.’ I also tend to have pretty high standards for what would constitute an FKT route. I’d recommend that if someone is looking to run a new Route and submit it as an FKT that they submit the Route before attempting it. I would hate to not add a Route because it didn't satisfy the FKT Guidelines after someone has already run it!