Edmonds woman sets speed record for hiking Appalachian Trail

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — An Edmonds woman says she has set the unsupported speed record for hiking the Appalachian Trail through 14 states from Main to Georgia.

The Daily Herald of Everett reports that Heather Anderson, who hikes under the name Anish, made the 2,189-mile trek in 54 days, 7 hours and 48 minutes. The unsupported designation comes because she did not rely on outside assistance and instead packed her food, mailing it to food drops along the way and carried her own supplies, water and shelter.

Anderson arrived at the end of the trail in Fannin County, Georgia on Thursday.

She is the first to hold the unsupported record on the AT and the PCT simultaneously. In 2013, she set the unsupported backing speed record for the PCT in 60 days, 17 hours and 12 minutes.

Anderson says she broke the trail's unsupported record of 58 days, 9 hours, 38 minutes set in 2013 by Matthew Kirk.

On July 12, ultra marathoner Scott Jurek, 41, set a supported speed record for the Appalachian Trail in 46 days, 8 hours, 8 minutes, boosted by a team shuttling his stuff.