Yolanda Holder is a professional Ultra Marathon Walker.
In 2019 at the Six Days in the Dome in Milwaukee she set a World & American Age Group Record 413 Miles (60-64). Also, in 2019, Yolanda is the first African American Woman and second African American to earn a US Race Walk Centurion #94 and the oldest person (61 years young) to race walk 100 miles in under 24 hours (23:52:17).
Yolanda’s a 2-time Guinness World Record holder for “Most Marathons Completed in a Calendar Year”, finishing a staggering 106 marathons/ultras in 2010 and breaking her own record in 2012 finishing 120 marathons/ultras. Yolanda is the first American Woman and African American to Run or Walk over 100 marathons in a calendar year and the first woman in the world to ever do it twice.
Yolanda’s accomplishments are amazing, at the 2017 Sri Chinmony Self Transcendence 3100 Mile Race she set a World Record first Pedestrian (walker) finishing in 51 Days, 17 hours and 13 seconds and at the 2014 Ultra Marathon USA & World Championship in Anchorage Alaska met her goal of power walking 400 miles in the Six Day event placing 3rd female and 10th overall. Yolanda is a finisher of six, Six Day Races podium on all six and the American Woman Record holder 10 Day Race with 622 Miles. She has power walker over 540 lifetime marathons/ultras.
Yolanda is a Masters/Senior Athlete at her athletic peak setting and breaking World and American records with no plans on stopping.
Yolanda is also a wife, mother of two grown children, inspirational speaker and author.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://www.yolandaholder.com
Twitter- @WalkingDiva365
Instagram - @yolandaholder
Facebook - @yolanda.holder
The Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race is the world's longest certified footrace. In 1996 Sri Chinmoy created this event as a 2,700-mile race. At the award ceremony that year he declared that the 1997 edition would be extended to 3,100 miles.
On 1st July 2019 Shona left the comfort and safety of her life in the UK to fly to Seattle. After a busy couple of days sorting out food supplies, Shona started her Pacific Crest Trail hike on the 4th of July.
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a 2,650 mile long distance walking trail in the U.S.A. Shona hiked south bound, starting at the Canadian Border – walking through the States of Washington, Oregon and California – until she reached the Mexican Border.
Shona carried all of her kit and camping gear, she passed through towns about once a week to pick up a food resupply, shower, charge her phone etc. It took Shona just under 5 months to completed and she finished in late November 2019.
Why this challenge?
Four years ago, Shona approached her 40th birthday, and admitted to herself that she wasn’t living the life she wanted and she wasn’t doing the adventures she’d dreamed off. She’d been waiting for her circumstances to change but changing they were not.
Shona decided it was time to stop putting her life on hold and take action. Shona hiked the PCT knowing it would be hard. So hard that she’d want to quit many times. But she also knew that she’d love it and be changed by it.
During this podcast episode Shona shares more about her PCT journey and answers questions from the Tough Girl Tribe. Shona also provides top tips and advice to help you make sure you are living the life of your dreams.
Show notes
Listen to the first episode with Shona - Taking on new challenges at 40 & her preparation for thru hiking the Pacific Crest Trail - SOBO in 2019!
July 9, 2019 - https://www.toughgirlchallenges.com/single-post/Shona-Macpherson
Social Media
Website - www.shonafitness.co.uk
Facebook - @shonamacphersoncoaching
Instagram - @walkwildcoach
London-based management consultant who likes to ride her bike far and fast. Previously mostly focused on speed and results, now in search of more adventurous challenges.
Flatlander who loves a good headwind battle, not afraid of a bit of rain, but struggles in the heat, scared of gravel and goes backwards on hills. But… what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so embarked on a number of very hilly cycling challenges in summer 2019, clocking up more elevation in a month than she previously did in a year.
Winner of various TT titles, including Best British All-Rounder (2014), National 12hr TT champion (2015) and both National and World 24hr TT champion (2017). Multiple 24 hour solo circuit wins: Le Mans (2013), Revolve (2017) and Zandvoort (2017) where she also placed in the top 3 overall.
Zwift distance record breaker (2017). Two failed LEJOG record attempts.
Audax UK member since 2015 with Super Randonneur awards (200km, 300km, 400km and 600km) 4 years in a row. First female finisher and top 10 overall London-Edinburgh-London (2017). Third fastest female at Paris-Brest-Paris (2019). First woman and top 10 overall at the 1000km BikingMan Oman unsupported race (2019).
Unfinished business with 1890km Race Around the Netherlands (so returning in 2020).
Also eyeing up some off-road cycling fun and a longer unsupported race for 2020... Currently enjoying giving back to cycling, women’s cycling in particular, by helping others with skills and fitness based training sessions and guiding rides.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://duracellbunnyonabike.com
Melissa has completed the Epic 5 in Hawaii, 3 Ultraman triathlons, and is now the 1st female to have ever completed the UberMan, which she did in October - she also broke the swim record and smashed the previous course record by approximately 31 hours!
During this episode we learn more about the details from the challenge, the high points, the low points, the support of crew members, what the finish was like and how she is getting back to ‘normal life’.
We have been following Melissa’s journey since February 2019, when Melissa did a Facebook Live for the Tough Girl Tribe - this was then turned into a Tough Girl Podcast EXTRA episode.
More about UberMan….
UberMan is the world's most challenging Ultra Triathlon. The 556 mile course goes from the Mists of Avalon to the Snows of Mount Whitney. Starting on Catalina Island, participants swim 21 miles in the open Pacific Ocean to the shores of Palos Verdes. The 400 mile bike route leaves the city of Angels and climbs 20,000 vertical feet before descending to Badwater basin, at 200 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America. From Badwater, athletes run 135 miles through Death Valley before ascending 13,000 feet to the trailhead @ Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the Continental United States.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://rangamel.wordpress.com
Instagram @rangamel
Facebook Melissa Urie
Twitter @rangamel
Read the race report here - RACE REPORT
Emily is a writer, adventurer, climber, and comfort zone smasher. Put on her first international flight at 3 weeks old, she's been addicted to adventure ever since. From wandering the forests of Sweden alone at age nine, to solo trekking in the Himalayas of India, to joining the circus as a professional aerialist, Emily is a big fan of the "just get out there and do it" mentality. She loves inspiring others to go outside, travel, and get curious about everything. As John Muir so aptly put it, "going out is really going in.”
Emily works as a freelance journalist based out of Los Angeles and has written for Outside Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, Mountain Life Magazine, Outdoor Project, Modern Hiker, Territory Supply, The Outbound, Women Who Explore, and many others.
Some of her notable outdoor accomplishments include: hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, backpacking the High Sierra Trail in California and finishing atop Mt. Whitney, trekking the Laugavegur Trail in Iceland, summiting Illiniza Norte in Ecuador, summiting Vinicunca in Peru, hiking the Inca Trail with her mom, solo-trekking the Backbone Trail, climbing Cactus to Clouds in the winter, trail running Yosemite Rim to Rim, and dozens of other high-altitude peaks in the Sierra Nevada and California.
Show notes
Social Media
Find out more about Emily’s writing and photography here: https://brazenbackpacker.com/
and follow on Instagram @brazenbackpacker
Sarah Outen is an adventurer by land and sea, bestselling author and motivational speaker. Keen to encourage people outside and enable young people to access adventure, she is a proud ambassador and patron of a number of charities.
Candid about her own mental health struggles and journey, Sarah is keen to encourage others to seek help and share their vulnerabilities.
In November 2015 Sarah completed her London2London:Via the World expedition, a mammoth attempt to row, cycle and kayak 25, 000 miles around the Northern Hemisphere. The journey took 4.5 years and was all the richer for not turning out exactly as planned.
'Home', the feature film of that journey releases across the UK in October 2019.
*Please be aware that during this podcast we discuss, grief, trauma, and going to dark places. Before you listen to this episode please just make sure that you are in a good space.
Show notes
Social Media
Book - Dare to Do: Taking on the planet by bike and boat
Website - http://www.sarahouten.com
Film - https://www.sarahoutenhome.com/film-screenings
Instagram @sarah_outen_home
Facebook @sarahoutenhome
Twitter @SarahOuten
Rachel, a 49 year old full time gypsy adventurer, a citizen of the world, meditator, cyclist, trekker, chef, scuba diver, yogi, mother, blogger and vlogger.
Her passion is the journey to self discovery through meditation and adventure. Three years ago she gave away nearly all of her belongings (except a bicycle and two small boxes) to live a nomadic lifestyle.
Rachel has just finished the first part of a world bicycle tour that originated in Bangkok, going through Myanmar, southern Thailand, and onto Malaysia and Indonesia. Currently Rachel is cycling through Indonesia.
Three times a year Rachel goes travelling with her 12 year old son—Wexler, they have been on a reforestation project in Haiti, cycling in Denmark, learnt Spanish in Guatemala and gone scuba diving in the British Virgin Islands. In June 2019 Wexler and Rachel hiked the entire Oregon Coast Trail, 400 miles.
Rachel is now a full time adventurer with no address or home. Through blogs, vlogs, and public speaking, Rachel hope to motivate, inspire, and possibly assist others to pursue their own adventures.
Show notes
Social Media
Paula in her own words…
Combining business, adventure and positive psychology expertise - and being the world’s first Adventure Psychologist - I’ve created a tried-and-tested model to develop the wisdom, resilience and growth you need to thrive in these uncertain times.
I am a trainer, facilitator and coach as well as a speaker, author and adventurer. Perhaps best described as a “Performance Catalyst”, my best self at work is when I am empowering and inspiring others – from primary school children to blue-chip leadership teams. In the non-organisational world, I have been described as “a female Bear Grylls only smoother”.
I have done 116 things on my ‘Living Life to the Full’ list and counting, including sailing around the world and skiing to the South Pole. I have written four books and speak internationally at conferences, schools and for charities.
With 20+ years’ experience as a leader, consultant and coach, I believe in humanising business; making work enjoyable, energising and engaging for all involved. Having completed a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Positive Psychology and Coaching, I understand first-hand the power of a positive approach to life.
We are all more capable than we think and more amazing than we realise.
My passion in life is surfacing this in all of us.
Accomplishments
Show notes
Social Media
Website - www.paulareid.com.
Twitter @ThePaulaReid
Instagram @ThePaulaReid
Article title: Exploring the psychology of extended-period expeditionary adventurers: Going knowingly into the unknown
Article reference: PSYSPO_101608
Journal title: Psychology of Sport & Exercise
Article Number: 101608
Corresponding author: Mrs. Paula Reid
First author: Mrs Paula Reid
First published version available online: 22-OCT-2019
Véronique is a French-Canadian ultra-runner living in Singapore. Since her debut in ultra-running races, Véronique love to keep on pushing herself to go farther and beyond what she thinks is possible.
In the summer 2015, she ran 3,010km in 72 days, self-supported across Japan. This is the equivalent of 1 full marathon a day for 72 days! Véronique has raced in Japan (Sakura Michi, 250km), UAE (Salomon Wadi Bih Run, 72 Km ) and in Germany (100 Meilen Berlin).
In November 2017, Véronique came first overall at the 'Melaka Ultra 100' mile race in Malaysia in a time of 21h 24 mins!
Her next big goal is to run the Africa continent from North to South. Approximately 14,000km in 1 year 3 months. Véronique is registered for the "Guinness World Record” and by completing this goal, this will make her the first female to accomplish it!
Show notes
Social Media
Website - www.veroniquerun.com
Instagram - @veroniquerun
Facebook - @veroniquerun
Youtube - Veronique Run
Anna Blackwell is an adventurer, writer, photographer and speaker with a love of the outdoors and pushing her limits. This has led her to pursue numerous adventures, from kayaking across Europe, spending five weeks trekking across the wilderness of Arctic Sweden alone, to walking 1,000 miles solo across France and Spain, and even hitch-hiking to Morocco.
In Anna’s words
This July I set off on a 1,000km solo trek across Arctic and Northern Scandinavia. I started at the Treriksröset (the cairn signifying where Sweden, Norway and Finland meet) and made my way south, following the length of the mountains on the Swedish-Norwegian border.
The expedition was self-supported, solo, and crossed some of Europe's greatest wilderness areas. I carried everything I needed (weighing in at around 25kg) and wild camped most nights. Travelling through such remote areas, I was often going up to four or five days without seeing any other people.
Throughout this expedition I aimed to minimise my environmental footprint to the greatest extent possible, by working with with sustainability-focused organisations, choosing locally sourced food where possible, reducing my plastic waste and leaving no trace in the wilderness. I also opted to travel to my start point using trains and buses rather than taking an internal short-haul flight.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://annablackwell.co.uk
Instagram @annablackwell
Facebook @annablackwelladventurer
Twitter @_annablackwell
Scottish ultra-endurance adventurer Jenny Graham has smashed her way into the Guinness world records by becoming the fastest woman to cycle around the planet. Last summer her ride took her 18,000 miles, over 4 continents, through 16 countries, completing the trip solo and unsupported in just 124days.
To prepare for that challenge Jenny raced some bike packing routes including the Arizona Trail 750, Highland Trail 550, the Cairngorm Loop and the Yorkshire dales 300 and completed a winter LEJOG in four days!
Show notes
Social Media
Website: jennygrahamis.wordpress.com
Twitter: @jennygrahamis
Instagram: @jennygrahamis_
In Lindsey’s words…
I’ve just finished cycling around Britain, connecting with wild swimmers.
Since mermaiding the Thames I have absolutely fallen in love with wild swimming. It makes me feel magically alive and I’ve never known such a welcoming, heart warming community quite like it. I received messages from all over the UK inviting me to swim with them. So, of course I made a plan.
In February, I cycled from Devon to the inaugural Scottish Winter Swimming Championship in Taymouth Marina and connected with wild swimmers en route. It was only meant to be for two weeks, but I was so high on adrenalin for that fortnight that I decided to carry on. And six months later, I finally hung up my dipping cossie and parked my bike
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
— MARK TWAIN
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://www.lindseycole.co.uk
Instagram - @stompycole
Sian Lewis is an award-winning travel and outdoors journalist and blogger who writes for titles including The Independent, Evening Standard, BBC Countryfile and Coast. She is also the editor of Active Traveller and Snow magazines. Her work as an adventurous writer has taken her around the world in the name of a good story and she also edits award-winning blog The Girl Outdoors, www.thegirloutdoors.co.uk, which encourages women to get outside and get adventuring. Her first book, The Girl Outdoors, was published by Bloomsbury in 2018.
Show notes
Social Media
Website www.thegirloutdoors.co.uk
Instagram @sianannalewis
Facebook @thegirloutdoors
Twitter @sianannalewis
Jo in her own words…
My job title is now an Outdoor Instructor and Expedition Leader and since going self-employed I have led 30 expeditions on Kilimanjaro along with numerous other expeditions on foot, 2 wheels and horseback, most at high altitude, all around the world with both charity and private clients.
In the UK I teach and assess the expedition element of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award from Bronze through to Gold as well as leading many a challenge on bike and foot in the UK and Europe. I also help to deliver corporate team building events and expedition training weekends as well as public speaking about my experiences before I discovered the outdoors, Everest, the earthquake and beyond to corporates, schools and groups.
To be honest I never thought I would summit Snowdon even once so becoming the 3rd British woman to reach the true summit of Manaslu, the world’s 8th highest mountain standing at 8163m in September 2013 and then being the 36th British woman to reach the summit of Everest in May 2016 have been huge and unexpected achievements.
I have gone from having severe vertigo and a great ability to say no way too often to facing my fears, saying yes more and turning my life around. I am now on route to complete the 7 summits and continue to raise funds and awareness for children’s mental health charity Place2Be.
*Please note during this episode we do talk about grief and mental health. Please ensure you are in a good place before you listen to this episode.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://www.jobradshaw.co.uk
Facebook - @jobradshawadventurer
Instagram - @_jobradshaw
Twitter - @_jobradsha
Support PLACE2BE - HERE
In October 2018 Laura Marshall became the FIRST solo Australian woman to complete one of the world’s toughest ultra endurance triathlons - the Enduroman Arch to Arc!
In doing so she also broke the world record for fastest woman, non wetsuit, in a time of 81 hours and 28 minutes. This made her the 35th solo person to ever do the event and the 9th woman. She was also the 4th ever person to do the swim leg of the event without a wetsuit.
This gruelling event involves a 140km run from Marble Arch in London to the coast of Dover, a 33km+ swim across the English Channel and a 292km cycle from Calais, France to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
If completing all 3 legs of the event under your own steam wasn’t enough, Laura has also elected to take the traditional approach to swimming across the English Channel in just a swimsuit and swim cap, something that within the realms of this particular event is relatively rare, as most competitors choose to swim in a full length wetsuit for added warmth and buoyancy.
As part of this event Laura is raising awareness and funds for beyondblue, an Australian organisation that helps people affected by anxiety, depression and suicide.
Laura is a former Outward Bound Australia staff member (2004 to 2012). Laura lives in Canberra, ACT, where she works as a secondary school teacher.
Show notes
Social Media
Instagram: @laura.marshall.a2a
Facebook: @LauraMarshallA2A
More about Kat in her own words…
While studying at university, I took an internship in Tokyo and climbed Mt. Fuji for the first time. ‘A wise man climbs Mt. Fuji, a fool climbs it twice’ is a popular Japanese saying… so I climbed it 7 times. From Tokyo to Toronto to London where I’m now based, I’m searching for many of life’s answers, and hoping to find them somewhere along a trail.
Since quitting an office job in 2013, I’ve walked over 12,000km, this has included the Pacific Crest Trail in America (2,700 miles), multiple Camino’s throughout France, Spain and Portugal, as well as walking the Kumano Kodo trail, and completing the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage in Japan. Earlier this year in May I cycled 4,529km, the total length of Japan!
Show notes
Social Media
Website https://followingthearrows.com
Instagram @followingthearrows @katdavisphotography
Guidebooks
Rosie Swale Pope - (MBE) is a legendary global adventurer, author and motivational speaker.
Throughout her life, Rosie has completed numerous marathons in some of the world’s most challenging terrains and has embarked upon many adventures including riding across Chile on horseback and sailing across the globe in a small boat.
In 2003, aged 57, she began a five-year run-around-the-world, travelling 20,000 miles to raise awareness for the early diagnosis of cancer. Rosie is the only person in the world to have completed this solo challenge unsupported, carrying all her belongings in her cart behind her.
Now, at the age of 73, Rosie has taken on an exciting, new challenge: a run of 6,000 miles from Brighton, UK all the way to Kathmandu in Nepal in support of the charity PHASE Worldwide and their work in remote areas of the Himalayas.
Show notes
To follow Rosie’s epic journey and support her campaign visit www.rosieruns.co.uk
Dr. Stacy T. Sims, is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Waikato.
She is an applied researcher, innovator and entrepreneur in human performance, specifically sex differences in training, nutrition, and environmental conditions. She served as an exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist at Stanford University from 2007 to 2012, where she specialized in sex differences of environmental and nutritional considerations for recovery and performance.
Specializing in women's health and performance. She had the opportunity to translate earlier research into consumer products and a science-based layperson's book written to explain sex differences in training and nutrition across the lifespan. Both the consumer product companies and the book challenged the existing dogma for women in exercise, nutrition, and health outcomes.
Her contributions to the international research environment and the sports nutrition industry has established a new niche in sports nutrition; and established her reputation as the expert in sex differences in training, nutrition, and health.
As a direct result, she has been named as one of the to 50 visionaries of the running industry (2015), one of the top 40 women changing the paradigm of her field (2017), one of the top four visionaries in the outdoor sport industry (2017), and one of the top four individuals changing the landscape in triathlon nutrition (2017).
Stacy is the author of ROAR - How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life.
Stacy resides in Mount Maunganui with her husband and young daughter.
Show notes
Social Media
Facebook @drstacysims
Instagram @drstacysims
Take a Listen to Stacy on Sparta Chicks Radio - #99 Dr Stacy Sims on How to Work With Your Body, Not Fight Against It
Pip has two world first endurance records, she is the winner of multiple international yacht races and has over twenty years of experience ocean racing!
We first spoke with Pip in 2017, when she shared more about her early years, growing up, getting into sailing as well as her passion for the sport. She also shared more about doing the 3 Peaks Yacht Race as part of an all female team and winning the race in 2016.
We pick up with Pip where we left off. Pip shares more about going back to do the 3 Peaks Yacht Race in 2017, but this time as a pair, making the challenge even more extreme!
Pip explains more about the Vendee Ocean Race and why this has been a dream of her’s which has been 10 years in the making. Pip goes into detail about her preparation and training as well as answering quick fire questions at the end. I am so exited to be following Pip as she chases her dream of breaking the women’s record while sailing solo around the world in the ultimate 3 month solo ocean race - The Vendee Ocean Race 2020.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://www.piphareoceanracing.com
Instagram - @piphareoceanracing
Facebook - @PipHareOceanRacing
Donate - https://www.gofundme.com/f/pip-hare-ocean-racing-vendee-globe-campaign
Alice Morrison, is a Scottish Adventurer, currently based in Morocco. After a childhood spent running around the African Bush, she was sent to boarding school in Edinburgh where she learned Latin but no decorum. She studied Arabic and Turkish at University which has led to a long love affair with the Middle East.
Adventuring had been something she had always done part time until in her mid-forties destiny in the shape of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, intervened. His cuts made her redundant and she gleefully burned her briefcase, and headed off for a life in the unknown. She has plunged through a number adventures including the Tour D’Afrique when she raced from Cairo to Cape Town on a bike; Atlas to Atlantic, a world first trek from the highest point of North Africa straight across the Atlas mountains to the sea; and the Marathon Des Sables, the toughest footrace on earth, six marathons across the Sahara desert in six days.
“If I can do it, anyone can,” she says, “You just have to set your sights firmly on your goal and then pursue it with demonic persistence ignoring pain, humiliation and despair along the way. It is always worth it!”
Show notes
Social Media
New Book just out! My 1001 Nights
Website : www.alicemorrison.co.uk
Twitter: @aliceoutthere1
Instagram: @aliceoutthere1
Facebook: @AliceHunterMorrisonAdventures
A wife and mother whose life was going downhill when she was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis - an inflammatory bowel disease. With an encyclopaedic knowledge of every public toilet, bush or tree to dive behind, and after numerous extreme dietary regimes, Caroline elected to have her large intestine removed, and to live with a permanent ileostomy.
The decision she made then, and those she’s made since, have brought her face-to-face with some tough obstacles and hard decisions to make. No-one truly realises their own resilience until they are put in difficult situations. Motivated to learn to swim by her children, her enthusiasm for triathlon was lit after meeting Ironman world champion, Chrissie Wellington.
Caroline has turned her life around from being a self-confessed ‘couch potato’ to a tough ‘can do’ individual who competes in– Ironman triathlons.
Show notes
Social Media
Website www.ironostomy.co.uk
Facebook -@Ironostomy
Twitter - @carolinebramwel
You can also listen to Chrissie on the Tough Girl Podcast - HERE
Jasmin Paris is a mother, long distance fell runner, small animal vet and research scientist, who was launched into the media spotlight in January this year when she won the 268-mile Montane Spine race outright, breaking the overall record by 12 hours, and beating her nearest rival by 15 hours.
Jasmin was born in Manchester in 1983, and brought up between the Peak District, UK, and Šumava, Czech Republic. She studied veterinary science at Liverpool University (2002-2008).
Although very active outdoors throughout childhood, it was not until 2008, whilst working for a year as a small animal vet in Glossop that she started fell running. In 2015, Jasmin finished first lady and second overall at the infamous Dragon’s Back race, and the same year she won the British Fellrunning Championship for the first time.
In 2016, she gained international recognition by winning the Skyrunning Extreme Series, and the same year she broke records for the three classic UK 24-hour hill challenges. In 2017, Jasmin gave birth to her daughter Rowan. She returned to racing by winning the British Fellrunning Championship in 2018, and thereafter the Spine in 2019.
Between 2015 and 2019, Jasmin completed a PhD studying the role of the RNA-methylation reader protein YTHDF2 in acute myeloid leukaemia. She is currently working as a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.
Show notes
Social Media
Blog - http://jasminfellrunner.blogspot.com
Twitter - @JasminKParis
Sharon is a member of North York Moors AC and became a serious runner in 1994 when she completed her first 100km and 24 hour race, winning gold in the National Championships at both events, she is still the only person to take both titles in the same year.
Sharon has represented Great Britain for 18 years, on 27 occasions, winning several medals as well as further National Championship titles.
Towards the end of her international career Sharon progressed to longer and more extreme races. In 2011 she was ranked World Number 1 for 6 days on the road with her British Record of 750km, a race she won outright as the first person.
In the same year Sharon broke the Guinness World Record for the furthest distance run on a treadmill in 7 days. Her distance of 833km added over 100 miles (160km) to the existing female record and nearly 50 miles (80km) to the men’s record. It is rare that a female world record is better than the male world record in athletics!
In October 2016, Sharon had run 186 ultras, 114 marathons and 119 off-road races of near marathon distance, some 419 events of 24 miles or further.
Sharon has raced across deserts such as the Libyan Challenge, Ocean Floor Race and Badwater Ultra-marathon. She has done multi stage races such as Marathon des Sables, Grand to Grand Ultra, Fire and Ice 250km, Trans-Alpine from Germany to Austria, Switzerland and Italy, Verdon Canyon, Al-Andalus Ultra Trail and Trans-Slovenia (winter edition).
During this podcast, Sharon shares more about her early life, how she got into running, and how running has changed her life. She shares more about the planning and preparation that goes into a World Record challenge like JOGLE. Sharon is super down to earth and full of top tips and advice to motivate and inspire you!
Show notes
Social Media
Website - http://www.sharongayter.com/index.htm
Book “The Clock Keeps Ticking” - buy here
Connected Episodes to listen to Mimi Anderson - Endurance Runner & Multiple Guinness World Record Holder! December 22, 2015
Amy Hughes - Running 521 Miles on a treadmill in a week! November 3, 2016
Josephine is a a French-born ex oilfield engineer turned sports and fitness industry professional. Josephine started getting into longer distance challenges while she was in her final year of university, when she took on the Marathon des Sables desert ultra-marathon in 2012. Since then she has cycled down the US West Coast from Seattle to Santa Barbara, ran and hiked, 3,000km across New Zealand, followed by cycling across Sardinia and Taiwan!
Josephine has a passion for ultra running, outdoor adventuring and travelling. She enjoys spending her free time hiking through the hills, running on dirt trails and swimming in the ocean – the closer she is to nature the happier she feels. She currently lives in Indonesia where she is starting a new business, Outventure Hub which is a platform full of resources to help passion-driven outdoor sports entrepreneurs grow successful, long-lasting businesses. At the same time, she continues to explore the world through long human-powered journeys - which she shares on her blog -Spark of Adventure!
Show notes
Social Media
Blog - www.sparksofadventure.com
Instagram- @josephineanselin
Website: www.outventurehub.com
Twitter : @outventurehub
Facebook: @outventurehub
We first spoke with Kiko on the 1st May 2018, where she shared more about her solo and unsupported row, 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Kiko tells more about her life, the challenges she faced and overcame, from being diagnosed with Cushing's Disease and having brain surgery only months before the Atlantic row. Kiko achieved the impossible, she broke the women's record by 5 days and crossed the ocean in 49 days, 10 hours and 13 seconds. Kiko had never rowed before deciding on this challenge!
In this Tough Girl Extra podcast episode, we catch up with Kiko to find out what’s she’s been up to, how she decided on her next challenge - Kik Plastic, how she funds her life, what motivates her and what the future looks like.
Kiko does not hold back and shares all the details, she’s authentic and as real as they come! Enjoy this episode!
Show notes
Social Media
Website: www.kikomatthews.co.uk
Twitter: @Kikomatthews
Instagram: @kikomatthews