A patient recovering from hernia surgery has broken the world record for running 140 ultramarathons in a single year. Edward Molineux, 36, from Willenhall, West Midlands, clocked 5,986.1 miles over 12 months between April 10 last year and April 9 this year.
Challenge completed despite injuries
During the gruelling challenge, he completed more than 200 miles in a single week. This is not his first world record; he previously recorded the most half-marathons in a year after completing 465 runs, embarking on his latest challenge just three days later.
Molineux said: "I started it days after I finished my 465 half-marathons, there was a three day gap between the two - it almost prepared me for this."
Inspiring others to be different
His inspiration came from wanting to show people there are no limits. He added: "and to not be afraid to be different and unique. I would love to inspire anyone to show them that you can make a comeback. It’s all about taking new levels, and not conforming to what everyone else is doing."
Over the course of the year, some ultramarathons left him battling a lack of sleep and swelling. He said: "Sometimes I was swelling up bad from the run the night before and had to do another run today. Other times I would do some ultras without any sleep. The craziest one I did was a 100 miler after my shift to fit my schedule of three ultras a week - that took 30 hours."
Pain and perseverance
An ultramarathon is any race longer than the traditional marathon distance of 26.2 miles, and Molineux went considerably further on dozens of occasions. His tally included 10 runs of 100 miles, six 62-mile ultramarathons, 23 runs covering 50 miles, and another 21 at 40 miles.
Working as a personal trainer, he believes training his subconscious helped him push through the pain. He added: "The biggest week I did was 62 miles on Monday, then I did 108 miles over Wednesday and Thursday, with a 50km Friday - that was the biggest and hardest. I did a 100 miler once a week for seven weeks. I got bad toe pain in my big toe, it was agony but I had to push through it. My hamstring was messed up on one leg and I had to run with a hiking stick for one. Every time I was moving I was limping."
He also recalled: "I remember doing a 100 miler from Tamworth and smashed my toe in the night - I was running from Tamworth to Birmingham, I had to 50 miles on a stinging toe. I had a trapped nerve from the running bag on my back. It took me about a week to ease it out and then three weeks to get the shoulder back."
Mind over matter
Speaking of how he trained his subconscious, he said: "I set it in my mind that I could do it, so I did. It’s all in the subconscious. I studied loads of books and psychology and trained my mind to learn how to do it. I trick my subconscious into believing it’s happened before it has, I’m using the power of suggestion. My record is unique as everyone is doing 50km records for the ultras - mine is way more, that’s why mine is harder."
After clocking up almost 6,000 miles, Molineux was handed his Official Record Breakers world record certificate on June 28.
