Vegan ultra running

Running 300 miles fuelled by plants

I used to get told fairly frequently that I wouldn’t have the energy to sustain a long run if I just ate a vegan diet. That was when the notion of running a really, really long way for charity was just the seed of an idea.

The likes of Eddie Izzard had run multiple marathons to raise money, and countless celebrities had scaled mountains and traversed anaconda-infested waters for worthy causes, so why on earth couldn’t I do something equally as ridiculous?

In July I became the first person to run The Macmillan Way – which runs from Boston in Lincolnshire, to Abbotsbury in Dorset. The route itself is just shy of 300 miles, but I sure as hell ran at least that. And guess what? I’m a vegan, and I did it without any injuries. A couple of blisters were the most I had to complain about – and a lack of sleep, and of course a lack of anyone to talk to for miles, and miles, and miles.

So how does anyone run that far on a diet that consists of plants? Pretty well, it turns out. Look at the likes of Fiona Oakes and Scott Jurek (all hail and praise be – these are two of some the most phenomenal vegan ultra-runners), and it’s enough to realise that meat and animal produce does not equate to energy or strength.

Mindset was the biggest hurdle for me. Running that far on my own, for the first time in my life, and over terrain that I hadn’t recce’d before, meant that my brain gave me more agro than my body.

I had to force myself out of bed – for all but one night that was in a VW camper van called Arthur II. The one night Arthur didn’t provide my shelter was only because we parked up in the space outside a mate’s workshop, so I had a mattress on the floor. I was up at 4am, and out the door within an hour. And I had to force down food. Pasta with tomato sauce, new potatoes covered in salt and olive oil, luke-warm cauliflower bites, chips, bananas, bananas, bananas, oh, and nectarines. My crew, consisting of my husband, more often than not wouldn’t have time to boil the kettle in time for my next check point and I craved a cup of tea, ALL THE TIME. So instead, it was cans of coke and cold stuff and vegan Magnums.

I was running in the height of the summer. The heatwave had been turning the grass to tinder just the week before, but it hung in the air, so it was like running under a pinned-down duvet. I felt like a boil in the bag meal, slowly cooking in my skin. The nectarines were my little taste of heaven when I needed hydration but couldn’t take on any more drink.

The overdosing on fruit then had its own repercussions. Needing to hide behind every available bush each time I took on any food or drink became a hideous necessity, and it was incredibly wearying. It sapped me of even more energy, but I had enough in the bank.

The hills of the Cotswolds and Somerset, and the latter hills through the Dorset countryside and right up to the finish line had it in for me. I’d trained for the distance, but not for the elevation, and on day two I wondered what the bejeezus I’d let myself in for.

I was doing this for a reason. I was running for Macmillan Cancer Support – check out the Just Giving lowdown on that, and so I knew I wasn’t going to give up.

I ran it in six days, 13 hours, nine minutes and 42 seconds. Go on, check it out on http://www.fastestknowntime.com – it’s there, in black and white!

So, in a nutshell (nuts were consumed wildly, too), I did it on sheer grit and determination, a very sensible eating plan, which consisted of all the food – rice, pasta, Active Root sports drink, a bit of luck, and a lot of support!

Following that run, I am here to share the great news that as a vegan you are not at a disadvantage physically (in case anyone was still under that impression), and to talk about all things vegan, fitness and running. HURRAH.