Jane has travelling and lived all over the world, she is a qualified solicitor and would describe herself as a ‘soft’ adventurer. Her adventures have included hiking over 750 km along an old pilgrim trail from France and across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostella; rafting and canoeing for 17 days on the Zambesi River; and travelling across China by overland truck before heading down Pakistan’s Karakorum Highway to Islamabad. During this podcast Jane shares more about h

What happens when a passion for advocacy and a competitive nature meet? Fiona Oakes’ answer is three world records. The British marathon runner became the fastest woman to run seven marathons in seven continents, plus the north pole, with an aggregate time of 31 hours 11 mins and 53 secs in one of her incredible feats. What pushes Fiona to reach new records? A passion for animals and veganism may seem like unlikely motivation, but Fiona proves how powerful it can be. This imp

Fiona Oakes is a British marathon runner, who holds three world records for marathon running. In 2013, she won both the Antarctic Ice Marathon and the North Pole Marathon. She runs despite losing a knee cap from an illness when she was 17. At 48, she holds three world records, including becoming the fastest woman to run seven marathons in seven continents, plus the north pole, with an aggregate time of 31 hours 11 mins and 53 secs. During this podcast, we discuss so much; why

Dr Laura Gush is a patron of the Tough Girl Podcast, a member of the Tough Girl tribe and a phenomenal runner. She’s raced in The Iron Man, Marathon Des Sables and a number of ultra races and marathons. Laura took a year off her medical career in 2015 and took that time to get her personal training qualifications and race in the Marathon Des Sables. Laura shares what she does to train for a race and how her educational perspective had an impact on her running. We talk about h

Over the last twenty years Anna-Marie’s journey has taken her from icy snow holes in Norway, to the desolate plains of Afghanistan and Iraq while working for the British Army. Most recently she’s been pushing her endurance boundaries running various ultra races & competing in long distance triathlons. Her diet, lifestyle and work has turned a full 180 degrees from being totally over weight and unhealthy to being tucked up in bed by ten with a diet based on real food and compe

The Marathon des Sables (MDS) is known as the toughest footrace on earth, where competitors carry everything required to survive on their back for the week, except the water they collect en route and tent they share with seven strangers. Temperatures can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). Selina run over 2,000 miles in training and added a further two official marathons to her total of nine. She'd never run an ultra-marathon before so the fourth day, w

The Marathon des Sables is one of the ultimate multi-stage endurance races in the world. It consists of running six marathons in six days across the Sahara desert. It’s been around for over 30 years and according to the Discover Channel has the reputation of being “one of the hardest footraces on earth”. It’s brutal, it's challenging and according to pretty much everyone I speak to, a crazy race to do! You can listen to this episode NOW - Click the play button! Show notes The

Goal Creep…. Have you guys ever had this? A year ago today I couldn’t even imagine getting to the start line let alone finishing the Marathon des Sables! Now twelve months later a lot has happened. I feel like I’m physically better, I do feel strong, fit and healthy but a very small part of me is still a little concerned that I may not be back up to my best. So hold something back and don’t go full out. So I’m trying very hard to listen to my body and not over do it. I’m stic

So way back in September of 2014 I decided I was going to enter the Marathon des Sables and this was going to be my way of launching, Tough Girl Challenges in 2015. After my Doctor told me in no uncertain terms that I was not healthy enough to do this race and him signing me off ill. I had no other option but to postpone the race until April 2016. After a long 2015, rebuilding my health and fitness I now have about 4 months to go before I’ll be out in the heart of the Sahara

I’ve been thinking about what challenge I can do to launch Tough Girl Challenges, and the Marathon des Sables keeps popping up and one I’ve come back to time and time again over the previous months. I’ve watched the James Cracknell documentary, read books written by other competitors who’ve done the race and visited the MdS website countless times. It would be a fantastic challenge to aim towards and what a first challenge for me to do. It would be the perfect challenge to la