Vegans Thriving. Elite Vegan Athletes
Running challenges don’t come much tougher than this. The Atacama crossing is a 6-stage race covering 250 km (155 miles) across an enormous plateau in Chile. It offers a variety of challenging terrains, with nearly 1700 metres of height gain, starting at an altitude of 3200 metres. Read More... “Toughest challenge yet for Fiona Oakes”
Running a busy animal sanctuary would be demanding enough for most of us, but for vegan superwoman Fiona Oakes it is only part of what she aims to contribute.
The multiple world record holder was planning to run several ultra stage runs this year, although she had to drop plans when a nearby farm came up for sale. Read More... “Another world record for vegan runner Fiona”
World record holder Fiona Oakes has completed her third Marathon des Sables, with the ‘World’s Toughest Footrace’ living up to its reputation in providing challenges for the UK-based vegan.
Marathon des Sables is a gruelling 153 mile (254 km) race consisting of 6 stages. Read More... “Third MdS throws up new troubles for vegan Fiona”
The Sahara Race involves 250km across the Namib desert in Namibia, taking on sand dunes, salt pans, rocky paths and dry riverbeds. The first five of the six stages range from 37 to 77km (23 to 48 miles) with a 10km (6 mile) stage to finish. Read More... “Heat and sand dunes challenge Fiona”
What challenges remain for Fiona Oakes after completing Marathon des Sables and entering the Guinness Book of Records? She decided to attempt to run a marathon on each of the seven continents, at the rate of one per day.
Fiona joined a small group of other runners aiming to complete the tough event. Read More... “Mega marathon tour for Queen of the Extreme Fiona”
Great Vegan Athletes is proud to announce that the Vegan Athlete of the Year 2014 (aka #veganathlete2014) is Fiona Oakes!
Fiona has been a finalist in each of the three years the award has been contested and this year adds it to her World Records. Read More... “Fiona is Vegan Athlete of the Year 2014!”
Fiona Oakes completed a self-appointed challenge on November 1st (World Vegan Day) that added to her amazing list of achievements.
The event saw her enter the Stevenage marathon having completed six marathons in six days – making Stevenage the seventh in seven days. Read More... “Seven marathons ends with a win!”
Last year Fiona Oakes set some of the toughest World records available, including the fastest aggregate time for running a marathon on all seven continents, and the fastest for a marathon on all continents and the polar ice cap.
This achievement was all the more miraculous given that one of the marathons was at the highest average altitude of any known marathon route – the South American Volcano marathon. Read More... “Marathon Grand Slam records broken again!”
Guinness World Records have confirmed that Fiona’s three marathon world records have been recognised and validated.
* the fastest woman ever to run a marathon on all 7 continents (aggregate time)
* the fastest woman to run a marathon on all 7 continents plus the North Pole in aggregate time
* the fastest woman to run a marathon on all 7 continents plus the North Pole elapsed time. Read More... “Fiona’s records are official!”
Following her completion of MdS in 2012 and her multi record winning marathons last year, Fiona took time away from her tight schedule at her animal sanctuary to attempt the harsh event again.
As well as dealing with extreme temperatures of 50 C, the MdS is across sand dunes and rough tracks with some climbs up sand dunes and hills as well as long distances. Read More... “Fiona Oakes in the world’s toughest race”
Early reports have come in from the most Southerly point on the planet which indicate that Fiona has won the Antarctic Ice Marathon and in doing so broken two world records and set a course record.
The race’s Facebook group has reported that “Fiona Oakes’ time of 4:20.02 hrs is a new Ice Marathon record beating the previous record recorded by Yvonne Brown of Great Britain who had a time of 4:26.10 hrs.” Read More... “Fiona Oakes’ Antarctic marathon world record”
Fiona Oakes has completed yet another extreme marathon, across the mountains of South America, the Volcano Marathon in Chile. Runners were warned to expect snow at the start at temperatures of 30 Celsius later on.
Starting and finishing at altitude and across some rough terrain, this marathon is tough. Read More... “Fiona completes the hardest run of her life”
Fiona’s preparation for the Casablanca leg of the record attempt was not ideal as it followed close behind her Atlantic City marathon and she had just caught a flu bug. Her duties at the sanctuary meant she was unable to rest. Read More... “Fiona Oakes’ Casablanca Marathon”
Fiona travelled to Atlantic City USA for her 4th marathon in 7 weeks.
There were a few hitches on the way including confiscation of fruit supplies (US immigration does not permit fruit or vegetables to be brought in). Later there was some extreme noise problems from adjoining rooms which was eventually solved by moving rooms but not after until there were only a few hours left to grab some sleep. Read More... “Fiona Oakes takes another step towards a World Record”
Fiona Oakes flew to Russia to complete her fourth marathon of the eight she needs for her world record attempt.
The Siberian International Marathon is a prestigious race attracting quality runners from all over the world and this was reflected in the standard of the runners. Read More... “Fiona in Russian marathon success”
The Adelaide Marathon was the next part of Fiona Oakes’ attempt to complete her world marathons record attempt
Preparation wasn’t ideal as she had made the trip from UK just 30 hours before so was jetlagged, and the hotel did had two noisy wedding receptions disrupting sleep. Read More... “Third in Adelaide for Oakes”
Fiona Oakes has already taken on some of the toughest events known to the running world. She had run the Marathon des Sables in temperatures of 50 C and smashed the course record for the North Pole Marathon.
She does it to promote veganism and now desperately needs financial support to set a World Record for the time taken to run a marathon on all continents plus the polar ice cap. Read More... “Fiona Oakes needs support”
Fiona spends her life caring for animals and currently cares almost singlehandedly for over two hundred dogs, horses, pigs, cats and sheep. She is also dedicated to promoting the vegan diet, which has taken her to top marathons where she has won top places (including wins and course records), the fastest marathon inside the arctic circle and she has completed the Marathon des Sables across the Sahara desert, probably the toughest footrace in the world. Read More... “Fiona Oakes runs in the Arctic marathon”
Taking on Marathon des Sables is a challenge enough for even the most accomplished of athletes, but Fiona has overcome further challenges and still completed this astounding undertaking.
A few days before the event started, a horse Fiona was caring for accidentally stood on her foot causing a fracture. Read More... “Fiona Oakes completes Marathon des Sables”
In April 2012 Fiona Oakes will start Marathon des Sables. As well as the heat, extreme terrain and distance, Fiona will have to carry water, all her food, supplies and clothing.
Training for the events has been crammed into an already extreme lifestyle as Fiona continues to care almost singlehandedly for 400 animals on her sanctuary in Essex as well as working as a retained firefighter. Read More... “Fiona Oakes takes on ‘World’s Toughest Footrace’”
Fiona Oakes has made great achievements in her running, which seem all the more impressive given her incredibly full lifestyle. This 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”