© Richard Bullock

At the age of eleven, Lydia Philip fled harrowing conditions in war-torn South Sudan with her father and six siblings after her village was burned down and her mother abducted. After arriving as a refugee in Kenya, her talent for running 400m was spotted by the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation (run by Kenyan former elite runner, Tegla Loroupe) leading Lydia to join the Athlete Refugee Team, a collective of international refugee athletes competing under one banner.

As a result, Lydia’s life changed completely. Now 17, she’s represented the team in the U18 Athletics World Championships, and earns a small amount of pocket money which she divides amongst her family for food and school items.

Honest, moving and inspiring, I’m humbled that Lydia has shared her story with me in her own words.

A huge thank you to On, sponsors of the Athlete Refugee Team in Kenya, for making this happen.

© Dr Melanie Windridge

Scientist Dr Melanie Windridge is a plasma physicist and Vice President of the Alpine Club. Last year she summited Everest, filming her journey to the top to share the science behind her summit whilst also producing a YouTube series on it for the Institute of Physics.

Now busy writing a book about the science of summiting Everest, Melanie let me quiz her about her summit, the importance of acclimatisation, plus her training and kit (which for her Everest trip was sponsored by Montane). Scoot further down the interview to watch the film she made about her summit. It’s fascinating.

From the Western States 100 to the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), Caroline McKay has finished some of the world’s most revered ultras. She’s also the brains and voice behind Of Mountains and Minds, the podcast she launched in 2018, which sees her interview members of the endurance sports community about life-changing challenges such as grief, mental illness, exercise addiction and eating disorders.

Here, Caroline shares some of her own ultrarunning experiences, along with the motivations behind her podcast and the lessons she’s learned from guests such as The Spine Race winner, Jasmin Paris, and ultrarunner Gayle Tait.

Hurrah, Sarah Williams is on the blog! Founder of Tough Girl Challenges and host of the Tough Girl Podcast, Sarah has made it her mission for the last four years to raise the profile of women in sport and adventure, and inspire other women via her podcast interviews and her own personal challenges.

The latter includes finishing the multi-day Marathon des Sables desert ultra, speed-hiking the Appalachian Trail (2200 miles in 100 days) and cycling 4000km along the Pacific Coast Highway and Mexico’s Baja Divide.  Sarah and I chatted via Skype way back at the beginning of the year when she was in Australia (she’s back in the UK now) covering everything from her Appalachian Trail highs and lows to her love of adventuring solo. Great to have you on, Sarah!

Renee McGregor is a sports and eating disorders dietitian and author who works with elite athletes, Olympians and Paralympians. A specialist in eating disorders, earlier this year Renee co-founded #TRAINBRAVE with athlete Tom Fairbrother to raise awareness of ED in sport, address the culture that contributes to it and encourage openness.

An accomplished ultra-runner herself, Renee is a two-time finisher of the seven-day Manaslu trail race (220km through the Himalayas) and has completed, amongst many other ultras, the Gower 50 ultramarathon. We cover this, #TRAINBRAVE and more in this Q&A.

© Pete Rees

As a test pilot for Rat Race Adventures, ultra-runner Allie Bailey has seen it all – humungous spiders included. She was the first woman to run 100 miles across Mongolia’s frozen Lake Khövsgöl (average temp -47°c) and the first to run 124 miles across the Namib Desert, from east to west, all in the name of a ‘recce’. And then there’s the jungle, home of said spiders.

Allie, who took up running on her doctor’s advice to help her depression, shares the highs and lows (and downright terrifying) of her incredible ultra experiences with me below.

Just a heads-up that I’m taking a break from posting for a week while I’m away. Normal service will resume on Tuesday 9^th April.

Katie x

With decades of experience in the mountains, Becky Coles is the person you want in charge of your expedition. An adventure travel specialist and expedition leader, she has travelled to more than 70 countries on all seven continents, achieving everything from multiple first climbing ascents as far afield as Antarctica to crossing the Lut Desert on foot.

This year, the Montane ambassador has teamed up with fellow mountaineers Mo Barclay and Lou Beetlestone to attempt a challenge no woman (or Brit) has achieved so far: to summit all 82 of the  4000m peaks in the Alps in one year. You can read more about this below, as Becky talks about the challenges it will bring.

It took Jenny Graham just 124 days to cycle solo and unsupported round the world last year, riding an average of 156 miles a day to cover the 18,000 mile distance. It was a remarkable feat that smashed the existing record by almost three weeks and saw 37-year-old Jenny encounter bears, kangaroos and the kindness of strangers as she navigated her way through 16 countries.

Jenny fills me in on her epic journey around the world by bike below, along with her must-have kit and upcoming plans with The Adventure Syndicate. But if you want to hear more, please go and see her Kendal Mountain Festival Tour talk on 5 April in Penrith.

Last year, endurance dietitian and ultra-runner Alex Cook ran the iconic The North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail race – 120km and 6000m of ascent – where she finished 6^th GB female, despite suffering agonising knee pain on the descents.

Alex, whose day job as a dietitian includes working with elite athletes, has run more than 40 marathons and ultras, winning a myriad of them, including Race to the Stones and Endurance Life Snowdonia Ultra. We chat about her ultra-running experiences, sleep deprivation during Laveredo, and fuelling mishaps (even experts make mistakes!