© 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.

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!

The list of brutal events that Amie ‘live wire’ Spade has to her name makes for impressive reading and includes Death Races, Survival Runs, a 277-mile multi-stage race and a team podium at the freezing 24-hour Spartan Ultra Beast World Championship in Iceland. All of which will stand her in good stead for her next big challenge: to run Ireland’s 1553-mile Wild Atlantic Way and set a fastest known time.

Amie is running to raise money for Nerve Tumours UK, a charity which supports sufferers of the genetic disorder, Neurofibromatosis, which causes tumours to form on nerve tissue. The cause is particularly close to her heart as her partner, Adam, has Type 1 Neurofibromatosis.

Here, I quiz the 39-year-old dryrobe ambassador (who is secretly very shy!) on her toughest challenges, her mental grit and how she’s training for her biggest run yet.

Photo: Tough Mudder

She’s one of the nicest people on the OCR circuit – and she just happens to have won the OCR World Championship three years in a row. Yup, Lindsay Webster is on the blog today, talking through a typical day in her life as a pro obstacle racing athlete.

Plus, don’t miss my five quick-fire questions at the end of Lindsay’s write-up, where she chats about her recent foray into vertical kilometre racing (with a win) and her plans to try her luck in skyrunning. Personally, I’d love to see this happen as Lindsay would be force to be reckoned with on the skyrunning circuit!