Highway 6 ultra runner makes stop in Helper

By John Serfustini

By the time she achieves her goal, she will have single-handedly – correction, bipedally – logged more distance than all the 5K runners in all the charity 5Ks in Carbon County this year.
She’s Aprylle Gilbert, and she is running and walking the entire span of US 6 from San Jose, CA to Provincetown, MA. That’s 3,652 miles, roughly equivalent to 1,100 5Ks. Her charity is to help Catholic Charities Washington United Youth Center in Santa Clara County, CA, to improve after-school programs for underserved kids.
Aprylle is inviting local charities in the towns she visits to run along with her to promote their own causes.
Last Thursday, after 23 days on the road, she arrived in Helper. Aprylle met with a small group of Helperians at the Mining and Railroad Museum and collected a few donations. She also talked about what she had experienced over the previous 636 miles.
Highway 6 was the choice for the transcontinental journey “…because I wanted to avoid the Interstate Highways. Little did I know that I would be going over 8,000 mountain passes,” she said. The combination of elevation and grades have forced her to walk some stretches instead of run them.
The US 6 route means visiting lots of small towns. That’s good and bad. “Each little town has its own character and history,” she said. The downside in some cases is that some small towns are struggling. “I can see the effects that the Interstate is having and it’s sad to see little towns that used to be thriving.”
Mayor Ed Chavez, Councilman Kirk Mascaro and Museum Director Jim Boyd explained that their own town is facing its own challenges as the coal mines begun in the early 20th Century have closed and the old Carbon Power Plant has shut down.
Aprylle has a support staff of one friend on the road who drives a pace car that hauls the camping great. They camp out rather than stay in motels because she wants donors to know that 100 percent of the money collected will go for the charity.
She is receiving logistical, networking and emotional support from the Route 6 Tourist Association.
More information about her cause and ways to donate are on her website, www.Aprylle.com.