As I sit here and write this I still can’t believe what I have done.
In July last year when myself, Becky and Katherine were sitting in Furnace Creek discussing the M2M the girls asked me what time I would like to run it in and my answer was 84 hrs – 3.5 days. I always knew that it was a tough target but that was the time I wanted to aim for.
The World Record attempt began at 6.01am on 22nd September with two official starters which was fab, there was no rain, my heart was pounding, every possible thought was going through my head as I sat in the BunkCamper wrapped up in a Duvet trying to keep warm.
Once going I had so much adrenalin pumping round my body I flew down the hill, eventually getting myself into a nice comfortable pace.
I was feeling great, the crew got themselves into a fab routine, I ate regularly and the miles seemed to fly by. My first marathon I did in 3.46, 50 miles in 7.46, 100 miles in 17.33 which gave me a real boost, my aim before I was allowed a rest was 110 miles. Having reached my goal distance I was allowed a 2 hr stop (90 mins sleeping) I then continued but really struggled as I couldn’t wake myself up but managed to do just over 118 miles in 24 hours.
Once awake day two continued well reaching the 150 mile point in 31hrs 26 mins, another boost for me and I was still feeling marvellous!! An added bonus for the day Mo joined me for a couple of hours up to the half way point which I reached in just over 36 hours, I can’t even begin to tell you how good it felt to get to this point, now it was all downhill!!!!
It was sad to say goodbye to Mo as he had been excellent company – I was envious he was going home to a lovely cooked supper!!
I continued on my way reaching the 200 mile point in just over 44 hours. My body was still feeling good, but I would have a quick 10 minute massage half way through the day while I ate something to loosen up my legs.
For me it was wonderful to be doing this with such a great crew who not only were doing an amazing job, but also seemed to be enjoying themselves as well which made for a fantastic astmophere.
My aim for today was 100 miles which I didn’t quite meet (4 miles short) everything was going well until about 3 am when I my body decided it needed bed and I kept falling asleep as I was running/walking. I would wake to hear Katherine saying “and move forward” I had no idea I had even stopped! I was also talking gibberish (not unusual I hear you say!) so Katherine made the call to the Van to come back and meet us a mile down the road. I don’t remember much about the last mile except being instructed to keep moving forward (my crew are so bossy!) all I actually wanted to do was sleep under a tree somewhere)
Once at the van I couldn’t get into my bed quick enough, 90 mins sleep and I was up once again for the start of another day but boy had the sleep done me good, my running pace was good and my body felt revitalised – WOOHOO!!
Later on the morning of the 3rd day I was joined by members of the Irish 100 Marathon Club – they were fan-bloody-tastic and once again I thoroughly enjoyed their company and stories.
My sleep pattern the previous night had suited me well, so the crew decided that I was going to run until the same time again. Having had such amazing weather so far on this run, later in the day we did have some rain which meant the night section going up over the mountain wasn’t very pleasant, but when you have a job to do the only option is forward motion. That night I was allowed a 2 hour sleep rather than my 90 minutes which was such a luxury but boy did it pay off, on waking up I felt I’d had an excellent nights sleep and once again went off at a good pace.
My final day I was joined by Jo Fearon who ran with me for about two hours. We talked, talked and talked – fantastic! It was particularly hilly today and I had to laugh when Jo and I reached the van for something to eat followed about 5 minutes later by HWMBO who looked as though he was about to expire – bought tears of laughter to my eyes and an image I will never forget!
You can imagine how wonderful it felt getting to the 300 mile point, now only 45 miles to go, baring a twisted ankle or something else major I knew I could do this, but still wouldn’t let myself get excited about the record, it was still a matter of one foot in front of the other and keeping the miles ticking off.
Mizen Head was getting closer, we could see and hear the sea. HWMBO told me with about 16 miles to go that he had booked us all into a hotel for after the finish – I promptly burst into tears, I could finally sleep in a bed but to get there I had to keep moving.
Although my pace wasn’t exactly marathon pace I was still running. I have a very steady almost metronome pace whereby I can just keep going and going.
Finally there was 3 k to go – this last section felt more like 6k and having held everything together up until now I did slightly loose the plot and kept asking poor Katherine how she knew we were going the right way, there were no lights, in fact there didn’t seem to be anything ahead. She quite calmly told me we were going in the right direction and the finish wouldn’t be too far away. I kept on telling myself off and stop being such a stroppy old cow and get the job done.
I didn’t even notice the hills as I was concentrating too much on looking for the lights of the cars. Then there they were, my pace picked up and as I rounded the corner I could see the finish and people. I sprinted down to the finish waving my arms saying I’ve done it, I’m here!! (just in case they thought it was someone else!!)
My amazing journey finished at 21:37:23 so the official time for the NEW WORLD RECORD (to be verified by the GWR) is 3 DAYS 15 HOURS 36 MINS 23 SECONDS! I had done it, not only beaten the record but smashed it by just over 10 hours an amazing moment.
I would like to say a huge, marvellous, wonderful fantastic thank you to my crew Becky Healey, Katherine Hay Heddle and my long suffering husband Tim. They worked tirelessly, did their job well and by the looks of some of their photos had fun as well! I know I always say this but I couldn’t achieve my goals if I didn’t have the support of such an amazing team of people.
To the marvellous people of Ireland I ran with thank you. Your support and encouragement was much appreciated and I hope we meet again. You live in a stunning country and I enjoyed every minute of it (except for the last 3k!!)
Thank you to my main sponsors of the event Talbot Underwriting Ltd, none of the above would have been possible without your belief in me.
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me as always very generous and much appreciated. If you feel you have a few more coins jangling about in your pocket and you don’t want holes to appear please go to www.justgiving.com/marvellousmimi1 – it will save you hours of mending!!
Happy training!
