While she’s been captivated by the Appalachian Trail since she was young, Elizabeth Anjos, who ran cross country at Greeneville College, mostly sticks to road racing.

But in 2015 when Scott Jurek broke the AT record, she started thinking more seriously about going for the record for the 2,190 miles stretching from Georgia to Maine, most recently set by Belgian dentist Karel Sabbe, who did it in 41 days, 7 hours, and 39 minutes. She had ideas between that mark and Jennifer Pharr Davis’ 2011 record, which still stands as the women’s record, of 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes.

“Before 2015, my only experience with multi-day hikes was when I was a kid,” Anjos said. “It took years of planning, and it wasn’t until summer of 2019 that I started to get out for more multi-day efforts like days on sections of the Appalachian Trail or a six-day hike in November.”

Anjos, who gave herself the nickname “Mercury” after the wing-footed greek god and a classical piece by Gustav Holtz, decided to pick a year (2020) and give the record a shot. She was coached and mentored by Warren Doyle, who has hiked the trail 18 times and set the first official speed record in 1973. He also would crew her the entire way from Georgia to Maine.

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One of the big decisions PCT thru-hikers have to make before choosing a start date is which direction they want to travel along the trail in. PCT thru-hikers are known as either a NoBo or SoBo hiker.

“NoBo” is short for northbound. A northbound PCT thru-hiker will start from the southern terminus at Campo, California along the US/Mexico border and hike north towards Canada. On the AT, NoBo hikers travel from Georgia to Maine.

“SoBo” is short for southbound. A southbound PCT thru-hiker will start from the northern terminus at the US/Canadian border in Washington and hike south towards Mexico. On the AT, SoBo hikers travel from Maine to Georgia.

The direction in which a thru-hiker travels along the PCT all depends on the type of hike they want to have. If a hiker is looking for a more traditional and social hike, they’ll want to travel as a NoBo hiker. If the hiker wants to escape the crowds and have a more solitary experience, they’ll often choose to travel SoBo.

There are many factors to take into consideration when a hiker is choosing the direction of their travel along the PCT. Hikers have to consider things like their desired start and finish date, weather, their hiking skill level, water availability along the trail, resupply stops and access to the Canadian border.

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