Sophie Power: The woman rewriting the rules of endurance sport

When a photograph of Sophie Power breastfeeding her three-month-old baby mid-race went viral, it sparked a global conversation about motherhood, sport, and equality. But for Sophie, the moment was never about heroics - it was about the barriers women face just to reach a start line.

In this powerful episode of The Game Changers, Sophie – a world record-breaking ultra-runner and founder of SheRACES – shares how she’s challenging a sport designed for men, campaigning for pregnancy deferrals, fair cut-offs and real equity for women in endurance events worldwide.

In this episode, Sophie reveals:

• The anger and injustice behind that iconic UTMB image
• Why so few women make it to ultra start lines – and how to change that
• The life-changing power of endurance challenges for women everywhere
• How SheRACES is driving global reform in running and triathlon events
• What resilience really looks like when you’re juggling motherhood, sport and ambition

From running 347 miles across Ireland to smashing a 48-hour treadmill world record, Sophie Power is redefining what’s possible and refusing to leave other women behind.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Episode Transcript

Sue Anstiss (00:03):
Hello and welcome to the Game Changers.
I'm Sue Anstis, and this is thepodcast where you'll hear from
trailblazing women in sport,breaking boundaries and
challenging the status quo forwomen and girls everywhere.
What can we learn from theirjourneys as we explore key
issues around equality in sportand beyond?
A huge thank you to SportEngland, who support the Game

(00:25):
Changers podcast through anational lottery award.
My guest today is Sophie Power,a British 24-hour ultra runner,
world record holder and leadingvoice for women's inclusion and
equity in sport.
Known for her extraordinaryendurance and pioneering

(00:47):
advocacy, sophie's story is asmuch about challenging the
culture of sport as it is aboutpushing human limits.
Sophie is the fastest womanever to run the length of
Ireland, covering 347 miles inan astonishing 84 hours and 8
minutes, and she also holds theGuinness World Record for the
greatest distance run on atreadmill in 48 hours, in an
astonishing 84 hours and 8minutes, and she also holds the
Guinness World Record for thegreatest distance run on a
treadmill in 48 hours In 2018, apowerful and unforgettable

(01:15):
image of Sophie breastfeedingher three-month-old baby during
a gruelling UTMB mountain racecaptured hearts worldwide and
ignited a global conversationabout motherhood and endurance.
Harnessing the platform of thatmoment, sophie founded SheRaces,
a groundbreaking research andadvocacy organisation that's

(01:35):
driven equity for women insporting events across the globe
.
So, sophie, let's begin withthat iconic image you
breastfeeding your baby duringthe 106 mile utmb mountain race.
For anyone that hasn't seen thephoto, can you describe it and

(01:56):
set the scene for us?

Sophie Power (01:58):
I mean the photo is it's at the 50 mile point and
the race starts at six o'clockat night.
So I've gone through the night.
It's the next morning.
He's only breastfed.
So I've got these.
Breasts are very full of milk.
I'm very tender and I've beentrying to squeeze them out
behind trees and on the pathjust to relieve that tension.
And the photo is is just mebreastfeeding Cormac, one side,

(02:19):
pumping the other side.
There's a full feed in both ofthem and next to me there's a
guy asleep on the floor.
Because that's what I wanted todo, because I'd been running
through the night and that'swhat I should have been doing
the checkpoint.
But I'm there to finish a raceand I've got to breastfeed my
baby.
I've got to get him some milkfor the rest of the time and
then get on with the race.
But it's a beautiful photographtaken by the photographer,

(02:40):
alexis Berg, and it justcaptures, I think, that mother
athletes have to juggle, youknow, our goals, our sporting
goals, our any goals, and alsobeing mother.

Sue Anstiss (02:50):
You're right, though it is a beautiful
photograph, I think, as you say,that kind of comparison of the
guy with his legs laying upwardsas he's sleeping next to you
two, that is almost the bit thatkind of sets it apart, the
difference in those two athletes.
I remember seeing it at theGetty exhibition it was at the
Saatchi Museum as one of theiconic images of women's sport

(03:11):
from across a period of time.
So I think for so many women itwas so powerful.
But taking yourself back tothat moment, how did you feel,
physically and emotionally?
What was going through yourmind?

Sophie Power (03:22):
I think I was angry really because I shouldn't
have been there.
I should have had theopportunity to race the year
after, when I was fullyphysically fit and back together
.
And the UTMB, the Ultra Trailde Mont Blanc, is like the world
championships of ultra running.
I got my first place in 2014.
You have to run qualifyingraces quite difficult ones, 100

(03:42):
mile type races and then besuccessful in a ballot.
And I got my place in 2014.
I lost it because I was pregnantwith my first son and they said
you couldn't defer forpregnancy, you could for injury.
Pregnancy was a choice a choice.
I would argue that the timingof pregnancy is not a choice,
certainly for none of my threebabies, and I didn't want to

(04:03):
lose my place again and Ithought I'll just go 10K, I'll
just enjoy the atmosphere.
Chamonix at that time isincredible and it was something
in the diary for me to stay fitthrough pregnancy, to have that
goal.
That made me believe that I wasgoing to get back to who I was,
and so I was angry that Ishouldn't have been there, but

(04:23):
very much I was thinking aboutwell, I can do this.
You know, I can juggle this.
I've got my baby, I've got mygoals, I've got an incredibly
supportive family behind me andI genuinely didn't think it was
unusual.
I didn't think there wasanything weird about what I was
doing.
I was just a mother with goalsand mums just get on with it.
And I wasn't on social media atthe time and it was only when

(04:44):
my world exploded the week afterthat I realized that this isn't
the norm for many women.
They don't go after girls andthey do struggle getting back
and maybe there's something Ican do to support these women.

Sue Anstiss (04:57):
And how did you feel when that image did go
viral?
Had you known the image wastaken at the time?
He definitely asked.
I didn't really mean to askthat, but I've never thought
before of course no.

Sophie Power (05:08):
He asked and I do.
You know what I thought?
Do you know if the raceorganisers see this image,
they'll think this is ridiculous.
What are we doing?
We should absolutely let herrace when she's ready, and it
took me four years to get thatfor other women.
But now, actually, utmb havesome of the best pregnancy
deferral policies in the worldat five years and we work very

(05:30):
closely together.
But that's all I thought wouldhappen.
But that was the reason it'ssuch a personal photograph.
I've got my bra hoiked up overmy boobs.
It's not the most flattering,but I just thought.
You know, if this changes itfor one woman and they can take
on this goal when they're ready,then that's worth it.

Sue Anstiss (05:49):
It's really interesting, isn't it?
Because I hadn't thought,because when you see the image
and I remember feeling howpowerful the image is you feel
it's a celebration of motherhoodand extraordinary women that
can do all things, and not thatabsolutely you shouldn't.
The point is you shouldn't havebeen there.
If you'd have had the option,you would have chosen to race
the following year or the yearafter.

Sophie Power (06:10):
I think so and I think that everyone says, well,
do you wish they had thepolicies back in place?
Then it's like, well, no, now,given what the change has been
in the world since then andfounding she races and
everything I've gone on to donow I'm glad I got myself around
.
Yeah, the goal was never to getround, but it was the day
before I had my three-year-oldand he was watching other mostly

(06:31):
men, fathers with theirchildren cross the lines of the
shorter races and said, mom,that's going to be me.
I said, oh God, I've got to getaround 106 miles and you could
do it hiking and my pelviswasn't back together and it was
just a you know, let's getaround this for Donika to have
that experience.
So I'm so glad I did it.
And then I went on to have athird baby and had a completely
different getting back and I wasvery conscious that this isn't

(06:53):
the norm.
You know women aren't expectedto run 106 miles at three months
postpartum.
With my third, I expected toget back quickly and I had a
prolapse and it took a lotlonger that journey.
So I was very conscious notputting pressure on women to say
this is what you should bedoing and being very open with
the support around me to be ableto do that.
But what we want to do is makesure that women can get back and

(07:18):
we do have the support aroundthem, and that was the goal
coming out that maybe we canraise some of these issues and
highlight that we struggle afterwe have babies.

Sue Anstiss (07:28):
And looking back now, was it that moment, it was
that photograph that shaped thejourney that you've had since
then in all that you've done.
Would you have gone on to dothat, do you think, if it hadn't
gone viral and had the profilethat it did?

Sophie Power (07:40):
No, I think it's definitely a kind of the sliding
doors moment in my life.
I think there's been a couple,I think the day I signed up for
my first run, having never runmore than a mile and decided to
run across the Sahara, and thenthis allowing this photo to go
out, and I think I originallyrealized that you know we needed
to talk about pregnancydeferrals and every race should
have them, and so many racedirectors contacted me and said

(08:03):
I can't believe we haven'tthought of this and you know we
have a no deferral for anycircumstance.
Of course we should allow womenwe need to actively encourage
women to start line, and itstarted with that and it started
with my story on balance.
And then I start realizing thatyou know, it's not just
pregnancy.
If we look at the start linesI'm on the longer start lines.

(08:24):
Sometimes they're only 10%women, 20%.
Ultras are a minority, butwomen are phenomenal at a very
early age.
We don't feel as good at boysas sport, but so many of the

(08:48):
events can do something about.
And can I use this platform thatI've been gifted to work with
event organisers to get morewomen on start lines, because
for me, racing has been atransformation of my life.
I wasn't a sporty kid.
I was second last in the mileat school, somehow.
I now run for Great Britain,but for very much, I believe
finishing lines change lives andyou only have to stand on the

(09:11):
end of a marathon or kind ofthese ultras and watch people
come across and go.
They signed up for somethingthey weren't quite sure they
could do it and they complete itand you know it gives you so
much strength throughout therest of your life that this is
something that everyone deserves.
And if I can use this platformto enable other women to have
these life-changing kind oftransformations that give them

(09:32):
the strength, that give them thepower to be born, and I've just
in the process of writing abook and kind of stage one I
think was the sharing my story.
Stage two is she races and I'mvery much working with events.
And stage three is using sportas this lens for the rest of
society and where she races goesand where I'm, I'm asked and we

(09:54):
work with rent for footballclub on a maternity policy, the
season ticket holders.
So set by thinking well, ifwomen have to be supported to
get back from from pregnancy andsport, what about the rest of
our lives.
What about the other ways inbusiness in which women are
different from men?
And can we use sport as anexample to then get people
thinking differently aboutmedical provision, about how we

(10:16):
can we treat in the workplace?
So that's what's reallyexciting, and it's crazy that
all of that has come out of onephotographer being in an aid
station 50 miles into a race.

Sue Anstiss (10:27):
And there's so much I want to unpack and go into
with you there.
But before I do, going back tothe comment that you made about
suddenly running across thedesert when you'd only run a few
miles before, how did thatstart?
Why was that the turning pointthat happened?

Sophie Power (10:40):
I think I grew up as the unsporty kid.
I say the unsporty kid I thinkthat was lots of us that were
unsporty.
My parents never pushed sport.
I think my kids are.
They're 4'7".
They're so sporty, they love it, they just adore it.
And I never had that access tosport.
And I was second last in myschool when I was 14.

(11:06):
I remember it so clearly, kindof in those awful pea knickers
that rode up and the chafing,the chafing from just running
that mile in the heat, and Ijust wrote myself off, as a lot
of women do.
We write ourselves off.
I can't do this, I'm notcapable, I'm not talented.
I loved hiking, I love beingoutside.
I wanted to play team sport butI just didn't have the options
and you weren't chosen for theteam unless you'd played it
before.
And my hand-eye coordination isslightly lacking compared to my

(11:29):
kids.
My seven-year-old beats me attennis.
I've given up now.
But I wrote myself off.
And then I was made redundantfrom a job in finance when I was
26.
I got married and they neededto make some redundancy.
So they told me to go off andhave babies.
And, um, then my friend hadjust done this marathon, the 250
kilometer race across the thesahara and I trained as a pilot

(11:51):
navigator when I was atuniversity in the royal air
force, um, and we'd done thismarches there's nine mega
marches, 100 miles over fourdays.
And he'd been in my team andI'd done well and he said you
could do this.
And I said but I don't run, hegoes.
No, everyone hikes.
They call it the hardest racein the world but everyone walks.
You've got to go threekilometers an hour to make the

(12:11):
cutoffs, so it's a slow walk andsometimes you get this point in
your life where you don't havea reason to say no and if you
don't have a good reason to sayno you just have to say yes.
And I blindly trusted him,signed up, had nine months to go
from zero running to 250kilometers and you know it
transformed the rest of my lifeKind of.

(12:31):
I worked out that actually Iwas good at this and some of the
skill sets I developed oflogistics, of planning, of
mental toughness, and I startedmy career as an investment
banker so we used to work kindof seven day weeks and all
nighters, so it's pretty handywhen you have to run through the
whole night and that just setme on a different trajectory and
completely changed my thinkingof I never thought I could do

(12:55):
this.
So what are the other things inmy life that I never thought I
could do that maybe I can dobecause I've done this?

Sue Anstiss (13:00):
And what's the gap in time, then, from doing that
to that photo being taken?

Sophie Power (13:05):
Eight years.
So this was pre-baby, this was2010.
I did the Marathon de Saab andthen I started doing the same
kind of races all around theworld.
I mean, I call them holidaysbecause you do kind of five, six
, seven days and you carry yourown things, or sometimes they
carry it for you and you see acountry in a completely
different way and it'sspectacular.

(13:26):
And I was in Nepal and Bhutanand Cambodia and in Iceland,
sometimes dragging my hubbyalong for company and meeting
people I'd never meet.
So this was what I did withpoor children.
And then you have kids and it'spretty hard to go away for 10
days, and so I started runningthe longer distances nonstop, so
focusing on 100 mile raceswhere you can start running.

(13:47):
You run a long way and thenyou're done the next day and
you've got to pick up the piecesof the kids.

Sue Anstiss (13:52):
And it is interesting to see how that's
evolved at your ultra runningcareer alongside motherhood a
rare combination, but actuallyprobably not so when you talk to
more women that are in thatspace.
But have you noticed ways inwhich motherhood has made you a
better athlete?

Sophie Power (14:07):
I think so.
I think I'm kind of the reverseathlete in that I wasn't sporty
at school and now the older Iget, the faster I seem to get
the tougher challenges.
I got my first GB best afterhaving my third baby, almost as
an accident, because I wastrying to qualify for a
different race.
And then British Athletics callme up the next day and say kind

(14:29):
of, would you like to come toEuropean Championships for 24
hours?
So for me I think the time Ihave training is special.
I need it.
I need that time racing wherethe only thing I have to think
about is putting one foot infront of the other.
Outside racing, my brain is akind of the mental load of three
children and and work as sheraces and everything else is

(14:51):
crazy and we all know it andit's the one time I have to to
really kind of free myself ofthis.
And the long runs are reallyspecial to me at the weekends
where I can just just process mythoughts in a way that I can't
in general.
I have an amazing coach, edwinaSutton, who she's got three
kids slightly older, so sheabsolutely understands my life.

(15:13):
And the down weeks in trainingare kind of half term and the
summer holiday, juggle andtraining is around all of it,
but I just prioritize and Idon't know what I did with my
time before I had kids.
To be honest, um, I wasted somuch time.
I think it's that and learningto look after yourself and deal
with monotony.
People ask me how do you runlaps?

(15:34):
So when I run a 24 hour, it'soften around an athletics track
for 24 hours or as a onekilometer leap.
And that's no different to atwo-year-old saying mummy, mummy
, mummy, can I have this, can Ihave this, can I have?
And that's no different to atwo-year-old saying mummy, mummy
, mummy, can I have this, can Ihave this?
Can I have that?
There's no difference to me inthis, so it's it's just a
monotony and we get used todealing with it.
So there's lots of ways.
If I look at the worldchampionships in Taiwan last

(15:56):
time, the British team were fourmothers, so there must be
something in there and we dohear a lot, I don't know, about
mothers feeling the need tochoose between motherhood and
ambitions in life.

Sue Anstiss (16:05):
So what would you say?
And I absolutely recognisepeople in different positions in
terms of the support they havearound their lives too, but
clearly you've managed tocombine the two.

Sophie Power (16:15):
I'm a better mother when I'm happier than
myself and I have my own goals.
I mean, the kids throw shoes atme in the morning, at the
weekend, like off you go.
If you run, dad will give themfar better snacks than I will.
But they also know that I'm acalm and happier person and I
think I'm a much better rolemodel.
My four-year-old's a daughterand I'm a much better role model

(16:36):
to her to show that dad's gothis interests, mom has his
interests.
But it's difficult and I thinkafter that photo was taken, some
of the most powerful messages Ihad were from dads and they
messaged and say you know, mypartner was really sporty and
active before she had our childand now she doesn't ask to go

(16:57):
out, doesn't ask to go running.
And I realized that it's notthat she doesn't want to, it's
that she doesn't feel entitledto, she doesn't feel she's able
to ask at that time.
And I'm still doing my thingsand what I have to do as a
partner is actually enable herand maybe sign her up to a race.
I think one of the big reasonsfor pregnancy deferrals and
we're working on a big report onit just to try and explain why

(17:21):
it's so important for women tobe able to further place an
event, and it's not often aboutthe cost, it's often about that
opportunity to have that in thediary, to still feel as we were,
to still feel that we're anathlete.
We're going to get back thereand we're going to do everything
we can and get the supportthere and work so hard on our
physical rehabilitation.

(17:42):
That's what's important.
Having that event in the diaryis that excuse that a lot of us
need to get out the door at aweekend to go away from the kids
for half an hour, an hour, twohours and train.
We need to educate our partnersin a way that you know they may
not feel different from havinga baby, but sociologically we've
got all these pressures on usand we need to be supported

(18:04):
through them.

Sue Anstiss (18:08):
That's so interesting.
Interesting, isn't it?
I hadn't really thought aboutit from that perspective and yet
knowing myself with a goal inmind and an ambition is
something to psychologically toaim for, to train for.
But of course, having that in adiary and even knowing it's 18
months time rather than sixmonths time can be such a huge,
powerful motivator for all youdo in life.

Sophie Power (18:24):
I mean for me, if I don't have races in the diary,
I mean I've got an amazingcoach, she'd get me out of bed
to do things.
But I do need those races,those events, kind of um can.
I need to know what's happeningnext.
And having these steppingstones, so when it's kind of
when it's like 11 o'clock atnight and are we going to put
another program on or are wegoing to have a glass of wine,
it's like no training tomorrow,training tomorrow.

Sue Anstiss (18:45):
It's better for us and how do your children feel
about your achievements and yourprofile and the visibility of
the work you're doing?
Are they kind of aware of thatthey're?

Sophie Power (18:53):
very aware and they're so proud and they love
being involved.
They love being involved and Ithink the reason, the main
reason, I decided to set theworld record, to run the next of
Ireland, is my husband's Irish.
He's from Cork, his wholefamily are there and you know we
wanted to see the countrydifferently, but I knew that
it's very difficult for me totake the kids with me on events.

(19:14):
The world champs are in Taiwan,I mean, this year they're in
France, so they're actuallygoing to come over.
But I wanted to do somethingwith them by my side and they
were in the camper van.
So we dropped my, my daughter,in the south with the
grandparents and my mentalchallenge was I'm just going to
get back to Saoirse as soon as Ican.
The faster I run, the faster Iget to my daughter.
But the boys were beside me andit was so, so special.

(19:36):
Um, it puts a bit of a struggleon because they want to, they
want more record certificates,because they love show and tell,
love, show and tell.
So when I bought a trophy backafter the weekend run, they were
like, right, okay, which onegets it for show and tell first?
But they love it and they theysee limits differently, and so
when my six-year-old came outfor a 10k night run that was set

(19:58):
up by an organizer and therewere there's lots of Haribo at
the checkpoints this is a bigsell, but he but he's like, well
, I can do anything.
And they see women.
I think, differently to ourfriends already is that my mum
can do this.
Women are different to men.
They know that and they knowthat kind of there's a gap.
But they think women arephenomenal athletes and there's
two little male advocates thatwe're going to have kind of

(20:19):
growing up that we respect.
They love training their sisterat tennis.
They love seeing her do well.
So yeah, there's pressure on todo more web record attempts
because they love them.
So we've got another one kindof in the works for next year.
And, yeah, I love adventures.
So any kind of adventure that Ican bring them on with me and
set a world record if thathappens would be brilliant.

Sue Anstiss (20:40):
Do they run?
Are they runners too?

Sophie Power (20:45):
My 10-year-old will run after a ball.
If there's a ball, he'll runafter it.
He's a tennis player, he's ahockey player and he doesn't
like, yeah, he won't come alongum as much and you'd never want
to push it and I wasn't runningwhen I was then.
My seven-year-old loves beingon his bike.
They do sprint intervals.
We hike at weekends.
We're very outdoorsy and theydo lots of sprint intervals at
the hill.
My four-year-old grew up on thehills.

(21:05):
We hike up a big hill down toschool and her downhill running
is phenomenal.
She's got no fear, I will notkeep up with her.
I like my, I like my hamstrings, so they love sport and it's
just encouraging that andencouraging all that kind of
learning, the the base skillsthat I always go back to.
But I never had them and Inever learned to throw a ball or

(21:26):
catch a ball, and that playsdown sports to me.
I want them to be able to finda sport they love and have that
as an asset for life, that theyhave a way of moving their body,
that that makes them happy,that makes them be around other
people, and and that's the goalfor me it doesn't matter how
good they are at it, it's justthat they love it Absolutely.

Sue Anstiss (21:46):
You founded SheRacism.
We've talked about the kind ofrationale and the reasoning why,
but I wonder if you can sharesome of the most sort of
surprising or important insights.
Your research and communityengagement has shown you that
perhaps even you weren't awareof.

Sophie Power (22:01):
Oh, there was so much, I think.
When I started thinking aboutit I thought about all my own
barriers that's where I startedwith and obviously there was the
lack of confidence in signingup for things.
There was the maternity butwomen are so diverse, we're so
diverse and there's so manydifferent things.
So we did a survey of 2000women to understand mostly
running events and we've gone onto do another survey for

(22:23):
triathlon and then another onefor understanding why women
might want to take part in, inwomen-only events and how that
might give them more confidenceto then step into kind of the
mixed events that the majorityof events.
So we started off and it wasvery much.
Let's listen to lots of storiesand uncover what's happening in
events and so much there withthe lack of confidence, I think

(22:46):
we look at the physiologicaldifferences and the need for
pregnancy deferrals and periodproducts, the amount of times my
period has started mid-race andthere's no pockets to carry
anything and you're just stuck.
It's like toilet paper.
It just should be.
Alongside that, and looking atthe ways, ways where you know
80% of women had had a t-shirtthat doesn't fit because they're

(23:09):
designed for men.
All mine fit me.
When I was 37 weeks pregnant.
My husband wears them, my kidswill all wear them, they'll get
born.
But those ways that we differthat side, but then also the
sociological differences andthat we won't sign up to a race.
And us we're absolutely sure ofmaking those cutoffs and those
languages are dangerous.
Most difficult, really hard,changing that language into

(23:31):
saying this is the speed youneed to go to meet the cutoff.
We're going to extend thecutoff as much as we can
logistically possible.
These are how, all thelogistics, how you get.
I think 40% of women were putoff by race by just not knowing
all the information and notmissing the first public
transport to get there, so wecouldn't get there.
The imagery when you see a startline, a picture on a website,

(23:51):
and it's a start line and it'sall the fast men that push their
way forward, I don't feel thatI belong and I'm not that slow.
And my friends that are kind oflike novice runners or back of
the pack runners, women of color, especially women, different
shapes, and the organizer mayhave an amazing race but they

(24:12):
don't feel they belong becausethat's not the imagery.
And when you go on socials andthey say the winner of the race
is this guy and the winner ofthe female race is this woman.
No, he's a male winner, she's afemale winner.
There are two races and I thinka lot of street races boils down
to the fact that you're mixingmen and women on a start line
and you're designing the racefor the men and there's such
small changes.
So we came up with kind ofeight points that any event

(24:35):
could put into for almost nomoney, and then so much more
around that from the insightwork and put it out there so you
can sign up to this.
You'll be accredited, we'llpush your race out.
We want those races that aregreat for women to have more
women on the start line and besuccessful, and so that's part
of it.
Part of it is the advocacy kindof you know, trying to convince
London Marathon to allow apregnancy deferral is good for

(24:58):
age, which we succeeded in.
We had Chicago.
We've got the biggest race inthe world, utmb Ironman now
doing that, and then it's gonevery much global and we have
SheRaces, india, we're workingwith races in Uzbekistan,
kazakhstan, oman, turkey,guatemala and the.
US, hong Kong.
So it's this small kind ofnonprofit that started up with

(25:20):
some research and just saying higuys, there are some things you
can do to be more successful,and suddenly it's a global
organization of women reallygoing.
I can ask for this.
I'm empowered to say do youknow what?
I love your race, but I reallywould like pregnancy developed.
I'd like period products.
I'd like you to talk about thewomen differently.
It's very small changes thatmake very big differences.

(25:42):
And when we work with Thresholdon their 50-50 project for
Ultra, they agreed to open upall their data to me and we did
a big project to get more womenon the start line of their 50k
race and 100k race, and a 1.5increase in spend which I think
was mostly a bit of sanitaryproducts and a bit of signage
had 100% more women on the startline of their target event and

(26:05):
50% more men because they had somuch brilliant media attention
around it.
So we're not a charity.
You don't do this because it'sthe kind of oh no, we feel sorry
for women.
All these changes are justabout equity.
They're not making the raceeasier for us.
We don't want that.
We just want to feel morecomfortable and at the same time
you'll make an awful lot moremoney, be commercially more

(26:26):
successful and that's themassive argument behind this and
women will be so much moreloyal.
And women will be so much moreloyal.
And now, kind of we shift it totalking to the brands.
And there's a lot of brandsthat sponsor races and the
brands are saying we'reequitable for women, we're
inclusive, we do this greatproduct but they sponsor races

(26:46):
that aren't.
And we will say you know, everybrand only sponsored inclusive
races.
You know, my work will be done.
My goal is that she Racesdoesn't exist, does not need to
exist, no-transcript.

(27:20):
And there's a lot of thingsthat happen at races that
shouldn't happen but they're notmanaged the right way.
So they're the kind of nextsteps for where we do and we're
just looking for the rightfunding that we can address that
, because we put the guidelinesout, we can get them out to
millions of people on startlines pretty easily and how has
response been?

Sue Anstiss (27:39):
clearly, when you articulate it in that way, is
that why would race organizersnot take that on event directors
?
Because it can be moreprofitable for them, they'll get
more women, they get more men,they'll have more successful
races.
But I imagine it wasn't thateasy and asked because, if it
was, people would have beendoing it in the first place.
So I guess my my question therehow has it generally been?
Have you seen that change overthe period of time?

(28:00):
Are many more coming on boardwith it now?

Sophie Power (28:05):
We've had some fights.
We've had some fights.
It's not easy, I think.
I think it's not easy resourcegetting out to all the races.
It's sad that it often takes meto step in and women get no's
from races and no's from racesand they contact us and I
message a race organizer andthis is me doing this personally
at 11 o'clock at night.
Often I were a very small teamand I put organizers on a

(28:26):
spectrum and there's some thatwere doing the right thing
already and not even probablyshouting about it the right way.
So you've helped them do thatto really attract the women.
And if you want to find aninclusive race, you can go on
sheracescom and we've got allthe race organizers listed.
A lot of them will feel likerace directors in the first
place.
Then you've got the group thatrealize it's the right thing to
do so they'll change things.

(28:46):
They didn't look at the cost,even though it was so tiny they
and they're going above andbeyond and things like kind of
recce days and things like kindof webinars to understand how
things they're looking at reallysponsoring some of the
underrepresented groups to thestart line and making sure kind
of that.
You know, women of color, womenliving in cities, women who
haven't been exposed to some ofthese races, can really have

(29:08):
those resources to get on thestart line.
I think the bulk of races,though, are the commercial ones,
and you know, you show them nowthat it's the right thing to do
, and they're like we'll do someof that.
The ones that really annoy meare the ones that claim that
they're equitable because it'sgreat for publicity, and then
they're not some of the theinteresting ones kind of.
When we point it out, they,they get quite defensive.

(29:29):
But there are dinosaurs.
I mean, we know that there aredinosaurs, and there are, sadly,
still events that don't believethat women or slower athletes
should be on those start lines.
They believe that their eventsare only for fast people, for
men, for younger people, and Imean the dinosaurs went extinct,
and that's in my brain.

(29:49):
It's so much energy to try andchange one of those organizers
that could be spent onsupporting one of the others
that we have to pick our battles.
But we know that.
You know we want events to befor all, and sometimes you have
to have tight cutoffs, but youcan rethink things, and one fair
race we worked with, you know,women just put off because the
timing was so tight and we said,well, and it was due to

(30:11):
volunteers on the mountain.
We said, well, could you letlet some, could you let people
off in an earlier start?
They're not going to have toopen the checkpoint earlier
because they'll take slower thanthe fastest athlete starting an
hour later.
Could you do that?
And suddenly you have 50 kind ofmore women over 50 signing up
to the race and men, many moremen over 60 and 70 signing up.
So it's everyone.
It's not I think it's calledshe races, but really it's

(30:35):
everyone races.
And especially when you'relooking at creating that culture
of acceptance and inclusion ona start line that benefits every
athlete, not just women thecutoffs is an interesting area,
isn't it?

Sue Anstiss (30:47):
if you're not in the world of running, whether
ultras or, you know, marathonsor any of those, but that idea
of the broom wagon kind ofsweeping up or being told you
know, that is kind of scarythought really.
I looked at one of your you'relaunching some races, or one of
your races that she races eventwith no cut off.
How refreshing, you know, forwomen to see that for, but you

(31:07):
should say for people, just tosee that there is that
opportunity.
At whatever pace you're at,you'll be able to finish this
race.

Sophie Power (31:14):
There's a difference between women and men
.
Often and I think in our survey, kind of 46% of women have been
put off a race by the cutoffsand we underestimate our ability
massively, massively.
And we worked with AbingdonMarathon last year to try and
increase the cutoff of fivehours to six hours.
They sold out the race thefirst time in three years with

(31:35):
two-thirds more women, and I hada friend who was a 4.15 athlete
and that was her normalmarathon time.
She said well, I'm not signingup for a five-hour cutoff.
What if something happens?
What if my stomach turns?
What if?
What if?
What if I know if I'm giving upmy weekend and I'm training
really hard, I want to bring amedal back to my kids and we
give up so much to have thoseracing opportunities.

(31:56):
I don't get to race as much asmost others because that's a
weekend away for my children andI've got to be respectful to my
partner and my husband andmaking sure he's training and
she underestimated her potential.
We move it six hours, that's.
You're a five-hour athlete, youknow.
You know you can do that andthe language is so important and
it's something so small andsomething so easy to change and

(32:18):
change the narrative around, butit just hasn't been thought of
because we do find that men willsign up to event and look at it
later.
My husband signed up to anevent that was cycling across
the country from sunrise tosunset and he signed up, paid
the money.
He had no idea how he was goingto get his bike to the start
line, no idea how he was goingto get his bike home from the
finish line, ended up not doingit because I was like piece of

(32:41):
paper.
We cannot do this.
It's going to cost hundreds ofpounds for you to do this and I
just couldn't see most women Iknow signing up that way.

Sue Anstiss (32:49):
I love that.
I mentioned in the introductionthe treadmill 48 hour treadmill
record that you broke and I'dlove to talk a little bit more
about that.
I mentioned in the introductionthe treadmill 48 hour treadmill
record that you broke and I'dlove to talk a little bit more
about that because I think mostof us might struggle to run for
an hour in the gym on atreadmill.
So kind of what got you throughthose 48 hours?
Was it the running show?
Was it the national runningshow?

Sophie Power (33:06):
Yeah, I guess I guess rewinding it was 48 hours.
Why 48 hours hours?
Which was a question I askedmyself many times during it.
You know, I think when I run itcame my head kind of I'm a
24-hour athlete for GreatBritain and I'm a slow 24-hour
athlete in terms of I'm muchbetter the longer distances.

(33:29):
So most women they're steppingup from marathon.
They're stepping up from 100k.
They're stepping up from 100K.
I'm stepping down from.
I think what my main event wouldbe would be about 48.
Generally in the events I knowwe're at halfway and then I come
through the field in the last12 hours.
It's how I'm built.
I don't look like your typicalelite marathon runner.

(33:50):
I'm far more muscular.
I'm stocky, I don't fall apart.
In the same way, I do an awfullot of strength training.
I'm a kind of a diesel enginereally that just keeps going.
So I got 48 hours is a greattime and there's 48 hour world
championships.
But it's so difficult for me totravel and I'd have to take a
crew, I'd have to lead thefamily.
That's really difficult to doand there's only so many times

(34:12):
you can do it and I thought Ican't do that.
But what could I do instead andI think thinking about kind of
Ireland and how the engagementwas was amazing from people came
out and ran on the streets andmy tracker was live, so I'd have
people waiting at the corner ofroads and say, can I come for a
few miles, can I join for along time?
It was just utterly amazing toengage and I do almost all my

(34:35):
training solo because I trainstraight after drop off and then
get back and then I work inevenings and I've got a
treadmill at home and I'm veryprivileged to have a gym set up
so I can do most things in thehouse while the kids are asleep.
So I wanted to engage lots ofpeople and I thought maybe this,
this kind of makes sense.
I could do it in a publicenvironment and Mike Seaman, the

(34:57):
head of the running show, is afriend of mine.
They're so lovely, aren't they?
Lovely team and they're rightbased in Guildford where I am,
and, um, I thought it was quitea long time after Ireland.
I thought about this because Iwas writing the book and I was
like it must have been monthsand you check your inbox and I
think it was just several daysafter Ireland and and my coach
says don't, don't make any sharpdecisions.

(35:18):
But I emailed him.
I didn't hear that for a weekand I forgot about it and then I
got the email go, we've, we setit all up, so this is gonna be
great.
I was like, oh no, but I thinkit was really.
It was really to there were30,000 people.
Yes, it was a way to raise moneyfor she races.
It was a way to engage withpeople.
It was a way to engage withnon-trail runners.
It was very logisticallypossible.

(35:41):
Ireland killed me planning thelogistics and I had my amazing
friend, kate strong, who is anendurance cyclist and a most
amazing person, managing that,and she managed the treadmill
challenge with all thesignatories he needed and the
crews.
But it's much easier to do itin one place.
And then we had um, dr jamiepure, liverpool john walsh

(36:01):
university able to dophysiological testing on me
every hour because I'm in oneplace, so there's kind of gas
masks over me and blood testsand lactate tests.
And we were able to dosomething about the lack of
research into women endurancesport.
We could do something aboutthat.
So it all fit together.
I didn't really think about it,to be honest, and it was so hot

(36:22):
and in January in the NEC inBirmingham I was overheating, I
had ice bandanas on, but it wasjust so wonderful to see all my
friends and when you go to therunning show there's of
thousands of people and you, youmiss people.
Everyone had to come to mebecause I couldn't move so it
was lovely it got kind of MoFarah coming over chat and Jay
Pavey coming for chat and myfriend Jasmine and Farah.

(36:44):
It was brilliant.
But I got so disorientated andit got to the point with I broke
the record without seven hoursto go and suddenly I couldn't
run on a treadmill.
I can run off the treadmill butI was falling off and my
husband was there and he's likethis is dangerous now.
So you're going to just hikereally quickly, just put some
extra into the record, hikereally quickly.

(37:04):
So I downloaded the series oftraitors.
I didn't watch any traitors.
I said.
I always had a sign up sayingdo not tell me he gets kicked
out, and I saved it all.
And then I just found Icouldn't watch tv and I normally
watch tv, no treadmill, so Iwas just chatting to people and
just having a lovely it was.
It was really really special.
I would absolutely not do itagain, but it was really special

(37:27):
don't.

Sue Anstiss (37:27):
You don't need to now, do you and I?
We alluded also to the islandrun.
How do you get get throughthose kind of points?
Maybe it's different whenyou're doing the treadmill run,
at the running show, becausethere's people around, although
I imagine not quite so many inthe middle of the night.
But when you're so exhaustedand you're tired and you've got
miles to go, how are youtraining your mind?

(37:48):
How do you deal with it,especially if you can't watch
the traitors?
But how do you deal with it?

Sophie Power (37:59):
What's happening in your head at those times.
Well, there's so many mentaltricks that you learn, but I
think the most important thingis knowing why you're there.
And knowing why you're there isis number one, and we can
create a challenge you aboutIreland, which is find something
that's just outside yourcomfort zone.
I knew I can run 24 hours.
I'd done done longer.
This was a perfect distance,kind of 350-ish miles for me.
Can't believe you just saidthat Perfect distance, 356 miles
.
That was terrible.
I know there's something wrongwith me, but it's a great.

(38:24):
It's a great kind of, you know,three days and I knew why I was
there and I knew that it was.
I was there to run home to mydaughter and I was there to
inspire my children.
I was there to put a littlebeacon of kind of thought in
women's brains that we can dothings that seem impossible, and
maybe that we thought aboutsigning up for a 10k, that we
possibly could.

(38:44):
And I knew that tens ofthousands of people had a
tracker and they were refreshingand seeing where I was.
And one man he said good nightto his daughter and came out for
some miles and he said you know, she's watching, she's watching
and I knew that I got to theend as I've got to get done for
bedtime the kids bedtime byeight at night, because I know
that there's a lot of parentsare going to be up with kids

(39:05):
looking at this tracker going.
Would you please just finish sothe kids will go to bed.
But there's so many tricks, Ithink, breaking it down into
chunks, and I knew that one ofmy best friends, kira, was
waiting in Longford, just over100 miles.
So that was my first goal Getto Kira, give her a hug.
I didn't realize my watchscreen I set up, I had a massive
garment on and it set down withmiles to go.

(39:27):
So you're starting off and youstart that first run in the
trench terrain and you can see347.
You're like I can't believe Isee.
But then it starts ticking downand you get through.
I think having Kate by my sideon the bike, she's just the most
wonderful, amazing athletelooking after me and I had a
crew of four alongside, kind ofhubby, in the camper van and so

(39:47):
you have that support and it gotto where they were giving up
their time for me.
They were so amazing and Iwanted to succeed for them.
You just keep going and I thinkkind of, I'm very good at not
sleeping.
I think I did two hours 17minutes sleep over three nights
in total.
Just crashed outside the roadfor 10 minute caffeine naps, 20
minutes in the back of thecamper van.

(40:08):
It's incredible what the bodycan do if you really want to do
something.
And I think that's the message.
If I didn't know why I wasthere, I would have had
absolutely no hope of finishingit, no help whatsoever.
So it's when I go and pick thechallenges.
I've got to know exactly whyI'm doing it.
Because you've got to find yourlimits.
You know your mind will give upbefore your legs do and if your

(40:29):
mind wants to do something, itwill make your legs comply.

Sue Anstiss (40:32):
And do you think you've always had that naturally
at your essence, thatresilience to keep going, or is
that something that you've builtover time with these events?

Sophie Power (40:41):
I think you build it.
I think we have differentpersonalities, but do I think
kind of you know, 14 year old mecould have run any faster in
that mile Probably, if I'dactually wanted to?
One of the things I kind ofhave is kind of in my head, this
little power jar which when Iget to give talks and people say
, well, I could never do that,and I said, well, think about

(41:04):
all the things that you've donebefore where you've taken on
something you didn't think youcould finish, all the amazing
achievements you've had, and youkind of write them down and put
them in your power jar.
And where you think your limitsare, you break that limit, you
put that in your power jar.
And where you think your limitsare you break that limit, you
put that in your power jar andthink, right, I've done that.
And you reframe it for the nextchallenge and go.
I didn't think I could do thisbut I did.
So look at what I'm doing now.
Where are my limits?
Can I do a little bit more,giving yourself that confidence

(41:27):
that you can do that?
So I think resilience has builtup.
I think it helped kind ofworking in an investment bank
and having to go and do allnighters.
I think motherhood gives youincredible resilience in so many
aspects and I think we overlook.
I was CFO of a global marketingagency and I put the hours for

(41:48):
my finance directors in everymarket as 10 till three, monday
to Thursday, because I wanted ateam of mums and I couldn't
afford kind of full time.
But I'm going to pay full timefor those hours because I knew
mums would just get stuff doneand all the challenges they
would absolutely smash them.
We grow this.
I think some people I'm justnot.
I'm just weak, I'm notresilient.
I think we can help them growand I think it's what I look to

(42:10):
do with the children is thinkabout them taking on challenges
and them growing.
When they, when they doubtthemselves, reminding them of
what they didn't think theycould do and they did so.
Maybe let's look at what you'redoing now and yes, you can pass
that exam because you knowyou've done these things before.

Sue Anstiss (42:25):
Clearly, nutrition and recovery are absolutely key
to endurance training, enduranceracing.
So where do you feel peoplegenerally go wrong in those
areas?

Sophie Power (42:36):
I think when you come to 24-hour running, it is
an absolute science and if youdon't eat, you can't move.
I think people have not fueledtheir training enough.
I've struggled with my bodyimage for decades and it's
something I've had to deal with,really addressed since I had my
daughter, because I don't wanther to grow up feeling as I did

(42:58):
and not properly feeling.
Training has been one of themand thinking well, I'm only an
hour from home, you know I won'thave that extra snack because I
can then create a deficit andtrying to lose some weight, and
so I need that snack because Ineed to see my body as a tool
that I need to fuel it properly.
I think during the events it'seating soon enough.

(43:19):
Sometimes people wait untilthey need to.
I mean, I feel, within thefirst 20 minutes of any run, any
event, fueling every hour,looking at what you can keep in,
having backup options.
When you go to ultras, you'vegot like a picnic table of food
and something's going to work.
But if you only practice onusing one thing but I think
sodium is a new one that peopledon't understand I nearly lost

(43:40):
my life in the middle of thecambodian jungle, having
hypernutrimia on ultra.
I drank too much water.
Yeah, I didn't replace my salts.
My sodium level was 108 and itshould have been 130 and I was
helicoptered out.
So I'm very scientific aboutsalt and you need a lot more
than often these replacementcapsules have.
So I need a thousand milligrams, or a gram of salt, a gram of

(44:02):
sodium, per litre that I drink,and making sure I'm absolutely
replacing.
All of that is really difficultfor people to think about.
There's a lot of maths involvedin these environments.
I have an Excel spreadsheet foreverything this.
This is where the accountantaccountant in me gets very happy
.
Everything is an Excelspreadsheet.
My caffeine I bought a littlemodel to model half-life of

(44:23):
caffeine and how much I couldhave before.
You know kind of everythingwent wrong inside.
But I think it's it's eatingenough, it's drinking enough,
it's taking enough salt and,more than anything, listening to
the body and you know, racing,as did kind of 30 degree, 33
degree heat, 100k kind of at theweekend, kind of it's people
dropping like flies because theyjust assumed that they could

(44:43):
run the same pace at 30 degreeheat that they could do at 15
degrees and that's just not thecase.

Sue Anstiss (44:49):
Another incredible race.
So, in terms of looking back atall those races, if you had to
choose now which would be thethe most meaningful, or that
your kind of greatest personalachievement, I think Ireland is
so special because of theconnection to the family and the
team were together and I thinkseeing the family at the end and
and finishing it it's.

Sophie Power (45:10):
It was so beautiful, it was so wonderful
and I was struggling so muchbecause I had the early stages
kind of heat exhaustion.
We went from torrential rainfor a couple of days into the
last day, being so hot that Icouldn't control my body
temperature.
I was just too tired to controlit.
So we were chuckling me withwater and icing me down and
doing everything we could lotsof Mr Whippy's ice lollies.

(45:30):
I think it was where I I it waswhere I realized that this was
an achievement and I think wealways just compare to others
and it's well, this person canrun this and I don't even know
how fast.
I'd run a marathon because Idon't run them and it's not part
of my training, it's.
I might run London next year.
I should probably run amarathon Because it's fun.

(45:51):
But I often have a lack ofconfidence in myself.
I think it's when I did Irelandand and the lady who had the
record before me, mimi Anderson,is one of the greatest British
ultra runners of all time.
She's my absolute idol.
She's phenomenal and to breakher record was very special, so
I think that's Ireland how isshe?

Sue Anstiss (46:09):
how was Mimi about it she?

Sophie Power (46:10):
was so she was so helpful.
I think this is the communityof women helping women.
You know, every question I hadabout it, about the route, she
answered.
I took her route and she shesaid it was a very special
record to her and that she'dshared a bit of a tear, but she
was so supportive she wastracking the whole way and you
know we don't own records, wejust hold them for next person.
And I've already kind of hadpeople saying, um, you know,

(46:34):
tell me about it, like what wasit?
And if there's someone takingon that record, I'm going to be
absolutely behind them andhoping that we can do it to push
forward the boundaries of afemale endurance.
And that's what's exciting.
The idea that someone wouldtake it on to me is exciting,
that I could use everything thatI learned and the mistakes that
I made to help someone else doit.
It doesn't take away from methat I could use everything that

(46:55):
I learned and the mistakes thatI made to help someone else do
it.
It doesn't take away from methat I broke the record someone
beating it.
It's just exciting that someoneelse would then get to beat it,
absolutely.

Sue Anstiss (47:02):
And you've mentioned the marathon there as
kind of potentially LondonMarathon in the future, but
other events and races on yourbucket list at all?

Sophie Power (47:11):
Oh gosh, I'd love to go to the states and race one
of their western states typeraces just for the aid stations
and experience the cultures.
I think what what the aidstation is like?
When you say that it's just thecheering stations and the food
it's about, I mean, ultras arejust a long.
I sell ultras to so many people.
It's like marathon.
No one talks to each other, youjust keep going straight.

(47:31):
Ultras is an as a long daypicnic, um, there's just great
food and I love, I love food andcakes, just whatever you want.
There's burgers and tacos atstations.
I was like I could definitely dothat, I think, with she races
I'm lucky kind of next yearlooking at going out to some of
the the races, um, likely asbecky stan, and really
understanding the, the runningculture out there and there's so

(47:53):
much that women have in commoneverywhere in the world but
there are so many differencesthat we have.
So how can she races develop?
So, getting out to some ofthese races, more mountains,
there's definitely some morebarbeques kind of up my sleeve
that we're thinking about bigadventures because that's fun.
I think races are great, but Idon't like racing other people

(48:15):
and I've realized that whereverI come in a race doesn't really
matter, because it's who showsup from start line and you know
you come first.
It's amazing, it's really funkids love a trophy but it
doesn't drive me.
And I think this is whererunning for Great Britain drives
me, because I'm running for mycountry and I'm running a team
and that's really special to meand I know that I need that to

(48:37):
break my limits and sochallenges are something.
That's for another reason thatwill help me break my limits.
If you put me in a marathon, Idon't care and you have to know
what drives you and some peoplethey love that feeling of a
marathon pd and I don't think itwould excite me to push myself.
So I think it's really learning.
What excites me.
I think the experiences of someof these races and what I can

(49:00):
learn from them and learn fromworking with the organizers and
discovering new places andeventually taking some of my
kids around to kind of pace me.
I'd love, I'd love, you know,the boys to start kind of pacing
legs on things.
But Ultramarine's exploded andI think it's.
It's exciting to see morepeople kind of take it on and
have those benefits from it.
But yeah, it's, it's an I don'tknow kind of answer, kind of

(49:21):
I'll see what kind of comes up,but definitely planning some
adventures, exploring some newraces, but never taking it too
seriously, I think, because I'mglad I'm not an elite athlete,
I'm not glad I'm not sponsored,I'm glad this isn't my job,
because that would take the funaway.
And when you're dealing withmotherhood and the juggle of
everything, I can't be on kindof 52 weeks a year.

(49:44):
And you know I've got so longto the world and I can do a
three weeks a year and I've gotso long to the world and I can
do a three-month focus, but I'vegot to have downtime and I've
got to have time where I canfocus on everything else.
So it's a juggle but it's a funone and I'm excited I think I
look forward to.
Then there's women I know thatare in their 70s, absolutely
smashing races.
I was going to ask how long, howlong do you think you'll keep

(50:06):
running for?
I mean, my goal is to berunning when I'm 80.
And that's where looking aftermy body now is one of the most
important things I can do andthe fully fueling and the
strength and the recovery I mean.
Ireland took me eight weeks torecover from and my body got
back quicker, but my nervoussystem wasn't recovered.
And so looking at some of thedata the data on the blood data

(50:30):
like really understanding makingsure I'm recovering.
You can't really bet too manymatches.
There's only so many times.
I think I can run the length ofa country, but I yeah, I'm
desperate.
I see these.
My friend Edda I met her inBhutan and and in Cambodia and
she's traveling around the world.
She's breaking records forwomen over 70 doing 24 hour
races.
She's always racing and I lookto her and think I want to be

(50:52):
you when I grow up.
So that's the goal, but ittakes so much to get there.
But if I take it too seriouslynow, I'm not going to get there.

Sue Anstiss (51:00):
I love it, I love it and I'm so excited about your
book.
Is it January next year?

Sophie Power (51:05):
it's coming, it's coming out in January at the run
show.
At the run show oh of course,lovely, I love that I agreed to
do it.
I agreed to do.
I wrote half five years agoafter UTMB and you're it doesn't
see the right time, and I waslike I felt that that was the
highlight of my life, that kindof chapter in there.
And then something said to meyou have another chapter to
write and I would have no idea.

(51:27):
The last kind of five years ofnow another baby running for
Great Britain.
She races.
And so Gareth kind of boomsburycame out to me on the when I
was on the treadmill.
It's quite hard to say no orthink clearly when you're on the
treadmill.
I think it was the second dayas well, which is really mean
and I just thought this is theright time.
So, yeah, we're going to launchit, I think at the running show
um next year fantastic and I Iread my.

Sue Anstiss (51:50):
I think probably my favorite book this year was
Ultra Women by Lily Cantor andEmma Wilkinson.
For me, an extraordinary bookbecause I think it answered so
many questions that I had aroundwomen and their potential and
why women are doing better thanmen and many of these ultra
events and kind of overturning,but in a fantastic way of
alongside people's stories andeverything about that.

(52:11):
So is that kind of what you'rehoping to bring people into the
world of ultra running?
To explain more, what might weget from the book?

Sophie Power (52:19):
Oh, I love ultra running.
I love it.
It's a phenomenal book.
I think I'm one of the chapters.

Sue Anstiss (52:23):
You are, you are.

Sophie Power (52:24):
I've known you a long time and it's fun, but I
think it's this.
This book isn't about thescience, I think it's.
It's hard to say what do youwrite a book on?
And originally it was going tobe kind of life lessons and
things and but then I said I'mgoing to write a book about all
my running exploits, but I thinkit's very much a book to make
people think twice and how I'vegone on my journey and what the
lessons I've learned and what Ican pass on.

(52:45):
And my goal is that every woman, every man reading this book
thinks that they can do morethan they thought before.
And there's definitely fewraces in there and I think,
hoping to everyone to think theycan do more than they did
before but also advocate forothers and how to advocate for
others, and that we need tobring everyone along this
journey journey and we have aright to these feelings of

(53:08):
taking part in sport and so,yeah, I hope that's what it does
.
There's a lot of gory detailsabout ultramarathons and the
nearly dying and the Sahara, howeverything kind of came about,
and a lot about motherhood andgetting back and the struggles
after having the children.
And then to performance andrunning for Great Britain in the

(53:29):
24 hours and pushing limits now.
So it's a story, but there's alot during the lessons out which
is really important to me.
I think sometimes I read a bookand it's a lovely story, but I
want to take something to my ownlife and learn something and
that's how I've tried to writeit.
So it's um, it's exciting, it's,it's, it's quite frightening.

(53:49):
Putting yourself out there andI think, making myself
understand how I got to where Igot to has been, I guess, free
therapy in a way, if people Ithink it'll explain a lot about
kind of my background growing upand a lot of the, I would say,
the privileges I had growing upbeing able to read an OS map
because my cousin was a scoutleader, and how I've used that

(54:12):
to do ultras now and how I needto then understand that other
women don't have that and how dowe then get that, that
understanding and making eventsmore inclusive, because not
everyone is going into a raceknowing how to read an OS map,
be comfortably outdoors and knowtheir first aid, etc.
So yeah, they'll say off top ofme, but it's, yeah, it's going
to be quite scary.
It's going to be very scary toput it out there.

Sue Anstiss (54:34):
Very exciting.

Sophie Power (54:35):
I can't wait, I really can't wait, I guess just
finally in terms of how successhas defined and changed you over
the years.
What does success look like foryou today?
Kind of on and off the runningtrails, I've had to work this
out over the last few years andI think success used to be
something very different and Ithink when I was in the
corporate life you're on thatroad to and I would see over

(54:57):
tech company and being verysuccessful a very, very young
CFO of very large businessdivisions, and I thought that
was success and I thoughtprestige and corporate success,
and I realized that none of thatactually matters to me, and it
does to some people.
I think success to me iscertainly balance, is certainly
raising a happy family, a happy,healthy family, but the thing

(55:20):
that matters to me most ishelping others, and helping
others, you know, succeed andthe best thing that happens is
when someone asked me someadvice and you take it and they,
they complete a challenge thatthey couldn't do, and they come
back and you see this amazingsmile on their face and for me
it's it's very much breakingdown barriers for other women

(55:40):
and and that's what, that's whatmakes me happy, that's what
success is and I'm grateful.
I know that.
I think this is where that photobrought this out.
I'm not sure would I have everworked that out.
I mean, I ran a social impacttech company kind of cleaning
polluted air and that was great.
But I think the path I'm on nowis fascinating and I think

(56:02):
expanding that to outside sportwill be really interesting.
And how do we?
The learnings from she racesand the change we've been able
to drive on very limitedresources but through very good
strategy globally and into otherareas is, yeah, it's really
exciting.

Sue Anstiss (56:24):
I hope you enjoyed hearing from Sophie.
She almost makes me want to putmy trainers on and start
running distances again.
If you'd like to hear fromother extraordinary trailblazers
.
There are over 200 episodes ofthe Game Changers that are free
to listen to on all podcastplatforms or from our website at
fearlesswomencouk.
Our guests have included eliteathletes, coaches, entrepreneurs

(56:48):
, broadcasters, scientists,journalists and CEOs all women
who are changing the game insport.
As well as listening to all thepodcasts on the website, you can
also find out more about theWomen's Sport Collective, a free
, inclusive community for allwomen working in sport.
We now have over 13,000 membersfrom across the world, so

(57:11):
please do come and join us.
The whole of my book Game Onthe Unstoppable Rise of Women's
Sport is also free to listen toon the podcast.
Every episode of Series 13 isme reading a chapter of the book
.
Thank you once again to SportEngland for backing the Game
Changers and the Women's SportCollective with a National
Lottery Award, and to Sam Walkerat what Goes On Media, who does

(57:35):
such an excellent job as ourexecutive producer.
Thank you also to my brilliantcolleague, kate Hannan, who
works with me at Fearless Women.
You can find the Game Changerson all podcast platforms, so
please do follow us now toensure you don't miss out on
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Come and say hello on socialmedia, where you'll find me on

(57:58):
LinkedIn and Instagram at SueAnstis the Game Changers
fearless women in sport.