One year ago, professional American trail runner Michelino Sunseri of Driggs, Idaho, made a briefly-successful Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempt at Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, covering the 21-km round-trip trail with 2,100m of vertical gain in two hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds. But exactly one year later, on Sept. 2, 2025, Sunseri received a guilty verdict in federal court for shortcutting the FKT route–a criminal offence.
According to his Strava upload, Sunseri took Old Climber’s Trail during his descent, a route used previously by mountaineers but marked closed for revegetation, to avoid a switchback and shorten his route by more than half a kilometre. Days after his attempt, the 33-year-old’s moment of glory ended abruptly when the National Park Service (NPS) pushed criminal charges against him for violating a hikers’ code restricting trail use–a Class B misdemeanour, punishable by up to six months in jail and a US$5,000 fine.
The trial lasted two days in May, followed by a three-month deliberation by federal judge Stephanie Hambrick, who issued her verdict last week. Sentencing will come at a later date; while jail time will not be imposed, Sunseri could still face a fine or a ban from the park.
A rejected FKT
Unsurprisingly, fastestknowntime.com did not ratify Sunseri’s time, which would have beaten the previous speed record set by Andy Anderson in 2012 by more than two minutes. “Based on our conversation with the NPS and in accordance with our own guidelines, we have decided to reject Sunseri’s submission,” site editor Allison Mercer told irunfar.com. “We don’t condone anything that is against the law.”
Jenny Lake district ranger Chris Bellino revealed that Sunseri’s high profile influenced the decision to pursue charges. “We needed to send a message,” Bellino said during the trial.
No penalty for Kilian Jornet
Sunseri’s FKT Strava upload included a detailed account of his experience and reasoning for cutting the course. “Running up the very last uphill of the route, I made the decision to cut the last switchback and avoid the Congo line of hikers that would be heading up Lupine Meadows Trailhead,” he wrote. “If I had to make this choice again, I would 100 per cent make the exact same choice. If anyone has a problem with that, they can go ahead and tell Kilian Jornet that his time doesn’t count, and then they can go run this route to the best of their ability and beat all of our times. Or fight me. Whatever.”
According to Outside, Spain’s mountain and trail running GOAT Jornet, who held the Grand Teton mark briefly before Anderson, had used the same shortcut during his attempts–but faced no criminal charges. Fastestknowntime.com flagged his run due to the shortcut, noting it “is not allowed by the National Park, but is common practice in Europe.” The NPS later officially closed the shortcut, posting a sign that read: “Closed for regrowth; shortcutting causes erosion.”
Appealing the verdict
Sunseri’s legal team is appealing the verdict, arguing that the trail was not marked as closed in the downhill direction. “[The ruling] reifies the enormous claims of power by park superintendents to write federal criminal law,” Pacific Legal attorney Michael Poon told Outside. “This is well beyond any power the Constitution contemplates for inferior officers—those not confirmed by the Senate—to have.” All plea deals offered to Sunseri required him to admit guilt or face a ban from Grand Teton National Park.
Sunseri has also teased a documentary covering the controversial FKT and criminal charges. The North Face athlete has even started a petition encouraging public support for dropping the criminal charges. “These mountains mean everything to Michelino,” Pacific Legal stated. “Agreeing to give up such an integral part of his life because of a law he didn’t know he was breaking was unthinkable.”
