Kate has cycled a distance greater than twice around the world at the Equator. On August 16th 2010 she became the first person to cycle an unbroken line from Africa’s most westerly to its most easterly points; from Pointe des Almadies, Senegal to Cape Hafun, Puntland, Somalia.
Cycling 22,040 km over ten months, Kate’s Breaking the Cycle in Africa Expedition was not only a physical quest but an odyssey to highlight the development needs and activities of war-torn and poverty-stricken nations.
Cycling through twenty countries, Kate aimed to find out what is being done to give a ‘leg up’ rather than a ‘hand out’ – to shine a positive light on the issues, cultures and geography of Africa.
Kate has two earlier world firsts under her belt – the Trans-Siberian Cycle Expedition (1993) when she became the first woman to cycle across the new Russia unsupported (aiding the children of Chernobyl), and the 25,000km Great Australian Cycle Expedition (2004/05) which included the first bicycle crossing of the Canning Stock Route by a woman.
In June 2019, Kate completed another original expedition when she became the first person to cycle the entire Namibian coastline, a 1621km sand cycling expedition from the mouth of the Kunene River on the Angolan border to the Orange River mouth on the South African border.
Kate’s latest challenge, Breaking the Cycle South Pole, will result in the first bicycle crossing of the Antarctic continent via the South Pole (2020).
The Breaking the Cycle education programme aims to help prepare our future leaders to make informed decisions to create a better world. Students across the globe can follow her preparatory activities and Antarctic expedition and partake in the Breaking the Cycle Education learning modules and lessons with the end goals of creating their own projects.
Show notes
Social Media
Visit - www.BreakingtheCycle.education and sign up to the newsletter!
Twitter: @Leeming_Kate
In 2016 Sophie Rooney set off with the bold intention of becoming the first woman to run the length of Scandinavia. From Nordkapp (the northernmost point of mainland Europe) to the German border with Denmark (3000 km south) carrying everything she needed on her back.
Initially accompanied by a fellow trail runner, Sophie finds herself thrown into a solo adventure running through some of the most rugged scenery Europe has to offer.
Heading out to Norway, bears are top of Sophie’s worries. However, she is soon to find that these big grizzly creatures would be the least of her concerns.
In the first month alone having to battle extreme fatigue, dehydration, relentless bog, hunger and eventually illness, the odds are quickly stacked against her.
However, not willing to give in Sophie pushes on, often against the advice she has received from people back home. In doing so she finds herself on a journey of self-discovery which creates memories that will last a lifetime.
Listen to Sophie on the Tough Girl Podcast as she shares more about this incredible journey.
Show notes
Social Media
Blog - DaringMightyThings.Blog
Facebook @thesophierooney
Instagram @rooneysophi
Twitter @thesophierooney
Book: Rundinavia: Running 3000km through Scandinavia
Jacki Hill-Murphy MA, FRGS is an explorer, teacher, film maker and speaker and has spent the past few years exploring and filming some of the most inhospitable and remote places on earth. There are many reasons why she loves being an explorer including gathering memorable experiences that last forever recorded on film and in writing, pushing herself to the limit and being loosed from her cultural moorings.
Recreating the Journeys of the Early Women Explorers Project
Jacki has recreated the journeys of:
Isabella Godin, the first women down the Amazon in 1769. This was done by travelling down the River Bobonaza in Ecuador and onto the River Pastaza in Peru in a dugout canoe and investigating the real truth behind her story at each landmark.
Mary Kingsley, who climbed Mount Cameroon in Africa in 1894 by a new route and nearly perished from the shear enormity of the the undertaking.
Isabela Brookes, who died in the Llanganates in Ecuador in 1912. This was part of the ‘Search for Gold’ expedition that she organised with Ken Hames of BBC Beyond Boundaries as survival leader.
Isabella Bird, who crossed the Digar-La Pass in Ladakh on a yak in 1889. Jacki relived every aspect of Isabella’s book during her 150 mile trek which included finding the house she stayed in and having tea with the King of Ladakh.
Kate Marsden who undertook a gruelling journey by horse, sledge and cart thousands of miles across Siberia to take relief to the lepers in 1892. Jacki replicated her journey as closely as possible on buses, trains and boats.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - www.jackihill-murphy.co.uk
Twitter: @jackihillmurphy
Director of Under The Sky CIC www.undertheskyevents.org
Sonya is a 42 year old Canadian who is currently hiking across Canada on the longest multi-use recreational trail in the world with her partner Sean.
The 24,000 km long Great Trail stretches from Cape Spear, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia, and from Edmonton, Alberta to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories.
They began their journey in Cape Spear, Newfoundland on 1 June 2019 and hiked just over 3,000 km to Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec before the winter arrived. They will head back to the trail in spring, and estimate they will complete their journey in fall of 2022.
Sonya's love of hiking, camping, and the outdoors began as child during multiple school trips into the wilderness. She built on these experiences in university, where she studied Conservation Biology and Forestry, and spent as much time as possible outside, doing field research on forest songbirds.
Her love of long-distance hiking began with Ontario's 900 km long Bruce Trail, and grew when she hiked the 800 km Camino Frances in Spain with Sean in 2016.
Together Sonya and Sean hiked across France on the Via Podiensis (GR 65) in 2017, and along Newfoundland's East Coast Trail in 2018. After that they decided to make hiking a more central part of their lives, and after selling the house, donating most of their possessions, and leaving behind Sonya's desk job, they did a warm-up hike along the Camino Portuguese in early 2019 and then began their adventure on the Great Trail.
As they hike, their goal is to share positive images and stories of their travels across Canada to showcase the amazing and diverse people, places, history, and landscapes that make up this country.
By sharing their passion for birds, hiking, and nature in person, on their blog, and through social media they hope to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds, but especially youth, to get outside, explore, and connect to nature through birding and Citizen Science.
Show notes
Social Media
Website: www.comewalkwithus.online. (has links to blogs for our hikes across Canada, the Camino Frances, Via Podiensis, and East Coast Trail)
Facebook: @WalkWithUsAcrossCanada
Twitter: @TransCanadaWalk
Instagram:@comewalkwithusonthegreattrail
Sunshine People was set up to highlight the changes in our society and the need to stay connected through kindness. It has never been as important in our education and leadership with the shift towards technology to keep human connection at the forefront of our conversations.
Set up after her partner died on a charity cycle challenge the founder, Nahla Summers completes a challenge each year and asks people to show their support not by donating money to a charity but by doing an act of kindness for a stranger instead.
She had started by doing smaller challenges just asking her friends and family to do the acts of kindness. What started to emerge was a wave of kindness stories that was changing hearts and minds. Ultimately, changing the way people saw the world and it inspired her to keep going and make her challenges even bigger.
In 2018 Nahla cycled 3,000 miles across America after purchasing her bike just six weeks prior. She is a woman who understand the power of the mind and a ‘can do’ attitude.
2019 she walked from Swanage, Dorset to Gretna Green 500 miles visiting schools along the way promoting kindness through speaking, workshops and more sunshine people events. She promotes the ties that kindness and a higher emotional intelligence and wellbeing has on society and wants to promote this from the bottom up.
2020 will see Nahla take on 20 challenges in 20 countries. With a dedicated social media team and cinematographer on board. A film will be produced and you will be able to follow the progress and antics of the challenges through social media.
All the challenges will be based on the principal of kindness. Feed 100 people with £10, a day of free listening, give 100 hugs, build a well and so on. The idea is start the biggest global movement towards kindness.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - www.acultureofkindness.co.uk
Website - www.sunshinepeople.org.uk
Kickstarter Campaign - Find out more HERE!
For any organisations to join up withe the 1 million acts of kindness they simply need to fill out this form.
Instagram - @sponsorkindness
Twitter - @sponsorkindness
Facebook - @sponsorkindness
YouTube @SunshinePeople
We first spoke with Mimi in December 2015, where she shared more about her early life, how she got into endurance running.
During the first episode we go into more depth about some of the bigger challenges she has done, for example breaking the world record for fastest women running JOGLE (John O’Groats to Lands End - 840 miles) in the UK in 2008.
(This record has since been broken in 2019 by Sharon Gayter - You can listen to Sharon share more about this on the Tough Girl Podcast.)
“The only way of finding the limits of
the possible is by going beyond them
into the impossible”
During this episode we catch up with Mimi and find out what’s she’s been up to since. We talk in detail about her dream of running across America, we talk about fears and failure and having to let go of running and try new sports.
Mimi talks really openly and honestly during this episode, I had a tear in my eye when I was recording it and a tear in my eye when I edited it.
You have been warned it does get emotional!
Show notes
- Quick update from Mimi
Social Media
Website - http://www.marvellousmimi.com
Instagram @marvellousmimi
Facebook @MarvellousMimi
Twitter @MarvellousMimi
Bruna is a dedicated adventure sport explorer.
Bruna has solo-climbed the tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere (Aconcagua, 23,000 ft), whitewater rafted the entirety of the Grand Canyon (226 river miles), and sailed across half of the Pacific Ocean, 6,100 nautical miles!
During this podcast Bruna shares more about her early years, how she got into hiking and how her love of adventure has evolved. Bruna shares stories from hiking in the mountains and kayaking down rivers.
We also learn more about Conquer a new website to connect adventurers to new challenges!
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://brunaadventures.weebly.com
Sign up for Conquer - http://launch.conquersignup.com/early
Beth in her own words….
I’ve traveled a lot and have had what many would consider some pretty adventurous trips.
I’ve completed (twice) the 25-day, 220-mile Snowman Trek in Bhutan (one of the most difficult treks in the world), climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and reached the top at 19,341 feet, finished marathons in Hawaii, Tokyo, Portland and Seattle.
I ran my first marathon at 50, ran five marathons that year (including two back-to-back marathons where one was an ultra at 31 miles), ran the Seattle Quadzilla (four marathons in four days) and have qualified for the Boston Marathon twice.
I’m currently working on my next book, Be Bold: Discover Your Best Self Through Travel and Adventure.
I’ve also written a guide For Women Traveling to India.
In 2019, I ran the Epic5 Ultra (5 ultras in 5 days on 5 Hawaiian islands).
In 2020, I am running the 4 Deserts which consists of running 155 miles over six days in four deserts–the Gobi, the Namib, the Atacama and Antarctica.
Show notes
Social Media
Personal Website - https://wanderlustandlipstick.com
Website Wander Tours- https://wandertours.com
Be Bold Podcast - http://beboldpodcast.com
Facebook - @ShesBoldPodcast
Instagram - @wandergal @bethwhitwa
Helen shares more about her journey into cycling as well as the different challenge she’s undertaken.
In September 2015, Helen took her first foray into multi-day, solo bike touring by cycling the classic route from Lands End to John O’Groats (LEJOG). Helen cycled a distance of 1,000 miles in 13 days!
In January 2016, Helen met Mike on Tinder! Through a mutual love of cycling and wanting to travel the world. They started planning a cycle trip around the world! After moving in together, working multiple jobs to save money. They started their adventure on the 4th April 2017. They returned in August 2018, married, completely in love with the world and one another! They rode over 30,000 km, through 30 countries. Helen shares more about the planning and preparation as well as the challenges of being on the road and what she learned from the experience.
Helen also shares more about her next big challenge in 2020! It’s a BIG challenge!!!!!
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://helenlangridge.com
Twitter - @HelenCycling
Instagram - @helen.langridge
Chris is a wife, mother, and business owner who loves to get her hands dirty and feet wet. Her adventurous spirit shines through in her work as a writer, speaker, trainer, and consultant. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, teenage son, and two labs, Winston and Kiya.
Chris and her husband Marty became the first American married couple to ski without guide, resupply or other assistance to the South Pole and became Guinness World Record holders.
When not outdoors playing in the wild, you’ll find Chris leading creative discussions in corporate conference rooms and at off-site locations around the country.
Show notes
Social Media
Website - https://chrisfagan.net
Instagram @chriscfagan
Twitter @chriscfagan
Facebook @chriscfagan
Youtube @3belowzeroexpedition
Book - The Expedition: Two Parents Risk Life and Family in an Extraordinary Quest to the South Pole (She Writes Press, September 3, 2019)
Nienke in her own words…
I am an equine veterinarian and have travelled the world pursuing my career.
Although I have always been an active person I found the love for sports later in life and ended up reasonably good at it! I dreamt of becoming a professional athlete on the mountain bike and as an adventure/multi-sport racer and with the belief of my coaches I starting racing elite in 2013. I was however still working full time as a veterinarian and I ended up overtrained with a serious back injury which put a halt to my sporting aspirations in 2016.
I couldn’t really let go of what I was so passionate about and although running was not an option with the persistent pain I was feeling in my legs, I started to focus on mountain bike adventures.
This led to the dream of traversing the Great Himalaya Trail by mountain bike through Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan.
The first leg was Nepal which I completed in December 2019 achieving a world first by mountain biking the Great Himalaya trail from Hilsa in the West to Phaplu in the east covering 1700kms, 85000m ascend and around 15 passes between 3500m-5000m with two passes over 5000m high.
Show notes
Social Media
Challenge Website - https://saikalako.com
Personal Blog - https://nienkeventures.blogspot.com
Fenella shares more about her journey to becoming a professional triathlete. We learn more about her childhood and growing up, her loves of sports and competition. Fenella, also shares more about what day to day life is like, we go into training, recovery, nutrition, dealing with injury and the pressure to perform.
“Triathlon is achieving the unbelievable and pushing yourself beyond limits, to find inner power in the drive for success”
Show notes
Social Media
Website www.trifenella.co.uk/
Instagram @fenella.alicia
Facebook @Fenella-Langridge-Triathlon
Twitter @Fenella_Alicia
Kathryn Bertine is an author, athlete, activist and documentary filmmaker. During her pro career in cycling, she was a three-time Caribbean Champion, six-time national champion of St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) and raced five years on pro circuit with four UCI domestic and World Tour teams Colavita, Wiggle-Honda, BMW and Cylance Pro Cycling. Now retired from professional racing, Bertine serves as Trek’s Ambassador for Equality in Cycling.
Off the bike, she is a filmmaker, activist, journalist and author of three nonfiction books, All the Sundays Yet to Come, As Good As Gold, and The Road Less Taken. From 2006 through 2012, Bertine was a columnist, author and senior editor for ESPN. When she pitched a documentary film on women’s pro cycling to ESPN in 2012, they rejected the proposal. So Bertine decided she would make it herself. After a two-year labor of love and crowdsourcing adventures, in 2014, HALF THE ROAD: The passion, pitfalls and power of women’s professional cycling was released. It won five film festivals, debuted in 16 nations, scored international distribution and successfully brought the hammer down on the corruption and sexism in sports. Half the Road is now available on iTunes, Vimeo, Amazon Prime and DVD. Five years later, she continues to receive royalties on a film ESPN said no one would watch.
As an advocate for equality in women’s sports, Bertine then started the social activism movement Le Tour Entier in an effort to bring parity to women’s professional road cycling, starting with the Tour de France. She and her team succeeded, and women’s field was included in 2014 with the addition of La Course by Tour de France. In 2017, she founded and serves as CEO for Homestretch Foundation, which provides free housing to female professional athletes struggling with the gender pay gap. Bertine was featured on the cover of Bicycling Magazine and profiled in Outside Magazine for her platforms of implementing change in the world.
As an activist, Bertine continues to serve as a public speaker/lecturer on equality and advocacy. She shares her journey and her message—that through passion, disruption, opportunity and focus, anything is possible and we’re all capable of effecting change—with corporations, universities and other professional outlets. She is currently at work on her fourth book.
Show notes
Social Media
CEO, Homestretch Foundation: www.HomestretchFoundation.org
Author/Activist/Pro Cyclist: www.kathrynbertine.com
Documentary Filmmaker: www.HalfTheRoad.com
@kathrynbertine
@halftheroad
@letourentier
@HomestretchFdn
@kathrynbertine
@halftheroad
@letourentier
@HomestretchFdn
Kristina shares more about her journey into running and how she ended up becoming the World Record holder for - 48 hour treadmill running! Kristina is an introvert by nature, but she asked herself the question; “What can I do with this ability to run?”.
In 2015, Kristina took it upon herself to challenge her own personal fears and prejudices. Kristina made the decision to run alone across Iran, a distance of 1,840 kilometres.
In the process, Kristina, became the first women to have run across Iran. She was running an average of 37 kilometres per day. She started in Bazargan by the Turkish border and finished in Bajgiran on the north-eastern border, the run took her 59 days to complete.
Kristina filmed the journey and created a film called: Alone Through Iran - 1144 Miles of Trust.
During this podcast, we will learn more about Kristina, her life, the challenges she has faced, how she has overcome failure, how she set a world record for treadmill running, as well as life on the road while running across Iran. We also talk about kindness, learning how to say no and why you have to be yourself.
Show notes
Social Media
Personal Website - https://palten.se/en/start-en/
Website Alone through Iran - https://www.alonethroughiran.com
Facebook @kristina.palten
Instagram @kristina_palten
Emily is an ocean advocate, skipper, international public speaker and advisor on issues relating to our ocean, her goals are around shifting mindsets and making changes for our future society.
Emily is on a mission to inspire and facilitate a community of change makers through her organisation eXXpedition. This will be done by training athletes and celebrities to be impactful advocates on ocean issues.
Emily believes in developing upstream solutions to the ocean plastic issue by working with corporate partners, scientists and government bodies. During this podcast we talk more about eXXpedition, its formation, plans and goals.
Emily has previously been on the Tough Girl Podcast (July 12th 2016), where she shared more about her early life and career.
https://www.toughgirlchallenges.com/single-post/Emily-Penn
Show notes
Social Media
Website - www.emilypenn.co.uk
Instagram - @missemilypenn
Twitter: @emilypenn
eXXpedition - All women's voyages to make the unseen seen, from the #toxics in our bodies to the #plastics in our seas.
eXXpedition is a Community Interest Company and not-for-profit organisation that runs pioneering all-female sailing research expeditions to investigate the causes of and solutions to ocean plastic pollution.
Founded in 2014, they have run expeditions all over the world. Previous scientific research has highlighted the endemic nature of micro plastics within our ocean environments globally.
Their focus now is to advance a better understanding of the plastics issue as a whole and to work with industry to pinpoint solutions and policy at a global level by addressing knowledge-gaps and delivering evidence to inform effective solutions.
Website - https://exxpedition.com
Twitter - @eXXpedition
Instagram - @exxpedition_
Facebook - @eXXpeditionCIC
Youtube - eXXpedition
On January 1, 2020, walking therapist Carmen Rendell will leave her childhood home in Weston-super-Mare, and head south to follow the coastal path around the entire British Isles. Her goal is to raise awareness of the huge mental health benefits of walking in nature. Local communities and individuals across the nation will have the chance to join her along the way.
Throughout her journey, Carmen will be hosting regular ‘Soulwalks’ – simple, short, group walks in nature for anyone to join. Her message is simple: families, individuals, schools, businesses can come together to walk for three kilometres. For no other reason than to be in nature and talk to each other.
People can also pledge to support an individual ‘Sole2Soul Walk’ with Carmen – where they, someone they nominate, or a stranger, can join her to walk and talk. As a trained integrative therapist, with experience as a private practitioner, Carmen will use this time to give individuals the opportunity for therapy, whilst walking in nature.
A Loughborough University Alumni, national league hockey player, sailor on the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and Camino de Santiago walker, Carmen is familiar with the benefits of exercise, sport and walking for mind, body and spirit balance.
Commenting on her ambitious goal, Carmen says: “Walking therapy benefits us in many ways. Science has proven that walking in nature can improve our mental wellbeing, by quietening our nervous system, reducing inflammation, repairing our brain and lowering our blood pressure.”
Reinforcing these benefits, neuroscientist Shane O’Mara says: “The experience of walking can allow you to escape yourself and this non-ego focus is healthy. We should spend more time not thinking of ourselves.”
Carmen’s route will primarily follow the coastal path, and she will let people know the calendar of events on the Soulhub website – www.soulhub.co.uk. Soulwalks can be organised in towns, villages or cities along the route and people can contact Carmen to organise one on her behalf that she can join.
Carmen will be interviewing people along the way for her ‘SoulCast’ podcast. From local fisherman to business owners, teachers and artists, her goal will be to understand the true state of the nation and establish how people feel in the current social, economic and political environment. Carmen will also be hosting ‘SoulTalks’ in schools and communities and is keen to hear from anyone who would like her to come and talk about mental health and walking in nature.
Show notes
Social Media
Insta: @soul_hub
Facebook: @soulhubstories
Website: www.soulhub.co.uk
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.
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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.
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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