Carla Molinaro cut 10 hours off the previous record by waking up at 4am and running until 10pm every day. Photo / 123rf
Carla Molinaro cut 10 hours off the previous record by waking up at 4am and running until 10pm every day. Photo / 123rf
An ultra runner has broken the Land's End to John O'Groats record after training on Coke, croissants and ice cream, having only decided to take up the challenge in April.
Carla Molinaro has set a new women's record of 12 days, 30 minutes and 14 seconds for the 1400km journeyfrom Cornwall to Scotland.
The 36-year-old running coach from Buckinghamshire cut 10 hours off the previous record by waking up at 4am and running until 10pm every day, the Daily Telegraph reports.
"This is 100 per cent the hardest thing I have ever done," said Molinaro, who has represented Great Britain at the 100km World Championships and won a gold medal at the 89km Comrades Marathon in South Africa.
"I don't think I quite understood what I was doing," she added.
The former British Army operations officer decided to take on the challenge in April, after strict lockdown rules introduced while she was training in South Africa restricted her to running up and down the driveway of the house she was staying in.
Carla Molinaro refuelled with croissants and Coke during her training. Photo / 123rf
"I started to daydream about going on an adventure and this popped into my head," she said.
"As there were no races it seemed like a good time to combine a mega challenge with an adventure."
Burning an average of 5500 calories per day, Molinaro snacked every half-hour on a diet of cocktail sausages, flapjacks, banana bread and millionaire's shortbread.
More than 44 cans of Coca-Cola would have been required to meet the 6168 calories she burned of her final day of running.
Molinaro opted for "real food" such as scotch eggs and peanut butter sandwiches, but traded high-sugar dishes for savoury ones midway through the run.
During her training she refuelled with croissants, cans of Coke and ice cream.
Her support team included her sister, Andrea, who met her at regular intervals with food and water.
She ran up to 114km each day, at a pace of 6.3km to 9.5km per hour.
Other runners joined her for stints, including Sharon Gayter, who set the previous record last year.
Carla Molinaro began the epic journey at Land's End in Cornwall. Photo / File 123rf
Molinaro said she felt relief when she arrived at John O'Groats at 5.30am on Tuesday, adding that she had "horrendous pain" in her shin and blisters under her toenails.
"On the last day we had rain and strong winds which were blowing me backwards," she said. "My main emotion at John O'Groats was just relief."
Molinaro is looking forward to a rest, having run through the night on the final day of the challenge to beat the record, which is yet to be ratified by Guinness World Records.
"Most nights I have been too sore to sleep because my muscles won't turn off," she said.
She celebrated her birthday on Monday by drilling through her toenails to relieve pressure from the blisters.
"I've had to drill through my toenails each day... That's what happens when you spend 17 hours running each day," she said.
Talking about her sister's appetite, Andrea said: "Carla needed food which she can carry in her running vest and eat on the go. But it's all high-calorie food. You couldn't do this on a lettuce leaf."
