Taking it too far? Lawyer runs an ultramarathon a day

Blurring the line between dedication and madness, Shannon-Leigh Litt has been running an ultra-marathon distance every day for 1,000 days while, somehow, working full-time. The 47-year-old New Zealand criminal defense lawyer holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive days to run an ultra-marathon distance), beating the previous record of 200 days, then blowing past that benchmark with nonstop daily runs.

An ultra-marathon is technically any distance longer than 26.2 miles (42.195 km), but Litt makes sure to cover at least 51 km (31.7 mi) in a day. The hyper-committed runner started her world record attempt on January 1, 2024 and has since worn through about 100 pairs of sneakers. She would often start her marathons between 1pm and 4am, and they would take her between 5.5 and 6.5 hours to complete, fueled by a daily diet of up to 5,500 calories.

Litt somehow managed to do all this while working and even visiting other countries, a feat that required her to complete her daily miles on New Zealand time (so by 8pm when in Bali, for example). She noted that some of her friends and family members have expressed concerns about her activities, but that she appreciates “running with the community and being part of a big wider family of runners.”