© Skyline Scotland

Today’s guest is Keri Wallace, climber, mountain guide and sky/fell runner, who came first V40 female at this year’s Glencoe Skyline. Keri’s love of the mountains has taken her on extreme running challenges (such as running for 10 days non-stop in an attempt to tick off the Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley and Charlie Ramsay rounds in one single go) and has led her to co-found Girls on Hills, a women-only guided trail running and navigation company based in Glencoe, Scotland.

As a mum to two toddlers, Keri has to be innovative and flexible with her training. Here she shares how she does it, her love of technical running and her tips for confident descending.

© James Appleton/Rat Race Adventure Sports

Regular readers will remember I interviewed the brilliant ultrarunner and adventure race test pilot, Allie Bailey about her world-first running exploits earlier in the year. Now, she’s back with a new challenge and she’s taking an all-woman team to do it with her.

In what’s believed to be the first ultrarun of its kind, Allie and a team of intrepid, kickass women will traverse Scotland’s Outer Hebrides – all 185 miles of it – on foot, covering up to 37 miles a day for 5 days. And it’s all kicking off on the Monday 14 October. Naturally, I had to quiz her all about it…

Today’s interviewee doesn’t shy away from adventure or endurance sport challenges. Beth Lahr York is a cyclist, competitive skydiver and former world record holder, CVR cycling athlete (virtual cycling platform) and commentator, triathlete and marathon swimmer in her spare time. Phew.

On top of that, the 48-year-old American is a successful, two-time Emmy winning producer and a mum of two. Earlier this year, she completed the 12.5 mile Swim Around Key West race, which is no mean feat considering she only learned to swim four years ago! We dive into this, the 4am starts it took to train, and more, in today’s Q&A.

© Scott Robarts

I’m very excited to have British ultrarunner and coach, Ellie Greenwood, as today’s interviewee! Ellie holds course records on some of the world’s toughest ultra-distance races, including the Western States 100 miler, which she’s won twice. The British athlete, who now lives in Vancouver, Canada has also won the Comrades ultramarathon (89km), the CCC by UTMB (101km, 6100m+), and is a two-time 100K world champion.

Whether she’s racing competitively or escaping to the trails in training, forty-year-old Ellie runs for the love of the sport above everything else. Here, she shares with me (amongst other things) an insight to what got her started in running, what’s helped her stay sane throughout injury, and how she digs deep during racing and training.

What does it feel like to kayak as quickly as you can for 125 miles while having to exit the water and carry your boat (portage) around a lock up to 77 times – through the night? I quizzed Alex Lane, GB kayaker, to find out how she fared in the annual Devizes to Westminster race – an endurance event so challenging it’s known as the canoeist’s ‘Everest’ – which she won with teammate, Dan Seaford.

Alex also shares insights into her training, fuelling and future marathon kayak plans.

© Romilly Locklyer

When GB triathlete and 2 x ITU world champion, Helen Jenkins, lined up for the London 2012 Olympic Games, she was a favourite for a podium. Yet, unbeknownst to most people, she’d been unable to train for weeks – or even walk the day before the race – due to excruciating knee pain derived from an on-going back issue. Incredibly, Helen raced her way to 5th place in London, which is astonishing given the pain she was in.

Since then the three-time Olympian has had spinal surgery and become a mum to Mali (almost 2) and, more recently, Max, who was born in May. Here, Helen talks about the emotional cost of being injured at the peak of your career, her goals for the future, and the challenges (and joys!) of balancing family and training.

© Susie Chan

The Marathon des Sables, Badwater 135, the Western States 100, Spartan Death Race – Amy Palmiero-Winters’ list of race finishes reads like an A-Z of some of the toughest endurance events on the planet – which would be impressive enough before you add the fact she’s a below-the-knee amputee into the mix.

After injuries from a motorcycle accident required her left leg to be amputated, Amy thought her running days were over – until she ran a half-marathon on a walking prosthetic and won her division. Since then, she hasn’t looked back. Amy holds the world record for fastest marathon by a female below-knee amputee (3:04:16 at the Chicago Marathon) has won a 24-hour ultra outright, completed multiple Spartan Death Races (setting a record for the longest barbed wire crawl at 7.5 miles) and was the first and only amputee to be named in an otherwise able-bodied USA National Team for the 2010 24-hour Running World Championships in France.

Throw in her 135-mile Badwater finish, 140-mile Marathon des Sables race and 100-mile Western States achievement and we’re only just scratching the surface of Amy’s lengthy list of endurance feats. Here, I’m thrilled that she shares an insight into her training and unbelievably resilient mindset.

© Jon Griffith

When she’s not big wall climbing or scaling some of the world’s most notorious routes, British climber Hazel Findlay can be found helping fellow climbers up their mental game via her work as a mind coach. Fascinated by the mental side of climbing, Hazel works with experienced elite climbers as well as newbies wanting tools and strategies to overcome mental barriers.

Hazel has been climbing since she was eight, initially competitively (she was a six-time British Junior champ) until she switched to rock climbing at the age of 16. She has since free climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan multiple times and was the first British woman to climb a trad route at E9.

Multi-sport athlete and adventure racer, Katherine Ross, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis a year ago. It could have sidelined her racing plans. It didn’t.

Here the 32-year-old Kiwi shares a candid account of what her diagnosis meant and how she’s planning even more epic racing, regardless. Big thank you, Kat, for your inspiration and positivity!

Last week Dutch triathlete Els Visser shared a first-hand account of what happened when the small boat she was travelling in during a trip to Indonesia sank in the middle of the night and how, after she survived, her ‘life’s too short’ philosophy led her to take up triathlon.

In today’s Q&A, I put some questions to the HOKA ONE ONE athlete (who has just qualified for Kona after coming 5^th at IRONMAN Cairns!) about her training, the after-effects of her shipwreck experience and her goals for the future.