British kitesurfing champion, Sukie Robertson, fell in love with kitesurfing at the age of ten and has spent the last 15 years competing in the freestyle and wave riding disciplines. In 2014, Sukie opened her own kite school, 514Elemental, with boyfriend Robin, where she coaches up-and-coming talent.

Here, the 30-year-old Dryrobe ambassador, who was crowned 2018 British Wave Champion at the British championship last weekend, fields my questions about everything kitesurfing.

In July, a group of 13 women lined up to start riding the entire Tour de France one day ahead. Known as the Donnons des Elles Au Velo J-1, their aim was to highlight the absence of a female equivalent of cycling’s biggest bike race, The Tour de France, and to prove that if 13 amateurs can do it, the pro female peloton is more than capable. Amongst the women (all of whom were amateur cyclists with fulltime jobs) was Spanish sports scientist, Anna Barrero.

In this Q&A interview, Anna chats about the highs and lows of riding 3351km over 3 weeks – including the challenging 1am bedtimes.

As the Skyrunning World Championships are well underway in Scotland right now, one woman in particular, Lauri van Houten, will be busy working hard behind the scenes, the place she likes best. As the VP and co-founder of the International Skyrunning Federation (ISF), Lauri has been instrumental in growing the sport of skyrunning over the past 25 years ago.

In this Q&A, Lauri chats about everything skyrunning and explains how it all began with mountaineer and skyrunning founder, Marino Giacometti’s Monte Rosa summit, in 1989.

©Mattia Rizzi

If you’re a skyrunning fan you’ll know that this week the world’s best mountain athletes are hitting Scotland for the Skyrunning World Championships. Amongst them is Hillary Gerardi, the 31-year-old American skyrunner who has taken wins on some of the calendar’s most technical races this year. I’m talking the Tromsø Skyrace, Trofeo Kima and the Monte Rose SkyMarathon, to name a few!

Hillary is on the blog today, where in our Q&A the formidable skyrunner talks about her training week, conquering crazy elevation and her love of technical terrain.

When it comes to raising the profile of women’s sport, Danielle Sellwood has more experience than most. Ten years ago, she launched Sportsister.com, a trailblazing sports lifestyle website for women which shone a light on female athletes and women’s sport when coverage was even scarcer than it is today. Now, when she’s not growing Find it Film, a media company she co-founded with the aim to use film and events to showcase female sporting role models, she’s working to improve the way we photograph sportswomen through her work as Visual Campaigns Director for the Women’s Sport Trust.

A former athlete herself, Danielle was an elite level canoeist for more than ten years, competing for Great Britain in both sprint and marathon disciplines, and she was a three-time record holder of the annual Devizes to Westminster 125-mile canoe race (racing hard for 17+ hours!).

Photo Rachel Link

Whilst struggling with severe depression six years ago, American Alison Mariella Désir discovered running. It saved her life and she ran her first marathon in 2012. The following year, in a bid to share her love of running and its benefits within her own community, in Harlem, NYC, Alison founded Harlem Run, a running movement with a vision to empower urban communities to get fit. Using the power of running as a vehicle for activism and social change, she went on to found Run 4 All Women to campaign for women’s issues such as reproductive rights.

I love what Alison is doing and I’m excited to have her on Lessons in Badassery via this short Q&A.

Photo: Le Col

As 39-year-old distance cyclist Jasmijn Muller prepares to set off tomorrow on her second attempt at the fastest ever cycle from Lands End to John o’ Groats – current record: 52hrs and 45 minutes for the 841-mile ride – here’s part two of our extended Q&A. (You can read part one here). Jasmijn originally planned her second attempt for July, but poor weather meant she had to postpone her start date until now. All being well, she’ll be off tomorrow!

Good luck Jasmijn, we’re all rooting for you! You can follow Jasmijn’s tracker here.

Photo: ZIXO

Skyrunner and GB trail runner, Holly Page, has notched up a slew of wins on the Migu Run Skyrunner World Series circuit this year, and fresh from coming 9th at the Trail Running World Championships in May, will don her GB vest once more next month as she joins the Brits competing at the Skyrunning World Championships in Scotland.

Here, Holly chats about fell running as a child, hitch-hiking to races, and recovering from a near-death experience on Mont Blanc.

Since she began cycling at the age of nine, America’s Coryn Rivera has won 72 national championships spanning road, track, cyclocross and MTB. A pro rider since 2014, Coryn rides for Team Sunweb and has notched up an impressive list of wins on the European circuit, including the 2017 Tour of Flanders, 2017 Prudential Ride London, and, more recently, this year’s OVO Energy Women’s Tour and the Team Time Trial title at the Tour of Norway.

Whilst in the UK for this year’s Prudential Ride London event, the almost-26-year-old (it’s her birthday at the end of the month) kindly answered my Q&A thanks to Sunweb team sponsor, Liv Cycling. Great to have you on, Coryn!

Photo: James Appleton

Last month, 30-year-old Cal Major paddled her way into the record books as she completed her challenge to SUP (stand-up paddleboard) 1000 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats, unsupported, in a bid to highlight the breadth of plastic pollution in Britain.

Combining her love of the ocean adventure with her mission to raise awareness of plastic consumption, Cal founded Paddle Against Plastic in 2016, and since then has circumnavigated the Isle of Skye (400 miles) and paddled the length of the Cornish coast (260 miles). In other words, she’s one awesome lady! Here, the Dryrobe ambassador fills me in on her most recent record-breaking adventure.