What did you do in the past 29 days?
New Zealand ultrarunner Sophie Woods ran 1,240 miles across eight countries to conquer one of the world’s toughest endurance challenges – breaking both the men’s and women’s time records.
The 42-year-old conquered the Via Alpina, which involves traversing a vast European alpine region stretching east to west from Italy, through Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and finally France and Monaco.
She completed the challenge in 29 days, beating the previous record set by British runner Jake Catterall in 2024 by six days. Previously the fastest woman, Dutch runner Tessa Caspers, did it in 38 days.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” Woods said on her Instagram Sunday local time, a day after she finished the feat. “I still can’t believe that we did it.”
