Last summer RAD Monika (aka Monika Sattler) made history as the first woman to ride the entire 3058km route of the one of cycling’s toughest grand tours: the Vuelta a España. Riding only a few hours ahead of the pro men, she covered all 21 stages and 49,337m of climbing in the blistering Spanish heat, her mission to inspire more people, particularly women, to get on their bikes.

Monika is one of the most upbeat, can-do people I’ve had the pleasure to chat with. She doesn’t put any limits on what she’s capable of and throws herself into life. Here, she chats about how she coped with the physical and mental demands of riding the Vuelta and reveals what a typical day during the three week ride entailed.

© Guillem Casanova Photography

It takes most ultrarunners decades of hard graft and consistent mileage to work up to completing a 100km distance race, but ultrarunner Lucy Bartholomew ran hers when she was just 15-years-old, alongside her dad, before she even realised the magnitude of the distance or her achievement in completing it.

Since then the Aussie, now 22, has enjoyed a slew of wins at ultra-long distance races, including the 100km Ultra-trail Cape Town and Ultra-trail Australia, and last year took on her first 100 miler in the shape of one of the world’s most notorious and respected races: the Western States 100, where she came third.

We cover this, lessons learned during last year’s Western States 100 and more, below.

© 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.

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

Today’s interviewee, Tricia O’Hara, is an American stair runner or ‘vertical runner’ who is ranked first in her age group and sixth in the US. Vertical running (also known as tower running or stair running) is a fast-growing sport that involves racing up the stairwells of the world’s most iconic skyscrapers. It even has its own World Series – the Vertical World Circuit – established a decade ago, which awards world ranking status and world champion titles.

When Tricia’s not racing up 100 flights of stairs, she’s running marathons and Ironman triathlons while splitting her time between America and France where she works as a personal trainer. I put some quick-fire questions to the 52-year-old (yes, she really is 52!) below.

© Zoya Lynch

Australian freeride and big mountain skier Nat Segal spent six years competing (and bagging podiums) on the Freeride World Tour and Freeskiing World Tour circuit. A lover of backcountry skiing, Nat’s expeditions have led her through Greenland, Iceland, NZ, Canada and France, and when she’s not carving out her mountain skills, she’s passionate about producing female-driven content.

Together with her X-Games slopestyle skier sister, Anna Segal, and adventure film-maker Bjarne Salén, Nat recently produced Finding the Line, a documentary that explores fear and the sisters’ different experiences and approaches to it. Casual observers could assume both Anna and Nat to be ‘fearless’ based on their choice of career, so it’s an intriguing theme which we explore a bit further in our interview.

The UK premiere of Finding the Line debuts at the Four Seasons Film Festival in London on Friday 22 March.

Earlier in the week I brought you part one of my interview with the brilliant obstacle course racer and ultrarunner, Rea Kolbl (if you missed it, you can read it here), in which Rea chatted about her running, love of hills and her long-term plans to one day run the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB).

In part two, Rea talks about last year’s World’s Toughest Mudder experience, how she fuels her endurance events and, amongst other things, her favourite items of kit (hello, dryrobe). Thanks, Rea!

British wilderness guide, Sophie Nolan, 28, lives in Finland and splits her time between running her own backcountry ski touring business, Sidetracked Adventures, and working as a guide on a Finnish husky farm.

Below, Sophie provides a beautiful and fascinating account of cold winters spent exploring and guiding within the untouched wilderness of Finnish Lapland. Thank you, Sophie.

© Lisa Nestorson

Swiss amateur multisport athlete, Diane Sadik, competes in both swimrun and triathlon and has scooped a stash of swimrun wins and podiums in some of the toughest swimrun events out there (hello, ÖTILLÖ swimrun). Number one female in the 2017 swimrun world rankings, 30-year-old Diane has enjoyed success in both mixed and female teams.

I put some questions to her about her background, training and love of endurance sport.

Edwina Sutton is a coach and ultra-runner whose achievements include taking silver medal at the British 100km Championships, competing at the Ironman World Championship in Kona and winning the South Downs Way 50 mile ultra. She is also mother to three children aged 3, 6 and 8, and lives with her husband and family in Morzine, in the French Alps.

Here, Eddie shares some brutally honest chat about the demands and joys of being a mum and ultra-runner, and just how crazy the juggling act is.