iddle-aged mother of three Jane Trumper has become the first woman to run across Australia's Simpson Desert, braving temperatures of up to 45C (113F).
The ultra marathon runner said she felt ‘fantastic’ after finishing the ten-day run to raise money for a children’s hospice. The 51-year-old said: ‘No female has ever done it, so I think that was in the back of my mind that it would be good to do something that no one has ever done.’
Ms Trumper said an overpowering 'fear of failure' meant the first day was the toughest.
'When I stopped, I was totally exhausted. It was stinking hot, there was no shade ... I drank about 15 litres of fluid that day,' she explained.
'But the second day it was only 43 degrees and it got cooler after that.'
She ran 660km (410 miles) from Australia’s Northern Territory to Birdsville in Queensland’s far south-west and encountered big snakes, emus and dingos along the way. The intensive care nurse, from Sydney, added: ‘The flies have been ridiculous.’
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