Bozeman Magazine

On July 31st, 2011, Jennifer Pharr Davis set the FKT (fastest known time) record on the Appalachian Trail, completing the trail in just 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes—a feat that takes most hikers six months. Hiking an average of 47 miles per day, Davis was the first woman to claim the overall title on the Appalachian Trail.

Since her thru-hike record, which she held for four years, Davis has set out on a new quest—the quest to find out what exactly defines endurance, where it comes from, if gender plays a role, and how we can we harness it to achieve our dreams. THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilience (Viking; On sale: April 10, 2018), aims to answer those questions, and more, through interviews with renowned endurance athletes, fellow record setters, an exercise physiology expert, and through her own accomplishments in the world of endurance hiking, backpacking, and trail running.

THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE is part memoir, part guidebook to hiking, and a timeless manual to achieving your dreams within and outside of the sports world. With a storyteller’s ear for fascinating detail and description, Davis takes readers along as she trains and sets her record, analyzing and trail-testing the theories and methodologies espoused by her star-studded roster of mentors, including:

• Warren Doyle, record holder of the most miles on the trail (36,000) and founder of the Appalachian Trail Institute, is an all-around controversial hiker who exemplifies the importance of avoiding complacency and the necessity of questioning your surroundings and yourself.  

• David Horton, who completed over 160 ultramarathons despite once losing the ability to run due to a freight accident, demonstrates that having a purpose is important to moving forward.

• Scott Williamson illustrates that persistence is key to endurance after he failed five times before finally becoming the first person to complete a continuous round trip of the Pacific Crest Trail in one season.

• Heather Anderson, the first person in history to hold the self-supported records for both the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail simultaneously, further proving that women can find contentment—and femininity—in adventure.  

• Scott Jurek the famed ultrarunner and hiker who eventually defeated Jennifer’s record by just three hours

Through these incredible stories and research, THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE empowers readers to unlock phenomenal endurance and leverage newfound grit to achieve personal bests in everything from sports to the workplace.

Jennifer Pharr Davis is an American long-distance hiker, author of Becoming Odyssa and Called Again, a speaker, a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and an ambassador for the American Hiking Society. She has hiked more than twelve thousand miles on six different continents. Pharr Davis lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, Brew, and their two children.