So some states were easier than others. Still, there was nothing was easy about the feat --or the feet that carried them to the record books.

From mountains like McKinley in Alaska and Whitney in California to lower highpoints like the summits of Florida and Delaware, Denver schoolteacher Mike Haugen and partner Zach Price were on a nonstop quest that ended July 25 when they reached the top of their 50th state highpoint, 13,796-foot Mauna Kea in Hawaii. In doing so, the duo established a new record for the fastest ascent of America’s highpoints with a time of 45 days, 19 hours and 2 minutes. The clock started when he reached the summit of McKinley on June 9.