The Western NC challenge was called the South Beyond 6000 (SB6K for short.) I was in my 50s, Anne 10 years my junior, and Jenny 10 years Anne's junior.
After 6 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes, we summited the last peak and grabbed the record. But honestly, it was not my finest hour.
I struggled. The other 2 women were faster than me, my frustration compounded by thunderstorms, legs ripped apart from the necessary bushwacking, difficult orienteering, and deep down fatigue from an average of 42 miles per day and tens of thousands of elevation gain.
Even by the second day, we needed to find a solution. After a heated discussion and many tears atop a mountain, we came up with a solution. Rather than me feeling the pressure of trying to keep up, we would run in reverse birth order. Me, then Anne, and then Jenny.
Ironically, our pace increased. Why? Because the freedom to set the pace released me to escape the "have to keep up pressure" while providing the "I get to lead." It brought out the best in me.
That does not mean that the remaining days were easy. By no means. We all struggled. It was hard. Really hard. But we stuck together and finished.
Sometimes the performance of a team is not contingent on pure talent. Rather, performance is optimized when individual strengths are blended together so that individual weaknesses are covered.
