Record-breaking Northland runner Shannon-Leigh Litt surpasses 500 ultramarathons
'I still have speed in my legs. My body is holding up pretty well.
'Probably at the 450 to 500 [ultramarathon] mark, I struggled a lot ... but that was more of an emotional mindset. Now I'm more positive.
'Some days you feel really good and other days you don't.
'Whenever I'm running with others, it helps me get through.'
The criminal defence lawyer, who works out of Whangārei and Kaikohe courts, set out on her epic mission on January 1 with the aim of beating previous world record holder Candice Burt, from Colorado, who ran 200 ultramarathons in 200 days, finishing in May 2023.
She quickly accomplished that; by September, she had unofficially smashed the Guinness World Record for running the most consecutive ultramarathons.
Litt now plans to submit the data and video footage of her remarkable feat on the day she finishes, to make the record official.
When that will be, however, is a mystery.
Though completing 600 ultras is her next goal, Litt is remaining tight-lipped on her ultimate goal and exactly when she will have a well-earned rest from running.
'I have a specific date in mind, but I'm not saying.
'All I will say is that I'm well over halfway.
'I've committed to a number; I've got a specific day I'm going to finish, and that'll be it.'
Since she began, Litt has completed runs in Kerikeri, Rotorua, Hamilton, Mount Maunganui, and the Dome Valley trail in Warkworth.
She ran the Tarawera ultra trail in Rotorua and overseas ultras in Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Dubai, and Austria.
Though she doesn't have a specific routine, Litt will often get up about 2am to fit running into her schedule if she has to appear in court.
She runs for five to six hours each day to complete each ultramarathon, defined as any running event longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195km.
Common ultra distances include 50km, and Litt is doing at least 51km a day.
The Paihia resident then works into the night considering applications from lawyers and does some work online.
She recently downloaded an app that allows her to upload documents she can listen to anywhere, at any time.
'You can listen to them while you're running.
'I'm often listening to legal documents for four hours a day when I'm running.'
Litt began running for fitness as a teenager.
She got involved in half-marathons and marathons in her 20s and, by her early 30s, was running ultras because she found it beneficial for her mental health.
Running long distances was a 'personal challenge', which has inspired many people along the way, she said.
Some who have seen her out running have decided 'to get out and do a bit of exercise each day'.
'It allows me to connect with other people,' she said.
'And it's motivated a lot of others ... to take on an ultra-challenge or a different goal, not necessarily running or sport.
'It shows people, if you work hard at it, they can do it.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Right royal challenge
You could call it a one-in-a-million challenge. Yesterday afternoon, New Zealand time, Queenstown's Carlos Bagrie, who owns Royalburn Station with his wife Nadia Lim, started the first of five six-hour shifts on an indoor rowing machine in London's Paddington Station. Part of a team of 12 participating in the 'Thanks a Million Challenge', he hopes to help break a Guinness World Record, and raise £169,000 ($NZ380,841) to run an exercise programme for kids undergoing cancer treatment at Southampton Children's Hospital (SCH) for the next three years. The brainchild of long-time mate Gihan Ganesh, an anaesthetist at SCH, the challenge involves two teams of six, working in shifts. Each rower will spend 60 seconds on the erg every five minutes during their shift, rinse — possibly sleep — and repeat. To break the record, the combined team needs to row a million metres in 61 hours, 58 minutes and 41 seconds. As Bagrie, 39, puts it, "we need to be flying, really". "It's one thing to go on those erg machines and row for a minute quick, most people can do that. "It's to repeat it over and over and over again, and then combine it with the exhaustion that we're undoubtedly going to face. "The thing that is really stressing me out is the fatigue — realistically, can we sleep?" But there's no doubt they'll find untold motivation thinking about the little girl who's inspired the challenge, Ganesh's daughter, Lola, 4. Two weeks after Ganesh's family moved to London from Perth, when Lola was a year old, she was diagnosed at SCH's Piam Brown ward with a rare, advanced and complex pelvic tumour, which had metastasized. Ganesh says it was "pure fate" Lola was diagnosed in a hospital where she had access to the best care she could have received. Despite some bleak possible outcomes, after 169 days of active treatment — Bagrie got a front-row seat for some of them — Lola is now "amazing". Wanting to positively contribute to the Piam Brown ward team's future work, Ganesh launched the fundraiser to support a new collab between it and Momentum in Fitness Charity, to deliver targeted exercise therapy for all paediatric oncology patients. "They get really deconditioned, lose all their muscle mass, so it's a preventive/rehabilitative intervention," Ganesh says. "All the stuff through a kid's cancer journey is really negative, it's pretty miserable ... This is maybe one thing we can do which is treatment, but is positive." He picked indoor rowing because it was the only exercise he could manage during her treatment, and given the mental and physical strength required, he figured it's a "fitting micro-representation of what my daughter had to go through". And he chose Paddington Station — "probably the most public place you can think of, actually" — because 250,000-odd people pass through each day, and almost every day of Lola's treatment, they watched Paddington Bear. Bagrie, who's been training since October, says he's lost about 5kg, and "hopefully gained a few muscles" in preparation. "You know, I'm in the beer industry, so I wouldn't say I have an elite sportsperson's physique," he laughs. "[But] the way I see it, is this is an incredible opportunity to raise awareness and funds for a charity that provides a huge amount of benefit to the wider community when it comes to a child's care and helping families through what's a pretty arduous time. "Just seeing what these kids go through and how hard it is on the families, it really does give you motivation to push on through."
NZ Herald
21-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Record-breaking Northland runner Shannon-Leigh Litt surpasses 500 ultramarathons
'I still have speed in my legs. My body is holding up pretty well. 'Probably at the 450 to 500 [ultramarathon] mark, I struggled a lot ... but that was more of an emotional mindset. Now I'm more positive. 'Some days you feel really good and other days you don't. 'Whenever I'm running with others, it helps me get through.' The criminal defence lawyer, who works out of Whangārei and Kaikohe courts, set out on her epic mission on January 1 with the aim of beating previous world record holder Candice Burt, from Colorado, who ran 200 ultramarathons in 200 days, finishing in May 2023. She quickly accomplished that; by September, she had unofficially smashed the Guinness World Record for running the most consecutive ultramarathons. Litt now plans to submit the data and video footage of her remarkable feat on the day she finishes, to make the record official. When that will be, however, is a mystery. Though completing 600 ultras is her next goal, Litt is remaining tight-lipped on her ultimate goal and exactly when she will have a well-earned rest from running. 'I have a specific date in mind, but I'm not saying. 'All I will say is that I'm well over halfway. 'I've committed to a number; I've got a specific day I'm going to finish, and that'll be it.' Since she began, Litt has completed runs in Kerikeri, Rotorua, Hamilton, Mount Maunganui, and the Dome Valley trail in Warkworth. She ran the Tarawera ultra trail in Rotorua and overseas ultras in Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Dubai, and Austria. Though she doesn't have a specific routine, Litt will often get up about 2am to fit running into her schedule if she has to appear in court. She runs for five to six hours each day to complete each ultramarathon, defined as any running event longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195km. Common ultra distances include 50km, and Litt is doing at least 51km a day. The Paihia resident then works into the night considering applications from lawyers and does some work online. She recently downloaded an app that allows her to upload documents she can listen to anywhere, at any time. 'You can listen to them while you're running. 'I'm often listening to legal documents for four hours a day when I'm running.' Litt began running for fitness as a teenager. She got involved in half-marathons and marathons in her 20s and, by her early 30s, was running ultras because she found it beneficial for her mental health. Running long distances was a 'personal challenge', which has inspired many people along the way, she said. Some who have seen her out running have decided 'to get out and do a bit of exercise each day'. 'It allows me to connect with other people,' she said. 'And it's motivated a lot of others ... to take on an ultra-challenge or a different goal, not necessarily running or sport. 'It shows people, if you work hard at it, they can do it.'
RNZ News
23-04-2025
- RNZ News
London Marathon awaiting guidance on trans athletes
Runners along The Mall during the London Marathon. Photo: photosport Last week's landmark ruling on trans women in Britain will not impact Monday's London Marathon, with race director Hugh Brasher saying he supports a recent World Athletics decision to gender test to "protect women's rights to compete fairly". Brasher added he will wait for guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Sport England before deciding if changes are needed for future editions of the London Marathon, which currently permits runners in the mass race to self-identify their gender, but restricts entries in the elite and championship races to females at birth. Last week's much anticipated ruling said only biological and not trans women meet the definition of a woman under equality laws, a decision that confirms that single-sex services for women such as sports can exclude trans women. "It's really difficult to predict what we would do," Brasher said on a call with media on Wednesday (UK time). "I've gone through loads of different scenario planning since the court delivered its verdict, but honestly, we have to wait until the commission gives its report, until Sport England do, because otherwise we're just going on to what ifs, what ifs, what ifs. "We delight in being both inclusive but also protecting in competition the rights of women, which is incredibly important. Seb Coe and World Athletics have always led on that, and we absolutely look to continue doing that." World Athletics president Coe announced last month that female athletes will soon have to undergo a one-time genetic test to compete in women's events, which has been met with criticism. Lord Sebastian Coe Photo: Photosport "I think that what World Athletics have done has been incredibly good for athletics and been really clear," Brasher said. "When you look at the Olympics, you're looking at protecting women's competitive sport, I think it's absolutely vital. The job that Seb Coe has done has put the sport at the forefront of protecting women's rights to compete fairly." Asked how many trans athletes are entered in Sunday's marathon, Brasher said it is impossible to know, since it is self-selection. "Your passport would say your gender, and your gender can say female, even if you were born male. And so this is where getting into the advice that there is going to be from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Sport England is incredibly important," he said. "This is complex. We're really clear about the competition element, anywhere where there is competition that includes 'good for age,' that has to be your biological birth sex." Sunday's race is expected to feature more than 56,000 finishers, which would be a Guinness World Record, and will feature all four Olympic and Paralympic champions -- Tamirat Tola and Sifan Hassan, and Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner. Jacob Kiplimo. Photo: DPA Picture-Alliance via AFP Others worth watching are Jacob Kiplimo who recently smashed the men's world half-marathon record and will make his debut in the 42.195-kilometre distance on Sunday, and four-time London winner Eliud Kipchoge, considered the greatest marathon runner of all-time. Britain's Alex Ye, the 2024 Olympic triathlon champion, and Commonwealth Games 10,000-metres champion Eilish McColgan will make their marathon debuts. McColgan was the recent target of online bullying that Brasher called "abhorrent. "People just have to look at themselves as to why on earth are they doing that," he said. "How she has held herself and responded to that is exemplary. There are some social media channels that are particularly vitriolic and descending into a gutter." Brasher said the London Marathon has stopped posting on X, the media platform recently known as Twitter. Their last post was on 17 January. "Just looking at how that channel, the vitriol, it was ceasing to be a rational conversation, it was ceasing to be a positive place to be," he said. "The London Marathon is about positivity." - Reuters
