It was a Lululemon women’s-only ultra-marathon called Further,and each of the participants was aiming to see how far she could go over six days,testing her own limits and the limitations put upon her. When fully supported,what would they achieve?
Ultra-marathon runner Camille Herron.
With her trademark gait – arms and legs moving as though manoeuvred by a puppeteer – Herron took off smiling,raised her arms in celebration and gave high-fives to the small crowd that had gathered at the starting line.
Her playful demeanour and mantra – “Let the magic come out” – belied a steely resolve:“[Women] are not supposed to be confident;we are not supposed to put our goals out there,” she said before the event. “Deep down inside,I’m a competitor. I’m a lion. I want to eat you.”
She also wanted to eat up some world records.
Six days later,the 42-year-old had done just that. Finishing as she began – smiling,arms raised in celebration – she broke 12 world records,including one that had not been broken in nearly a quarter of a century:the women’s six-day running world record of 883 kilometres,last set in Australia in 1990 by Kiwi ultra-runner Sandy Barwick.
Over those six days in the desert,with temperatures reaching 27 degrees and battling against wind,rain,dust and unremitting sun,Herron ran 901 kilometres – further than the distance between Sydney and Melbourne – and closed the gap on the men’s record of 1036 kilometres,also set in Australia,by Greek ultra-runner Yiannis Kouros.
Herron did it amid perimenopause,powered by naps every four hours as well as Coca-Cola spiders,tacos,tea,pumpkin pie,Guinness non-alcoholic draught (apparently good for stomach settling),bacon,chocolate ice cream bars,crackers and cheese. She sang Led Zeppelin,Beyoncé and Madonna to herself and focused on the rhythm of her breath and feet moving over the ashen gravel path for an average of 150 kilometres each day.
She also did it with help.
but also in sports science research,with female-only projects accounting for just. This has had various implications for women’s performance.
Indeed,without ideas steeped in real knowledge,it was once conceived that women should not exert themselves during exercise.
An “the constitution of women is adapted only to moderate exercise;their feeble arms cannot perform work too laborious and too long continued,and the graces cannot be reconciled with fatigue and sun-burning”.
Some archaic ideas remain,says Trent Stellingwerff,director of innovation and research at the Canadian Sport Institute.
“Everyone thought your career was done after a baby,” he says. “We now have tonnes of data to show that it can be the start of your career in some instances.”
And,until recently,the unique needs of women have,in many ways,remained unmet. Despite differences in bodies (women’s feet are),running shoes and running clothes were just like those made for men,but in smaller sizes.
The 10 women from around the world who participated in Further,a six-day ultra-marathon.
Sports bras were not invented until the 1970s! Today,researchers are only just beginning to understand that without proper support,women are not only deterred from exercise but are less efficient and because they compensate by altering the way they move their bodies.
When Stellingwerff began his career 25 years ago,research was conducted with men because they did not menstruate and the fluctuating hormones of a woman’s cycle could change results depending on when you tested. He says the narrative went like this:“We’ll measure the guys and assume it all works the same in women – and a bunch does and a bunch,now we know,is different.”
Researchers such as Stellingwerff,who worked with Lululemon on the Further project to study the individual women and gain insights into how their bodies perform at peak while also capturing event data for future research,now understand that women take longer to acclimatise to heat,so they need more time to adjust to an environment before a competition;pilot evidence suggests women have,so they can endure for longer;the menstrual cycle; in female athletes,so more evidence-based decisions can now be made around diet and supplementation;fasted exercise can;and it’s important to watch out for,which is higher in women.
While the emerging information is helping to fuel greater performance,supporting athletes such as Herron to literally go further,there is still a long way to go,Stellingwerff says.
Until there is more parity in participation and research,we can’t know the full potential of women to perform,he says. “When women were finally allowed to run in the marathon,the gap was way bigger than it is now.”
Brands such as Lululemon are also finally solving problems for female athletes such as “hacking products together”,like water bottles being put in bras or wearing belts that bounce around on top of pants with undersized pockets,or having to dump ice over their heads to keep cool.
Thermal regulation is important for endurance performance,says Chantelle Murnaghan,Lululemon’s vice president of research and innovation. The brand has therefore created a tank (as well as arm sleeves and a bandanna) that allows athletes to put ice in the bra;it also uses a material that slows the melting process to prolong the cooling effect.
”Knowledge is power,” Murnaghan says. “[We] empower people with information to make them think differently about their barriers and potential.”
Montana Farrah-Seaton at the Further ultra-marathon.
For 27-year-old Further ultra-marathon participant Montana Farrah-Seaton,of Australia,who ran more than 500 kilometres – further than she has ever run – that is the point of the exercise.
“[I wanted] to be a part of this to help propel research in sport,” says Farrah-Seaton,a Melbourne runner,model and strength-and-conditioning coach. “I think we put a ceiling on ourselves and what we’re capable of. Go for it! Because no one is ever going to say ‘she failed’ – they’ll say ‘she went for it’.”
It was a sentiment Herron echoed at the finish line. “I hope to inspire more people to take on their own ‘further’,whatever that may be,” she said:“To believe they can.”
With support,these women believed they could,and they did indeed go for it,running a collective 4635 kilometres and finishing with a champagne shoey from running shoes engineered especially for the shape of the female foot.
The writer travelled to the US as a guest of Lululemon.
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