Kiwi slogs it out over 5000km
A New Zealand athlete is poised to become the first Kiwi woman to finish the world’s longest foot race, which spans nearly 5000 kilometres.
Christchurch woman Harita Davies is competing in the 21st SelfTranscendence event in New York, described as “The Mount Everest of Ultramarathons”.
The competition is in its 43rd day, with runners circling around a halfmile (0.8km) city block in suburban Queens in the summer heat.
The 52-day race began in June, with the cut-off time next Tuesday.
Competitors have to maintain an average of 96km a day, which is more than two marathons.
The runners start at 6am daily and can continue to midnight when the course closes for the day.
Davies, a member of the national Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, is the only Kiwi woman to attempt the distance.
By day 43, on Monday, she had completed 4184km, meaning she had a high chance of reaching the 4988km mark before the race finished.
“Many of us go through life wondering about what we might have done if we had dared to attempt something daunting and difficult,” Davies said.
“[The distance] really frightened me, but I decided to venture into that frightening place and challenge myself and see what I could learn. It’s one of the best and happiest and most amazing experiences I have ever had.”
She has suffered a few aches and pains along the way.
“There is always going to be something wrong. There is always going to be a pain here or an ache there, feel like you’re getting a stomach virus. So I am learning to accept that and be okay with that. They make you stronger.
“I am really not trying to think about the whole distance. That is really hard. Your mind just wants to constantly think about how many more days, how many more miles.” Watch an interview at nzherald.co.nz