Sophie Power: Ultrarunner breaks 48-hour treadmill world record to inspire women in sports

Cnn
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Sophie Power, athlete Sophie Power, could have run later than most others, but she makes it more than going out.

After the British athlete left a career in investment banking, he jumped into the world of Ultrarunning and now has two world records.

She recently broke the record for most of the removal of a woman on a treadmill in 48 hours. This is followed by an equally impressive achievement in the last year, in which she became the fastest woman that crossed Ireland on foot.

In her most recent challenge, Power covered more than 365 km (226.8 miles) over two days in January and hiked on a treadmill at the National Running Show in Birmingham, England, and wrapped on a treadmill.

Her performance, which is still subject to the usual ratification from Guinness World Records – was partly driven by their burning passion to improve the access for women in sport.

“You have to set some challenges a little outside of your comfort zone.

“It also has to be really personal, it has to mean something to you.”

Despite their endurance performance, Power is careful to be a role model for others. She says inspiration can sometimes be dangerous if people don't see it in a more realistic context.

As a mother of three children, who had obstacles to admission throughout her endurance career, the 42-year-old wants to get a more realistic picture of what she makes to achieve.

“I think we have put up a lot of pictures of women, achieve things without saying how they do things, and that only gives us the desire to do something, but don't say how we do it,” she says.

“It is important to say:” This is my training, this is my childcare, this is my multitasking, that's what I don't do. “As if my house was always a chaos, I don't put on a make -up in the morning, I don't care what I wear, I don't look away, I'm not going out all the time, so there is all things I don't, So I can do things. ”

Power had no conventional way to become an ultra athlete. She says that I was not sporty as a child and would end at school towards racing races.

Instead, she dipped into the world of finances, a million miles from her current passion before being released from her job shortly after his marriage. Power felt “lost” in this difficult time and said she had traveled to Thailand to clear her head and recorded kickboxing.

After two months she returned and a friend convinced her to try the marathon's marathon. Without earlier experiences with such great distances, the enthusiastic hiker registered with one of the toughest races in the world – in which the runners cover 103 miles.

It was an experience that lit a passion and has run over 50 ultramarathons since then and “accidentally” qualified for 24-hour world championships last year and represented Great Britain.

“I just love to be in nature, to be away from things and to meet new people that I would never meet in real life,” she says.

“I am very angry that I missed in sports in sports for decades, and there is a whole generation of women who are exactly like me who see them when they absorb these endurance events.

“My goal is to try to inspire so many of them, to give them the courage to do something.”

It was her passion to inspire more women to come to the sport that led her to her latest treadmill.

The fact that it was on a treadmill made logistics much easier, which means that she didn't have to spend time from her family and friends. It also meant that she could be more accessible, so people at the event could actually see how she broke the recording.

Record driven by jam sandwiches

She started the challenge at 2:30 p.m. and said that she hardly slept in the first 24 hours. After the first day she took short breaks and was often in a nearby bathroom on a tiny black mat. But her body would not allow her to sleep, partly because of the busy atmosphere at the National Running Show – a British event that attracts thousands of visitors.

She only managed to calm down after broken the record the next morning and took a well -deserved break from the treadmill before hiking out the remaining time.

“It became very dangerous to run. I was so shaky that I couldn't run and that was the frustration. My body felt great, but I couldn't run on this treadmill, and that was frustrating that I lost at this distance … but I can't be proud of what I did just not stop ” she says.

It was of crucial importance to efficiently promote such an epic performance of endurance in order to keep the power supply healthy. Researchers at a local university monitored her body throughout the run, and she followed a diet plan with caffeine gel, sweets with high sugar and basic carbohydrates.

But as it turns out, the simple things in life worked best for power.

When asked what she eaten the most during her epic challenges, she pointed to the modest Jam -Sandwich.

“They are cheap, they go down quickly and they sit in your stomach,” she says. “White bread, no crusts. It is very specific. ”

General is now the next challenge of Power and admitted that in the days they were following the 48-hour treadmill, they had difficulty sleeping.

It will also enable your time to concentrate on your charity organization Sheraces, which has been set up to improve the conditions for women who want to take part in races.

Power became important in 2018 after a picture of her became viral at the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc. The photo showed that her three-month-old baby had satisfied her during the 106-mile race when a male competitor had dropped on the floor.

It showed the need for better facilities for women in such races and inspired the power to build their foundation that is supposed to help the organizers.

In the coming years, it will be planned to organize a trail running series for women across Great Britain to show how races can better do for athletes.

“My goal was not the recording,” she says, talking about why she completed the 48-hour treadmill.

“My goal was to connect with people, and so I didn't bring it into the optimal environment. I lost time, but I have the result I wanted and the recording will go, I don't care. The effects have been achieved and that is the most important thing.

“I had all these little girls on the treadmill next to me and thought:” They rethink what they believe that women can do. ”