The Journey of a Long Distance Runner
By Mimi Anderson
Hi, just thought I would let you know that I have completed my world record attempt of the John O’Groats to Lands End – 840 miles - finishing in a time of 12 days, 15hrs and 46mins beating the current female record of 12 days 16hrs and 23minutes (so very close) - it has yet to be verified by the Guiness Book of World Records.
Well done Mimi from all at Runfurther.com
My running career began in 1999 setting myself my first goal of a mile, when I achieved this I was ecstatic , my next goal was three miles which I managed to do in 24 minutes – I know not fast but I was SO excited, I could hardly breath, looked like a beetroot but I had done it. There are however only so many miles you can run on a treadmill without getting bored, so time to move on.
Friends then invited me to go on a 10 mile run OUTSIDE – I ran like the wind and thought it was the best feeling in the world.
In 2000 a couple of running friends suggested that we enter the Marathon des Sable, a 150 mile self sufficiency staged race in the Sahara Desert. Even though up until then the longest distance I had run was 13 miles I couldn’t think of a reason why not.
2001 was the wettest winter in the UK for years, the three of us (Louise Clamp, Max Ward and myself) would go out in all weathers training, sometimes going up to our knees in mud. In February 2001 we took part in the Thames Meander a 50 mile race from Reading to London, plus I might add you had to navigate, so excellent training. We ran with full packs weighing approximately 12lbs. Because of the weather that year the Thames was flooded so we had to find an alternative route – at about 9pm we were crossing a very major road, legs were tired the rain was pouring down and my team mates had managed to find a gap in the traffic – I however was still on the other side of the road – FINALLY a gap appeared and I thought I was flying across the road – unfortunately not, a very large lorry was heading towards me and there was no way I could move any faster, all the girls could do was laugh at me, thankfully I managed to arrive safely on the other side before the lorry thundered passed me.
It was a very difficult time for my family, especially for Tim as he had to learn how to cook for the children when I was training. He is now extremely good at cooking and has learnt how to use the washing machine and dishwasher – wonders will never cease!
During the Marathon des Sables I was extremely ill; I had picked up a bug which meant that I was unable to keep anything down. My saving grace was the 300 calorie drink I had for breakfast, everything else just came straight back up. I had an intravenous drip on day 3 and another one after the finish, lost a stone in weight and looked awful (no change there then!) We did however finish the race in style. We had carried sparkly purple ball gowns in our backpacks, these we changed into 2km before the finish, and we crossed the finish line looking MARVELLOUS much to the amusement of the other competitors and the race organiser! A few days after returning home I thought, if I can finish that race feeling that ill what can I achieve feeling 100 per cent?
Having got the bug for long distance running I went on to run in various other events like Himalayan 100, Batwater Ultra Marathon, GUCR, Libyan Challenge, Kalahari Extreme Marathon to name just a few.
My greatest achievement to date was the 6633 Extreme Ultra. This was my first venture into the cold. The race is 352.64 miles (very important the .64) in the Arctic, pulling everything you need for the event in a sled. Each competitor had 8 days to complete the race.
As you can imagine I was very excited about taking on such a huge challenge. I did a lot of research into cold running, spoke to fellow racers who had done similar events and felt that I was very well prepared. I worked out my race strategy in huge detail, how long it would take me to get from one check point to another (always on my slowest time) and how long I would allow myself at each checkpoint for sleep, eating etc, with everything taken into account this would bring me in in 5 ½ days – My aim was to complete the race between 5 ½ and 6 ½ days.
Training for this type of event was completely different to anything else I had done, I spent hours and hours running round the forest with a tyre attached to my waist – much to the embarrassment of my youngest daughter who asked me if I could do it at night so no-one would see me!
After months of training I was finally off, my sled covered in bubble wrap so it didn’t get damaged en-route, my food was packaged up into daily rations of 5,000 calories per day and at least one set of clothes plus trainers in my walk on luggage, I was taking no chances with lost luggage.
The race was amazing, extremely cold, -40 degrees, sometimes colder with the wind chill factor. I spent about 90 percent of the race on my own listening to my music, I hallucinated badly, my hands would freeze if I took my thick gloves off, every part of your body had to be covered to prevent frostbite, unfortunately I did get on the end of my nose. Having a pee, well that’s far too complicated to go into here!
My race strategy worked really well, I did give myself a few extra hours at a couple of the checkpoints as I was falling asleep on my feet – coming up to checkpoint 5 I fell asleep for half an hour and the only thing keeping me upright was my sled! I won the race in just under 6 days, beating the next person by 24 hours just proving how important the preparation is for such a big event.
On the 16th July I am about to tackle the biggest challenge of my life the Female World Record attempt running from John O’Groats to Lands End – 840 miles. The current record is 12 days 16 hours and 22 minutes. In order for me to try and beat this I must run 85 miles the first day, 75 the second and 68 miles for the next ten days.
You might ask why am I attempting something so HUGE – I promise you I ask myself the same question sometimes!
In September 2006 I received an email from a friend of mine which quite simple said “you can do this” – “do WHAT” was my reply, LEJOG came back the answer. I had never even heard of LEJOG so after a bit of research and a lot of thought I knew I had to give it a go. LEJOG stands for Lands End to John O’Groats; I’m doing JOGLE, John O’Groats to Lands End. For the world record you can do it either way round.
An event like this requires massive organisation aside from the intense training programme and managing my family and domestic commitments! I need a 4 man team to stay with me for the whole event, two motor homes, route, maps, schedules, nutrition , sponsorship – you name it it has to be thought of and organised.
Training for the world record attempt has taken a year. At the beginning of the year I did the Thames Path Ultra a 50 mile race, followed a couple of weeks later by the Tring2Town both ways 80 miles. In March I went out to Chile and took part in the Atacama Crossing – 150 mile self sufficiency staged race, and then finally in May I went out to South Africa to run in the Addo 100. Unfortunately due to a bad ankle injury picked up during the Atacama I pulled myself out of this at the 110km mark. I was devastated, especially as I was in 4th place overall and felt great, so not an easy decision to make but the right one.
My own training involves running approximately 100 miles per week, increasing that to 120 miles for the last two weeks before I start to taper. I also go to the gym but find this very boring so sometimes I manage to talk myself out of it.
People ask me what drives me to run the distances I do, quite simply I absolutely love it, I am the luckiest person in the world, I travel to some amazing places, meet fantastic people and I can do all of this and run at the same time and I have the support of my family – what more could I ask for. I’m not the fastest, youngest old bird on the block but I always try and do my best.
So, next time someone asks you to give something a go ask yourself “WHY NOT”
Mimi Anderson
