Australia: Woman breaks world record by running 150 marathons in 150 days

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Erchana Murray-Bartlett at the finish in Melbourne after 150 marathons in 150 days

Photo: Diego Fedele/EPA

When Erchana Murray-Bartlett arrived in Melbourne, her feet had swollen a full shoe size and she had worn out ten pairs of running shoes.

For 150 days, the Australian ran the marathon distance every day, 6300 kilometers, from Cape York in northern Australia to the southern metropolis of Melbourne.

Just »Tip to Toe«, as she called her run on social media.

The 32-year-old, who has been running professionally for a number of years, told the BBC afterwards that after missing out on Olympic qualification for Tokyo, she thought about a new goal and decided to run the biggest run of her life.

Murray-Bartlett surpassed the old world record for consecutive marathons set by Briton Kate Jayden, who ran the 42.195-kilometer distance 106 times in a row last year, many times over.

The torture lasted five and a half months along the famous Australian coast, through rainforests and over dirt roads and highways.

She had to deal with severe sunburns and numerous insect bites.

The nutritionist burned around 6,000 calories a day and, in addition to the healthy basics of pasta and salads, often had to add several scoops of ice cream and a large pizza.

Sometimes she ran in torrential rain, other times in a heat of over 35 degrees Celsius.

In the first three weeks alone, she injured herself three times and had to shift her running style to the front foot due to a calf injury, which led to the next injury.

At times she could only walk.

Giving up was out of the question for her, she says, probably because she wasn't just concerned with the sporting record.

Record in the name of biodiversity

The Australian used the 150 days of attention to draw attention to the rapid extinction of Australia's flora and fauna.

Australia hosts one of the richest biodiversity in the world, much of which is unique to this continent, but it is one of the countries most affected by biodiversity loss in the world.

At the finish line, she found out that she had doubled her previously set donation goal of 62,000 Australian dollars, raising the equivalent of around 80,000 euros for the nature conservation project ›The Wilderness Society‹.

After crossing the finish line in Melbourne, where she was joined by many supporters along the route, she said: "I think it's going to be a big night of celebration - well, for two hours until I fall asleep."

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