今日朗读：

Hiker Christian Thomas hit the trails and set a record

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Words: about 290;Time: 5 minutes

语篇导读： 年仅九岁的Christian Thomas完成了美国三条长距离徒步路线，成为取得此成就的最年轻徒步旅行者。

「英语共读」Hiker Christian Thomas set a record

Over the past five years, Christian Thomas has hiked (远足) nearly 8,000 miles, completing the three trails (路线) that make up the Triple Crown of United States hiking. But what makes people even more surprised is this: Christian is just 9 years old!

He didn't set out to become the youngest hiker to complete the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails. It just happened starting shortly after his fifth birthday in April 2013.

"We thought it was going to be like a fun two-week trip," the Colorado fourth-grader said of that first long hike with his mom and stepdad. "And then we just kept going and going." Nine months later, they'd finished the Appalachian Trail. "And then we thought, 'Why not do the other two?'"

So the next year, when Christian was 6, the family spent eight months on the Pacific Crest Trail. He finished the Triple Crown by completing the Continental Divide Trail two months ago.

Other hikers often call out "Hey, buddy!" when they see Christian on the trail, which led to his nickname (昵称), Buddy Backpacker. He is well known in the hiking community.

When hiking, Christian keeps up with schoolwork by listening to educational material on his headphones. He misses his friends, he said, but his Winnie the Pooh bear is "always in my backpack. Sometimes I use him as a pillow."

One time, Christian saw a real bear on the trail.

"I thought it was cute, so I went to pet it," he said, "and my mom pulled me back."

Christian says hiking is fun and "keeps you in shape." He's not sure if many 5- and 6-year-olds are ready for a months-long adventure, but as for other 9-year-olds, he says "lots could do it if they just tried."