In the sufferfest department, Fay Cunningham, 35, and Emma Petrie, 26, have broken the record for the number of consecutive daily marathons. The Scottish duo has just run 106 marathons in 106 days.
They began on February 19 and had initially planned to run 100 marathons, with the Edinburgh marathon as the last. Then they discovered that Kate Jayden did 101 earlier this year, and Jacky Hunt-Broersma did 104. Thereafter, they upped their challenge to 106.
Both women are personal trainers and regular runners. Still, after the first 15 marathons, Petrie’s blistered and swollen feet worried her. Cunningham, meanwhile, was suffering from knee pain.
“That’s when doubts crept in,” Petrie said in an interview. “But that problem went away and it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be.”
They prudently ran each marathon at a slower pace than they would normally complete 42km. Still, they finished all of them within five to five-and-a-half hours. After each marathon, they took a two-minute ice bath. Chiropractors and massage therapists worked over their tired, sore limbs regularly.
They ran most of their marathons near their homes so that they did not have to vary their daily routine much. Sometimes they ran the same course more than once.
Their February start featured wind, snow, hail, and rain. During the more than three months, they only ran five marathons completely by themselves. Friends, family, and followers have joined them for 100 of the runs.
To fuel their efforts, both women aimed to eat 4,000 calories a day and sleep nine hours a night. Still, they lost about five kilograms each.
