Beth is a traveler first and foremost. With 35 years of travel experience, each year she spends three to four months abroad, combining her love of adventure with vacation and business.
For 15 years she has been running WanderTours, focusing on women-only tours, where she encourages and inspires women to dive deep into cultures and to challenge themselves by getting out of their comfort zone.
She recently discovered running and, at age 50, ran her first marathon. She then discovered ultra-running and has been using these as an excuse to explore remote destinations around the globe that few people ever see.
Most recently she completed the Grand Slam Plus with Racing the Planet. This consisted of running five 250K stage races across four deserts: the Gobi in Mongolia, the Atacama in Chile, the Namib in Namibia, Antarctica and, the one non-desert race, a run across the country of Georgia.
While many people have completed these races, she is part of a small group of competitors (only seven women!) who have completed them in a year's time (OK, slightly longer due to Covid).
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We first spoke with Beth - Feb 11th 2020 - Running her 1st Marathon at 50, completing the Snowman Trek in Bhutan.
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Show notes
Who is Beth Whitman and what she does
Speaking with Beth at the end of 2019 where she shared more about running her first marathon and completing the Snowman Trek in Bhutan.
Going back to the start of 2020
4 desert races - with Racing the Planet
Wanting to run these 4races in 1 year (Namib Race (Namibia), Gobi March (Mongolia), Atacama Crossing (Chile) and The Last Desert (Antarctica))
Continuing to run and train, even when races and borders were getting closed
Not knowing what was going on, and continuing to hope that the race would go on.
Running every street in your city/neighbourhood
Having a purpose to get up every day and go running
The rules of the ‘running every street’
The mental side of always being ‘on’ while running
The challenges of running a tour company during covid
Dealing with uncertainty
Her first race - running Georgia (country) in 2021
Dealing with stress
Using mediation and becoming more aware of her thoughts
Needing to know what was happening and starting to doom scroll
Becoming more aware of her habits
Cutting back on caffeine and sugar
Moving on quickly from each trip/race
Needing to spend more time in reflection and appreciation for what’s been achieved
Revenge travel
Having 7 weeks between the Georgia race and the next ultra in Namibia
Fuelling ultra marathons being a mostly vegan
Magical moments and highlights from running
Running in Antarctica and the challenges with the terrain and weather
The mental struggle and thinking that she wasn’t going to be able to carry on while running in the desert
What kept her going during the tough times
How to find out more about Beth and her tours
Being most active on Facebook
Final words of advice
Having something to look forward to
The power of making a plan
Why you are capable of so much more than you think
Social Media
Website:
Instagram:
Facebook: @bethwhitwa
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