Jennifer Pharr Davis, Hendersonville native and Asheville business owner, has won the outstanding performance of the year for women by UltraRunning magazine, setting a record time for traversing the Appalachian Trail. She covered the 2180-mile trail, which runs from Mount Katahdin, Maine to Springer Mountain, Georgia in 46 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes, averaging nearly 47 miles per day. The magazine names the North American ultra runners of the year based on the results of a panel of 22 race organizers from all regions of North America that submit ballots each year. An ultramarathon is generally defined as any race longer than a 26.2-mile marathon. There were 606 ultramarathon races held in North America in 2011.
A graduate of Samford University, Jennifer Pharr Davis completed her first Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2005. Since then, Pharr Davis has hiked over 11,000 miles on six continents, completing the Pacific Crest Trail, Colorado Trail, Long Trail, Foothills Trail, Bibbulmun Track, GR-20, Haute Route, Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, West Highland Way, Inca Trail, and a summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. She is a member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Jennifer is the author of Becoming Odyssa, her own story of her first full hike on the Appalachian Trail. She is also the subject of 46 Days: Keeping up with Jennifer Pharr Davis on the Appalachian Trail, which chronicles the daily trials and triumphs of her record-setting thru-hike as written by her husband, Brew Davis. Pharr Davis resides in Asheville, NC with her husband and hiking companion, Brew. For more information, please visit www.BlueRidgeHikingCo.com.
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