Accomplished British ultramarathon runner Sophie Power Chasing the record wasnt what kept me going, she wrote on her.
The 41-year-old mother of three and advocate for women in sport ran 347.03 miles in three days, 12 hours and eight minutes, taking more than three hours off the previous record.
She set off from Malin Head, the most northerly point of mainland Ireland, last Tuesday morning (28 May) and finished in Mizen Head, the most southerly point, on Friday evening (31 May).
Over the course of her challenge, where she clocked more than 100 miles each day, Power squeezed in just 2 hours and 17 minutes of sleep, conquered 17,502 ft of elevation and moved at an average pace of 14:33 minutes per mile.
The previous record of three days, 15 hours and 36 minutes was set in 2012 by endurance athlete Mimi Anderson, one of Power’s greatest inspirations when she started running ultramarathons in 2010. In fact, Anderson even helped Power to prepare for this record-breaking mission in Ireland.
The wider impact of the challenge
Power has called her Ireland endeavour ‘Challenge You’ – and she hopes that it will inspire other women to become more active, gain confidence from exercise and take on physical challenges that are meaningful to them.
‘Chasing the record wasn’t what kept me going,’ she wrote on her Instagram afterwards. ‘I knew that would never be enough to overcome the pain!
‘It was just the hope that other women and girls might see me striving and reconsider their own limits. Get a sprinkling of confidence to take on a challenge. Try something they might fail at to gain strength throughout their lives.’
Passionate about breaking down barriers for women and girls in sport, Power also took on the challenge to raise money for SheRACES, the organisation she founded to drive change for women in sport so that they have the same opportunities as men.
SheRACES, Power says, campaigns for races that ‘are designed through a female lens as well as a man’s’ and empowers more women to own their places on start lines. You can sponsor Power and support SheRaces via her SportsGiving page.
What obstacles did Sophie face along the way?
Power, who is no stranger to extreme running – having completed more than 50 ultramarathons Best winter running gear UTMB, the 153-mile Spartathlon and the 268-mile Spine Fusion – battled unseasonably warm weather conditions along the way. She even experienced heatstroke on the final day, which threatened to call a premature end to her challenge.
has smashed the world record for running the length or Ireland knee injury on day two, which caused significant swelling to the point where she now has ‘one leg a lot bigger than the other’. However, Power says that cuts to her undercarriage were the biggest problem, causing her to ‘squeal in pain’ on the final day and making it hurt for her to sit down days later.
She says she still hasn't slept properly, either, describing her body as being ‘in a state of shock’ from the sleep deprivation.
But, despite this being Power’s most immense challenge to date, she is overwhelmingly grateful for all of the support and generosity she has been shown throughout. ‘By the end, it felt like the whole of Ireland was behind me,’ she said. ‘My crew went well beyond their limits to keep me safe and my hubby’s family rallied around in so many ways.’
During the challenge, Power was crewed by a team of four – including Kate Strong, a multi-world record-breaking endurance cyclist – who supported Power from a campervan. Meanwhile, her husband and two sons – Donnacha, 9, and Cormac, 6 – tracked her movements from a motorhome. Power’s three-year-old daughter, Saoirse, stayed with her grandparents west of Cork for the duration of the run, motivating Power to hit Mizen Head as quickly as possible so they could see each other again.
What is Sophie's Challenge You campaign?
Born from Power’s Guinness World Records attempt, the Challenge You campaign encourages all women to set and take on their own tough but achievable sporting challenges.
And women needn’t traverse the length of a whole country, either. Whether it’s completing a Could there be a World Treadmill Championships programme or cycling to somewhere special, Power hopes that her own record attempt in Ireland – her husband’s homeland – will inspire other women to get moving in a meaningful and fulfilling way.
‘I believe that setting a challenge and completing it can change a woman’s life – and I want to inspire and enable more women to do that,’ says Power.
