Vegans Thriving. Elite Vegan Athletes
From track sprinting to ultramarathons and extreme running, vegans have excelled in a variety of races. Some of the world’s best runners of all time are vegan, and some of the most impressive achievements have been made by vegan runners.
Melissa Sundermann, has been competing in cycling, running and multisport events – completing epic distances at elite times.
She was the first Amateur woman at the REV3 Ironman triathlon where she finished with a personal best of 10:57:20, crossing the line with her husband and children. Read More... “Melissa Sundermann, vegan endurance racer”
Borja Ignacio Perez Batet is a multisport athlete from Spain who competes internationally. He’s competed in the European and World Duathlon Championships, taking the 30-34 age group World title in 2016.
He’s also run 10k in an extremely competitive 29:25, and among his results were a win in the San Silvestre Vallecana Amateur in 2017″, a race with 45,000 runners. Read More... “Borja Perez Batet, vegan runner”
Andreas Vojta is an Austrian track athlete who has become the leading national track runner as well as a successful international competitor.
He has personal bests of 3:36 for the 1500 metres, 13.38 for 5000m and 28:33 for the 10,000 metres. Read More... “Andreas Vojta, vegan runner”
Lisa is established as an active multisport athlete, representing Team GB in Duathlon and competing for European and World honours.
In 2017 Lisa qualified for the European Duathlon Championships for her age group, marking an achievement that she did not think she would beat. Read More... “Lisa Gawthorne, vegan duathlon competitor”
Swedish national triathlon champion Stefhan Andersen celebrates a decade as a vegan this year, having turned vegan in 2007.
Stefhan’s main motivation to go vegan was initially simply to not get sick: “I had like 20 days/year that I could not train on because I had a cold or something. Read More... “Stefhan Andersen, vegan triathlete”
Julia has been a prolific competitor in a variety of sports, competing internationally in bobsleigh, bodybuilding, fitness and sprinting.
The path hasn’t always been smooth; Julia was born with a heart condition which was not diagnosed until 2009, and a bobsleigh crash left her with a broken back. Read More... “Julia Hubbard, vegan sprinter and figure competitor”
Alberto Pelaez Serrano is an experienced ultramarathon runner. He has won twelve ultramarathons and marathons including the high profile ‘Ultramarathon of Lanzarote’ three times. He has the speed record for ascending and descending the Toubkal Mountain in Morocco which was 4167 metres of vertical height gain. Read More... “Alberto Pelaez Serrano, vegan ultradistance runner”
Antoine is a Canadian multisport athlete specialising in triathlon. His strongest distance is 70.3, half ironman, which is a 1.9 km (1.2 mile) swim, 90 km (56 mile) cycle and a 21.1km (13.1 mile) half marathon run.
In 2015 Antoine turned professional. Read More... “Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches, vegan triathlete”
Sebastjan is a Slovenian triathlete who has raced sprint, Olympic and Ironman distance events. He is best known for his performances at Ironman level.
His accomplishments include four full Ironman events, of which all four were completed in under ten hours. Read More... “Sebastjan Gergoric, vegan triathlete”
Morgan Mitchell is a sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She’s represented Australia on numerous occasions including at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
As a young child she trained in athletics although she gave it up to concentrate on netball when she was twelve. Read More... “Morgan Mitchell, vegan sprinter”
Ariel Rosenfeld has been recognised for several years as a leading ultramarathon runner in Israel. He has also gained respect internationally and taken on extremely tough events outside his home country.
He won Sovev Emek, the most prominent Israeli ultramarathon four times in recent years, winning the 61km race in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and the longer 100km course in 2013. Read More... “Ariel Rosenfeld, vegan ultradistance runner”
Denis was born in Russia and moved to New York, USA in 2006. He moved to New York to develop a career in finance but by 2010 he had given it up to pursue one in health and fitness.
Things progressed quickly and in 2011 he took four top five finishes in distances ranging from 25k to 50k. Read More... “Denis Mikhaylove, vegan ultradistance runner”
Ultradistance runner Damian Stoy has been a prominent runner since 2006, with numerous podium finishes and race victories.
He won Grand Teton 50 miler in 2006 then recorded four second places before taking three wins in 2010, two of which were course records on 50 mile courses. Read More... “Damian Stoy, vegan ultradistance runner”
Ben Dame is a Triathlete, marathon runner and ultradistance runner. At the end of 2012 he was named as a national top ten triathlete in his age group and in October 2012 represented the USA at the ITU Olympic Distance Triathlon World Championship in London. Read More... “Ben Dame, vegan triathlete”
Alister Gardner is a trail and mountain runner with some experience at marathon level. He has represented Canada at Mountain Running, taking part in a successful team.
Alister cites 2012 as a breakthrough year, although in 2011 he secured a victory in a 50 mile event. Read More... “Alister Gardner, vegan trail runner”
Madi Serpico is a Triathlete who at age 21 (in 2014) has already competed nationally and in international competition.
Results include 15th at the International Edmonton World Cup, 2012, 13th in the 2012 Pan American Cup (Magog) and 10th in the Canadian National Championships. Read More... “Madi Serpico, vegan triathlete”
Vlad Ixel is a runner who competes in the extreme sport of ultradistance marathon running and has made an amazing impact on the sport in a short time.
Vlad started running in 2012 and turned vegan shortly afterward. In June 2013 he entered the 75km Kep ultramarathon in Perth, Australia and won by over 5 minutes, setting a course record. Read More... “Vlad Ixel, vegan ultramarathoner”
Yassine Diboun is an ultra distance runner of Moroccan/American descent who lives in America.
Since 2007 he has won twelve races, ten of which were thirty miles and above. He has 25 top three finishes at 30 miles and above. His results include 100 miles completed in 16 hours 43 minutes and 1 second. Read More... “Yassine Diboun, vegan ultramarathon runner”
Laura Kline is a multisport athlete from Pasadena, USA, best known for her success in Duathlon. Duathlon is an endurance event which starts with a run, changes to cycling, then returns to running.
She participated in hockey, softball, basketball and boxing while at high school and college, then at age 26 started competing in the demanding sports of Duathlon and Triathlon. Read More... “Laura Kline, vegan duathlon competitor”
Ellen Jones is a senior runner who competes in distances from 100 metres through to endurance distances. Following success in the 2012 Florida State senior games she became eligible to compete in the Senior National Competition in four separate events.
Ellen started running aged 28 although was not as enthusiastic then because of the climate she lived in and the low profile women’s running had in 1980. Read More... “Ellen Jaffe Jones, vegan track athlete”
Ruth Heidrich is a prolific runner who has maintained an astonishing level of fitness into her senior years.
A survivor of an aggressive breast cancer, Ruth turned vegan in 1982 aged 47 in response to the diagnosis. She has won over 900 medals for running of all distances, some of her most prestigious include:
Helen Fines is a British Fell runner who has represented her country and has placed highly nationally.
She has twice finished as the runner up in the British Fell Running Champs, and twice runner up in English fell running championships. In 2011 she was a member of the English team in the World Long Distance mountain running
Catra has run over 250 ultra marathons. She holds the overall record (for men and women) for completing the John Muir Trail twice (out and back), a total of 424 miles, and has the second best all time result for a woman running one way (212 miles). Read More... “Catra Corbett, vegan ultramarathon runner”
Weia is a veterans athletics multiple world record holder and vegan.
She started competing in masters athletics in 1995 aged 45, following decades of not training at all. By 1999 she was competing in Gateshead, UK, where she came second to an athlete who set a world records for the womens age 45 age category. Read More... “Weia Reinboud, vegan track and field athlete”
Fiona Oakes has made great achievements in her running, which seem all the more impressive given her incredibly full lifestyle which means that training competes with a number of other demands on her time and energy.
Fiona has worked as a retained firefighter, a job which meant she was often on call and needed to be ready to react quickly. Read More... “Fiona Oakes, vegan marathon runner”
Rich Roll’s transition to world-recognised athlete started when at 40 he realised his health was being threatened by a poor lifestyle that involved use of alcohol and other drugs, poor diet and inactivity. Unable to climb his stairs, he adopted a whole food vegan diet and began to train. Read More... “Rich Roll, vegan ultraman”
Canadian triathlete and endurance runner Brendan Brazier has won triathlons at Olympic distance, Half Ironman and full Ironman. Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and marathon (26.2 mile) run. He has set the Bigfoot Half Ironman course record twice and was twice Canadian 50k champion, in 2003 and 2006. Read More... “Brendan Brazier, vegan triathlete”
Carl’s outstanding career includes 9 gold and one silver Olympic medals in 100 and 200 metres sprints, long jumps and 4 x 100 m relays. He was voted World Athlete of the Decade for the 1980s and was also voted as Olympic Athlete of the Century. Read More... “Carl Lewis, vegan olympic sprinter”
Few athletes have made an impression on their sport like Colorado-based Scott Jurek has made on the demanding sport of ultra marathon running.
Scott has led the sport with some amazing performances including multiple wins and course records. Ultramarathon running starts at the distances beyond the standard marathon of 26.2 Read More... “Scott Jurek, vegan ultramarathon runner”