imi Anderson, lover of all things pink, has become the fastest female to cross Ireland on foot.
Unlike the majority of 50 year old grandmothers, and grandfathers for that matter, Mimi Anderson is not one for sitting down and putting her feet up. The double Guinness World Record holder from Smarden in Kent has racked up an impressive list of achievements as one of the worlds greatest endurance athletes.
Mimi has already ran countless marathons, but her greatest achievements have been running distances far greater than any marathon. Mimi has already ran hundreds of Kms across the Sahara, Namibian and Kalahari Deserts, she's the first women to complete a Double Comrades marathon in South Africa 180km (112miles), and if that wasn't incredible enough, the first woman and the fastest overall runner to run across the Arctic in 143 hours 23 minutes.
Mimi has not only completed the Badwater Ultra marathon, one of the toughest ultra runs on the planet, she then summited Mt. Whitney and ran the whole thing back again, becoming the first British women to complete a Double Badwater, a total of 470km (292 miles) in 108 hours and 10 mins, and, only 3 months later, completed Spartahlon running 245 kms (152miles) from Athens to Sparta in an incredible time of 32hours and 33 mins.
As a runner new to ultra running, these figures are stagering to me, but still the statistics go on.... In 2008 Mimi ran from John O'Groats to Lands End, the entire length of the UK in 12 days 15 hours and 46 minutes and set a Female World Record which still stands, in 2012 she broke the world record for the furthest distance covered on a treadmill in 7 days by a female, covering 649.8692 Kms (403.81 miles) and to add to her stack of achievements, Mimi has broken the Fastest Crossing on Foot of Ireland in 3 days 15 hours and 55 seconds.
These are some of the highlights of Mimi's carrer, there have been countless other events but, whats more incredible is that Mimi only started running ultra marathons in 2001 at 38 years old. When you look at the complete list of achievements in such a short space of time, its almost inconcievable for any human being to achieve such feats of endurance and yet her reasons for starting running are what makes this fabulous women simply inspirational.
Mimi only started running in 1999, her self esteem was poor after 15 years suffering from Anorexia and her reasons for starting running were simply because someone told her, "it was the quickest way to change the shape of her legs", she has never looked back since, Mimi proves that Anything is Possible.
Running has given me my confidence back, belief in myself has returned but above all it has made me a stronger person and hopefully a better one. The camaraderie in these events is fantastic, living in a tent for 7 days with complete strangers, or running with someone you have never met before builds a bond between you that will never be broken; sharing an experience like that is magical, I now have some great friends around the world who have helped and supported me over the years, all through running.
Mimi says "I love to see just how far I can push myself and am always striving to find a race that is more challenging or different and if I can’t find what I’m looking for I set my own challenges. I have run in some of the hottest, coldest, windiest and driest places on earth; have run over mountains, on frozen rivers, sand, canyons, Jungle and snow, from the highest to the lowest my legs have taken me there".
"So why I hear you ask do I run? I love the freedom it gives me, the space to be by myself, the beautiful countries I have had the privilege to race in, pushing the boundaries beyond what other people consider normal and lastly the people I have met along the way who have inspired me, made me dig deeper, strive to be better and believe in myself.
I hope my story has inspired you to dust down your trainers and go for a run…you never know you might enjoy it!
"The Only way of finding the limits of the possible, is by going beyond them into the impossible"
Mimi Anderson, Grandmother, lover of pink and Ultra Runner
Fundraising
Mimi is fundraising for the 10 Million Metres Campaign which was et up by Alex Flynn when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 4 years ago. He has pledged to run, walk, swim, bike and if necessary crawl 10 Million Metres to raise £1, million pounds for The Cure Parkinson’s Trust.
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