Trio of women finish ultramarathon quest in N.C.

For Rebekah Trittipoe of Bedford, Jenny Anderson of Lynchburg and Anne Lundblad of Ashville, N.C., there were plenty of obstacles along the South Beyond 6,000 (SB6K) route through the Smoky and Appalachian mountains of western North Carolina.

But none were greater than the trio of women could overcome together.

With ample support from their four-man crew and traveling chef Robin Packer, a mother of six from Goode, they completed the nearly 300-mile quest over 40 mountain peaks of 6,000 feet or more last Tuesday in 6 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes.

“We met our goal,” said Anderson, 35, a Spanish teacher and cross country coach at Virginia Episcopal School. “There were no real disasters at all.”

They never got lost for more than a mile or had a problem meeting up with their crew at the end of the day or along the way.

“No trouble at all,” Anderson said. “They were always there waiting.”

They did encounter a 400-pound black bear at their campsite in the middle of the night after their first day on June 10. But a park ranger frightened it off after it knocked over some pots and pans on their picnic table.

Anderson did break out in hives and experience trouble breathing for about an hour one day after being stung by two bees simultaneously.

And Lundblad, 42, did fall while climbing down a slippery embankment and developed a huge bruise on her tailbone after landing on a large tree root.

“We all fell, but none of us were seriously hurt,” Anderson said.

Trittipoe, 52, experienced the most difficulty of the three, struggling with knee and shin injuries over the last two days. But the group stayed together, walking with her for 12 hours on the final day.

“Our whole goal was to come through as a team,” Anderson said. “It didn’t matter what our time was. It taught us a lot about teamwork and patience … that there is more than looking out for our own individual needs. It was about working as a team and finishing together.”

“They were wonderful,” Trittipoe added of her teammates, “and our crew was very encouraging.”

Her son, Seth, joined Anderson’s husband, Cory, Lundblad’s husband, Mark, and Josh Yeoman, who crewed for David Horton along his record-setting Pacific Crest Trail trek in 2005.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better crew,” Anderson said.

Besides Packer, who catered what seemed like gourmet fare after three or four days of trail food, the women were met by a couple of friends from North Carolina, including ultra record setter Adam Hill, one morning atop Black Balsam. He spent the night up there and woke in time to greet the women with campfire-cooked breakfast burritos and chocolate chip pancakes.

On the first few days, the group was greeted by thunderstorms moments before setting out of camp. As the trek progressed, they persevered through pain and sleep deprivation along steep, technical trails left slippery and nearly impassable at times.

“The trails were a lot rougher than we anticipated,” Anderson said. “They were very aggressive, not just the manways and the bushwhacking, but even the regular trails that were set out.”

One 7.9-mile stretch along the Black Mountain Crest Trail that connected Mount Mitchell — the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet — to Celo Knob took five hours to traverse on the sixth day.

“That was some really crazy technical terrain,” Anderson said.

The descent from Celo Knob down the mountainside was particularly arduous for Trittipoe.

“It was awful for me because I thought my knees were going to explode,” she said. “My shins and knees were totally swollen, the pain was very intense and I was blubbering down the mountain, holding everybody up.

“Seth said, ‘Mom, you’re going to make it, if I have to carry you, you’re going to make it,’” Trittipoe added. “Somehow, I prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I need a miracle,’ and He answered my prayer.”

As painful as it got for Trittipoe, the trio shared an abundance of joy as well.

“We experienced such a wide range of emotions,” Trittipoe said. “Other times, we were just so happy on the trail, we were laughing so hard we’d have to stop until we got our laughing under control.

“It was an experience for sure,” she added. “Looking back, it’s almost like giving birth. You swear you’ll never do it again, but after a while, your mind starts playing tricks on you and you start planning things.”

“I’m already planning my next one,” added Anderson, who is preparing to run the 1,000-kilometer Camino de Santiago across northern Spain, starting in the Pyrenees Mountains, over VES’ spring break next March. “I’m thinking of doing it unsupported because there are so many hostels along that route.”

Thousands of Spaniards take a pilgrimage along that trail every year, between June and August. The fastest time a runner has completed it to date is 19 days, averaging 50K per day.

“I’m hoping for an overall record, men’s and women’s, by averaging 70 or 80K a day,” she said, noting that would take between 12 and 15 days.

On July 11, Anderson will enter the Rattlesnake 50K in Charleston, W.Va., before traveling west with her family to train in the high altitudes of Colorado.

Starting July 4, Lynchburg College graduate Jonathan Basham, who set the Colorado Trail speed record in July of 2006 at 8 days, 13 hours, 28 minutes, will provide crew support for Horton along the same trail. Horton, who inspired Trittipoe and Anderson to begin ultra running, will attempt to establish a new speed standard after Paul Pomeroy broke Basham’s record last July, finishing the 500-mile journey in 8 days, 12 hours, 14 minutes.