Running for Good: The Fiona Oakes Documentary (2018) - full transcript

(ticking)

(dramatic electronic music)

And it's not gonna be easy.

When you've been told
you're not gonna walk again,

to be out there doing that,
that's never gonna be easy.

(dramatic electronic music)

And this is the one race
that you have to pay

insurance for repatriation if you die.

(dramatic electronic music)

You can see out there people
are pushing themselves

really, really hard.



It's like it make you wanna cry.

Pick up you know thinking
you're gonna be out here

doing this, and then I've got
to go through it tomorrow.

(singing in a foreign language)

(drum music)

[Rich] In the Sahara Desert,

one of the most extreme races
in the world takes place.

Marathon Des Sables, the marathon of sand.

Traversing over 250
kilometers across sand dunes,

mountain ranges, dry lakes
and abandoned villages

of North Africa, Marathon Des Sables

is roughly the equivalent of
six marathons back to back.

Competitors are required
to be self sufficient

carrying all food and necessary equipment



over the course of six days
to reach the finish line.

Available water is carefully
rationed at checkpoints

throughout the days, and nights are spent

in open air tent bivouacs along the route.

With day time temperatures
reaching 50 degrees Celsius,

the threat to human health if very real.

In previous years, runners
have died in their attempt

to complete this grueling event.

It has been called the
toughest foot race on earth.

Marathon Des Sables is
a 32 year old race now.

We call it the daddy of ultras.

This is not a homogenized race that is

constructed in order to make it nice.

You have to be physically fit

to do Marathon Des
Sables, but then you have

to be mentally fit.

I have seen people in
really bad shape in MDS.

It's scary, you know you walk in there,

and you see people you don't
know if they're dead or alive.

Running in sand, running up a dune,

it's a bit like going to
a local mall and running

up the escalator as it's coming down,

but doing that 50 times in a row.

And then repeating that everyday.

The key point of it is
it's self sufficient.

You have to carry all your
personal belongings with you.

You have to carry your backpack.

You have to carry your
stove, all your food supplies

basically everything.

Your feet are so important in this race.

If you get blisters,
or if something happens

to your feet, you're
gonna be in a bad place.

You have to always be very proactive,

make sure that you manage
any potential problems

before they get too serious.

You can wreck your feet.

Heat's a really nasty,
insidious thing mixed with a bit

of moisture mixed with a bit of sand.

That can really destroy feet easily.

In the Sahara, you have
runners in extreme pain.

The sights you see are just, some of them

are just horrible.

It takes a special type of
person to be able to do this.

A lot of the running I
do is about laboriously

clocking in things.

I'm good.

Like counting backwards.

So if I've got 26 miles
to run, the first mile,

then I think I've got 25, 24, 23.

So I do this in a similar sort of way.

I'll do 100 pushes with this or whatever,

and then I'll go and get
my pitchfork and shovel it.

It's just mental strength.

I'm not gonna stop till I've done it.

So rather than sit around
and worry about it,

I might as well just get on and do it.

My running begins and
ends when I'm actually

physically doing it.

I don't live running.

Running is something I do
as a job for the animals.

Somebody said to me, "You've won a couple"

"of marathons this year.

"You've done really well."

"Why not do Marathon
Des Sables next year?"

And I thought oh what's that?

I never heard of that.

Because I am the most un-clued
up woman you'll ever meet.

And I looked into it.

It's supposed to be the toughest
foot race on the planet.

It's a week in the Sahara Desert.

You gotta be self sufficient.

You gotta carry all your own gear.

So I used to think you'd drop off the end

of the world if you run
past 26.2 miles on a road.

It never even occurred to me there were

all these strange weird,
wonderful, exotic races

in other parts of the world.

And I thought okay I've done
fast races, hard fast races.

I'll do this.

(orchestral music)

I first met Fiona in 2014.

She came into the shop, and
she was just this whirlwind.

Like she was absolutely
mad as a box of frogs.

I'm not sure you can describe
her in any other terms.

She is absolutely extraordinary.

And what's really extraordinary about her

is she doesn't look extraordinary.

I heard her resting heart
rate's like 30 or something.

It's so low that they're
like, "Are you even alive?"

She just doesn't seem to stop.

(laughing)

I don't know how she does what she does.

So she runs this animal sanctuary with 400

or so animals, she trains
like maybe 100 miles a week.

She's just so dedicated to what she does,

and she doesn't do it for her.

She does it for the animals
and for other people,

and she's trying to
promote sustainability.

When you first meet
her, you've got no sense

that you're talking to
someone that's extraordinary.

And one of the reasons is
that she doesn't self promote.

She has no sense of actually
how fantastic she is.

(orchestral music)

She doesn't brag
about anything she does.

She just gets on with it.

But what she does is
quite remarkable really.

The beauty about Fiona
is that she's taking care

of you know hundreds of
animals on her sanctuary,

and then she's training.

She's you know competing
in these grueling events.

Fiona, she says I'm not really a runner.

Now how can somebody that
runs a two, 38 marathon

call themselves not really a runner?

I mean she's not a runner?

She's a really good runner.

She's a really good runner.

I've always felt quite
embarrassed when I'm invited

to these mega races,
and people are looking

at me thinking, what are you
doing here kind of thing.

And I know I don't look
the same as everybody else.

When I tell people I've
got like eighth place

in the Amsterdam Marathon or like top 20

in London and Berlin and Great North Run,

and these are the biggest
races in the world.

These are not messing around with.

People are like flabbergasted.

It's kind of a funny
story with the running.

I don't like it.

I lack talent.

I lack ability, but probably
the strength I've got

is that I actually do recognize that,

but I don't really know
too much about running.

I don't really care that
much around running.

I just care about the results I can get

from the running.

Fiona was a large baby.

She was nine pound,
four when she was born.

My GP said she looked like
a three month old baby.

She lifted her head up immediately.

She was born and looked around her.

And my first words to
her were, "Hello Fiona."

I was the tom boy always
outside, always outside.

Love of animals, love of nature.

I was a very, very sporty kid.

Everybody remembers me as this like little

Duracell bunny that was
just always, always going.

I mean it was like crack
of dawn till late at night,

Fiona would be buzzing along.

And then I lost that.

She was always an athletic little girl

until she had this terrible
problem in the early teens.

She started having knee pain.

Slightly before my
teenage years, I developed

a problem with my knee.

I was in all sorts of pain,
all sorts of trouble with it.

So I went into hospital continually having

the back of my kneecap scraped off,

having the ligaments and
things readjusted around

my kneecap to kind of pivot
it in a different direction.

And nothing was really working.

That was my right leg that was affected

to start with, and then
because I was leaning

so heavily on my left leg,
that became weak and affected.

So I have having all these surgeries.

It was very, very frustrating.

I think I had about 17 operations in all.

I was not able to go to school.

I was getting too weak to go to school.

I couldn't mobilize around the school,

couldn't do anything.

There wasn't even offered
any home tutoring.

And then the doctors said look we've

got a serious problem.

There is a massive conglomeration
behind your kneecap.

It is turning it to jelly.

It is crumbling inside,
and it needs to come out.

And it needs to come out quickly.

This is gonna be a big
operation, and this is

going to be very painful.

I have to say I've never been in pain

like I was in after that operation.

I couldn't lay, I couldn't move in me bed.

I couldn't literally alter
my position in my bed.

I was told I wouldn't walk again properly

let alone be able to
do sporting activities

especially things like running
which were high impact.

I was gonna be registered
disabled at one point

'cause it looked so hopeless.

So that was an incredibly challenging time

for all the family actually.

Oh, it was hell.

It was just too bad to go there.

It's left her with an
extremely painful knee.

I think it hurts most of the time.

I don't think there's
very much of the time

that it is pain free.

The operations are bad
enough, but it's the treatment

and the recuperation and the work that has

to be put in after these
orthopedic operations.

It just went on and on
and on until she was 19.

It's very extraordinary
to have anybody who's had

repeat surgery let's say
more than three or four

procedures on a patella
who has not been disabled.

I don't look back at this time.

I'm not bitter.

It was difficult, and I
don't like revisiting it.

I'll be honest with you.

I really do find it difficult.

There's been some
extraordinarily miserable times,

but they've made me the person I am.

And I acknowledge them
and embrace them for that.

I really do.

And I definitely know what
it's like to suffer myself.

So I can relate to it with
other beings whether they be

human or not.

And I certainly don't want to inflict

it on them unnecessarily.

She's growing all shy and bashful.

Over the years, we've
had hundreds of dogs.

I mean at one time, we had
26 dogs living in the house

at one time.

We've had lots and lots of dogs.

Poppy's story is that she came to us,

and she'd been obviously
used for fighting.

And she's got the classic signs

of a dog that's been
used in a fighting ring

in that she's quite nervous,
and she's got no ears.

Anybody knows this particular breed

knows that when they fight,
they always attack the head,

and their ears are what suffer.

Unfortunately Poppy's ears
were ripped off in a fight.

She's a very loving dog,
and just a typical example

of how humans abuse animals.

She's got a set routine.

She comes in this time, she has her tea.

And she knows how she
likes to live her life.

She actually likes to live
her life very quietly.

When Fiona started the
sanctuary back in 1993,

we were both at work, but
we decided when we started

to get more animals in, Fiona would

look after the animals, and
I would carry on with my job.

We deliberately set out
not to have the animal

sanctuary as our means of living.

Our money, we could earn
in a different industry,

and then just use that money to fund

the sanctuary and
obviously encourage people

to donate to the sanctuary
knowing that 100%

of what they give goes
towards the feed bill.

Every penny we've got has always gone

into the sanctuary absolutely
everything we've got.

And my mom too, you
know like we were trying

to buy this place, sold her
engagement ring, a piano,

everything had to go.

That's been how it's been
ever since we've been here.

Oh look at his little nose.

She just loves taking
care of the animals.

She knows them all by heart.

She knows their personalities,
everything yeah.

It's incredible.

And she's such a kind person
that she doesn't say no

to any animal in danger.

These came from a place up
north about 300 miles away,

and they are what they call cade lambs.

Brian was one of 36 cades that
we were offered by a farmer

which we took on, and we have
been trying to hand rear.

We've got 400 rescued
animals, so managing 36 babies

basically is very, very difficult.

Brian came, and he was very, very weak.

He collapsed and we
brought him into the house.

We did everything for him that we could.

And we thought he was
gonna die, and he didn't.

He didn't die.

He pulled through.

I don't quite know how he pulled through.

There's stuff that needs
to be done all the time.

There's animals to see
to, there's medications

to attend to, there's maintenance to do,

there's a list of jobs
as long as your arm.

The thought of having to do all that work,

and then go out and run 20 miles.

It's not even just like
oh I'm just gonna do

a nice little country job.

It's appalling speed
work to have to fit in,

or an appalling 20 mile road
run, and then come back,

and as soon as you get
back, to have to then start

the evening jobs which is like bringing

all the horses in, getting them back.

It just, no, even though we've lived

together 24 years, I
have no idea how anybody

can fit all that in.

Because we were so tight on money,

I mean for the first
year or two we were here,

we had nothing, and that's kind of when

the marathon running kicked it.

I thought it's cheap to do.

You can do it anytime day or night.

You don't need a lot of equipment.

So that's basically why I took to running.

There was no great desire behind it.

It was just something
physically that I thought

I could make work for the animals.

If I had a patient who had no kneecap

who wanted to do some running
or marathoning activity,

I would tell them to stay on level ground.

Can you imagine running
downhill without a kneecap?

I don't understand the engineering aspect

of how you can run it without a kneecap.

Your kneecap's there to guide your quads

down so they can run
effectively, and also it stops

the over articulation of your knee.

So I'm not sure how that's possible.

We always caution the
patients if they don't have

a kneecap, you can't backpack downhill

with heavy packs even medium weight packs.

When you start climbing
and especially as you start

descending, that's where that
kneecap comes into activity.

As a physical therapist,
I mean it's pretty amazing

when I see individuals competing that push

the limits of endurance and
strength without certain

body parts and then
Fiona's case, here she is

you know running without a kneecap.

It is kind of mystifying
like how does that happen?

But Fiona's found a way
to adapt and move her body

and challenge it not just
get through daily life

and taking care of
animals on her sanctuary,

but then meeting the demands
of an ultra marathon,

meeting the demands of a multi day event.

I'm spending a lot of energy training

100 miles a week for 10 week
block before a marathon,

dedicating yourself to it.

It puts us under a lot of
stress, and then you come

to your taper period, your
paranoid about getting ill,

your paranoid about getting an injury.

Impacts on your family life.

[Rich] Two weeks before Fiona was

to begin Marathon Des
Sables, she contracted

a severe respiratory infection.

Unable to train, she was
bedridden for eight days

prior to leaving.

(singing in a foreign language)

(drum music)

We fly into a place called Ouarzazate.

We call it the gateway to the Sahara.

And even from there, we've
got another six hours by coach

to the start line, and the
start line changes every year.

(singing in a foreign language)

(drum music)

You are shipped into the
desert to this unidentified

destination where you
see an awful lot of tents

in a big circle.

You wander around the camp, and you search

for a tent which appears
to have a space in it.

(dramatic music)

If you are traveling and
running alone, you arrive alone.

You find a place in a tent
with which that will be

your place for the week.

You're allocated a tent number.

That will be your tent number,

and the place in that tent will
be your place for the week.

(dramatic music)

Yeah it was a long, long journey.

I had a dreadful day yesterday.

Brian died that little
lamb, and he died in my arms

in my bed in the middle of the night.

10 days I've nursed him.

And we got the vet so many times,

and I took him to bed on Wednesday night,

and we thought we gave him steroids,

and we thought he was getting better.

You know he has these
episodes of collapse.

And then at quarter past
three in the morning,

he just woke up and died.

And we've got I think about 38 left,

lambs that we're hand rearing
four times a day feeding 'em.

I'm still on antibiotics
till tomorrow morning.

My mom's ill.

Martin's coping as best he can.

I've got the most blinding headache,

and I've had headaches
with this on and off

for the two weeks.

I had to go the doctor.

I had to go and get some antibiotics,

and she gave me a 10 day course to finish

tomorrow morning.

If I feel ill, I think
I've gotta make a choice

of whether you do something cavalier

and just you know carry on
and see if you can push it.

The things I've had in the
past, when I had broken toes

before now, that's very much
if you can contain the pain,

you can contain it.

But this is systematic,
and so I'm not sure

that it's a good idea because you can't

bluff these conditions.

I don't know.

I'll just have to see.

Don't know that's all you can do.

If you don't try, you don't know.

That's the problem.

It's a bit disappointing the way I feel.

I have to say.

(dramatic music)

Had a lot of stress over
the last three months,

a lot of extra work, a
lot of extra commitments.

And you can get ill.

Anybody at anytime can get ill.

So I just hope that you
know I think what I'll do

is I'll just go to sleep now
and try and just relax it out

in the system and just try and rest up

and see if I feel better in the morning.

(dramatic electronic music)

(piano music)

It's a very big juxtaposition to go

from one morning you're
looking after your animals,

the next morning you're
in the Sahara Desert

surrounded by a multitude of people

who are all into their running
and into their statistics.

And you kind of feel
like you don't belong.

Unless you know anyone, you are confined

with these seven strangers male or female

for that entire week.

You've got space in that tent
with which your bedroll fits,

and that's your home for the week.

(piano music)

I tell you last night thought, last night.

You know when you've got the headache

that makes you feel ill, and you just know

you should eat, but you can't.

And you just need to shut off.

I think it was also, yeah I'm not well.

For sure, I'm not well,
but the stress of leaving

that environment to be
in this environment.

You know I'm coming from temperatures

that are really cold to run
here, and I have done nothing.

No race, no nothing.

I've been busy all year with the animals,

and then with the lambs,
and then the illness,

so I'm not in a great place.

But you know we'll see.

I really haven't had a lot of time

to kinda go through packing me pack

and unpacking it and packing it.

So it's all a bit last minute 'cause I've

been ill for two weeks.

And that was kinda the two week period

that I'd intended to dedicate to doing

some of this stuff.

(piano music)

Basically everything you're carrying

it pretty essential in terms of becomes

very, very precious.

But now I'm gonna do my
grand weigh in of the pack

and see what a nightmare it is.

(piano music)

(electronic ticking)

Oh, that's a mother pack.

That's an 8.9.

(laughing)

That's a heck of a pack.

Yeah every little thing does add up.

Obviously it doesn't feel
heavy when you're carrying

it through an airport.

But when you're carrying it trying to get

up a sand dune, then
you're thinking to yourself

really I do need to lose some here.

(piano music)

On the Saturday, you have everything

that you're not gonna carry with you

on the race taken away from you.

That is shipped off back
to a hotel somewhere

you know in a local town.

You go through registration.

You get technical checks.

You get the medical checks.

They check the weight of your bag.

There's a minimum weight to
every bag, six and a half kilos.

And they check you've got sufficient food.

They make sure that you've
got 2,000 calories a day

to keep you going.

It is enough nutrition to get you through,

but it's certainly not enough
to be comfortable with.

You're then left in the
middle of the desert,

and you start running.

(piano music)

[Rich] The first stage
of Marathon Des Sables

traverses primarily rolling sand dunes

for over 30 kilometers.

This will be the shortest
stage of the entire race.

Runners are given a
generous 10 hour cutoff time

to reach bivouac one where
they will stop for the night.

So you get up in the morning.

You prepare yourself
meticulously to run each stage.

You're constantly worried
about losing thing.

You've got this tiny little backpack

with which to put everything in.

Everything becomes so precious.

Every painkiller, every boiled sweet.

Everything you've got becomes so precious

'cause you simply cannot
replace it anywhere.

If I'm like blinking
hard, I've got a choice.

I'm free to do this.

I'm free to stop doing this.

The reason I'm doing it is for those

that aren't free to make it stop.

You know people living in
camps far worse than this

that are not able to just say actually I'd

like to go home to my luxury house now.

You know okay, and you
know same with animals

that are imprisoned.

They aren't free to just
say I've had enough.

So yeah, that's what I'm
gonna kind of think of today.

(dramatic music)

MDS should not be run
when you're physically sick.

That's something I wouldn't recommend

to anyone because you have to be

in a perfect state to do that.

And even when you're in a perfect state,

things can go wrong.

If you're on antibiotics, I
personally wouldn't do it.

But with Fiona, there's
a reason for everything

what she does, and the reason is

far greater than you
know how she's feeling.

The lack of training
the last couple of weeks

is not as big a problem.

There's still this thing
lurking in my system.

Probably another week would've been

a lot better for me to recover.

When it's actually
systematic, you do worry

that you can feel yourself starting

to boil from inside.

So it's very hot, but because
you're over exerting yourself,

you come in very hot from inside as well.

If you overheat, you've got
no way of coming back from it.

You don't wanna be on
your maximum out there.

You've got to be able
to think I'm operating

at only ever at 80% with possibly 100%

when you're really in the dunes.

That's when you give it your all

because you can't get over 'em otherwise.

I've been in some dunes
here, and I've been literally

coming over 'em absolutely
desperate thinking

I'm really frightened now.

I've not got any water.

If you're in a dune
section, you won't come

out of it with any water in your bottles

when it gets really hard.

And it will get really hard.

But I have promised that
if I genuinely do not think

it's the place to be, then I will leave

because obviously I
don't want to be coming

home in a box.

And this is the one race that you have

to pay insurance for
repatriation if you die.

Because obviously you can see out there

people are pushing themselves
really, really hard.

I've got my injuries.

I've got my problems.

So I knew it's not gonna be easy.

When you've been told
you're not gonna walk again

as a teenager, to be out there doing that,

that's never gonna be easy.

But I just want to show
people it is doable.

I hope it's doable, but we'll see.

(dramatic music)

I think it's very, very
difficult to do a race

like Marathon Des Sables
if you're not 100%.

It's an enormous challenge for your body,

and I think if you run it being unwell,

you take a huge risk.

Because of the sheer exhaustion
you're putting yourself

through in a very, very
extreme environment

where it's really, really hot.

It's a very big risk to take.

This isn't my sort of running at all.

But without the cold, without the flu,

you know I could be pushing harder.

[Runner] And you run for animal?

Animals Sanctuary.

Right, I'm gonna cut along.

I shall see you along the way.

It is quite inspiring actually to see

how many women are
taking on this challenge.

And women are actually I think
surprising some of the men

what they lack in the
actual physical strength

of the top runners, they can match

in the mental strength.

And that's what this race is about

being mentally very strong.

It's about determination,
and I think women

are showing that they can
do that equally as well.

And I think it shows how
maligned kind of women

have been through history.

It's quite shocking to thing 1984

was the first marathon
that women were allowed

to run in the Olympics.

And now you see women out here doing this

doing something that is
so physically demanding.

You know some men couldn't do it.

(dramatic music)

It's just a job to get done.

Just do the job.

That's all it is.

Whatever way you can, just do the job.

And the reason you're doing the job

is always in the forefront of your mind.

It's not pushing your
body in terms of running.

It's pushing your body in
terms of what it will tolerate

before saying actually no
I don't want to do this

or can't do this.

I mean this is like 30 K.

There's another 208, and they're harder,

a lot harder all of 'em.

(dramatic music)

Good morning, it's Sunday
morning at the sanctuary.

And people might be wondering what happens

on a Sunday morning.

Particularly with Percy
Bear now that he's got

an increased number of fans.

So I thought we'd just have a quick visit

to see what he's up to.

[Steve] Percy is the lifelong companion

with Martin as well by the way.

He's the other lifelong companion,

but he takes second place next to Percy.

Have you met Percy?

(laughing)

Percy is also with
Fiona wherever she goes.

Normally sits in Fiona's
hand and is shaped like a bear.

A bit like I imagine you see you know

you have Indian spirits that are kind

of replicated in different icons.

I think there's a spirit within Percy.

So Percy is just a little
mascot of me, my running,

like my cheeky little alter ego that goes

everywhere with me now,
traveling companion.

Yeah people then say, they
ask why are you carrying that?

They ask you the question
rather than you forcing

it upon them.

And it's just a gentle
way, a more subversive way

of drawing people into the story.

Somebody in Brazil started
the Percy supporter group.

And people from all around the world

started to send me bears
for the Percy support group.

So I put 'em all in here,
and that's where they live.

You can hear Fiona a long
time before you can see her

shouting, "Can you take
a photo of me and Percy?"

That's how you know that
Percy's got a tiny body,

great big personality,
absolutely inseparable.

When Percy's there, people
tend to laugh and they joke.

And it's kind of an olive branch
to say I'm not threatening.

And it helps me as well.

I've got another
mouthpiece where the focus

of attention is not
necessarily always on me

'cause I don't actually like it too much.

Everybody's counting like in grams.

Obviously I'm counting in grams.

And then all of a sudden in goes Percy.

And he's not actually that light.

Actually I think he's gaining weight.

I'm not gonna let him sit at home.

He can suffer it with me square on.

[Rich] Stage two of Marathon Des Sables

covers 39 kilometers with a
cutoff time of 11 1/2 hours.

The first 25 kilometers
consist of rocky plateaus,

hills, and sand dunes before making

the steep climb and descent
over the mountain pass

known as El Otfal Jebel.

(dramatic piano music)

I'm quite worried 'cause I
was actually cold at night,

and everybody else was a bit warmer,

and I was really cold.

(dramatic piano music)

You're amongst the
best part of 1,000 people

usually 1,000 plus other
people, 35 nationalities.

It attracts people who
want a lifetime adventure,

and they get it in spades in the MDS.

(dramatic piano music)

The MDS is 90% mental, and
the other 10% is in your head.

Well I think for extreme
runners it's just this idea

that we are just pushing our limits.

We're just so curious
to know what our mind

can handle and what our bodies can handle.

(dramatic piano music)

Decline tires your legs, but you need

a lot of leg strength
to control your muscles

coming down because when
your legs get tired,

fatigued, they're not
behaving as they should.

That's why I was worried
actually that I might

not have the strength.

I was quite concerned
that I wouldn't be able

to hold myself together.

Just thinking I'll go for it.

I just wanna get down.

(dramatic piano music)

And it's prone for injury.

I mean you could injure
yourself at any point.

You could trip.

You could your knee, quads and knees.

People fall, they bang
their heads, heat sickness.

Anything can happen at anytime.

(dramatic piano music)

Actually when I came off the jebel,

I felt really strong, and I ran

into the checkpoint, and
it was when I stopped,

I felt awful.

I started to feel very, very sick.

(dramatic piano music)

But fortunately I got enough
water to collect myself.

At the end of the day, I'm grateful that

I'm able to even consider doing this

'cause there's a lot of people
that aren't able to do it.

They haven't got their health.

So to be able to be in a position

where you can even consider
coming here and doing this

is a win.

It was hot out there,
and main thought passing

through my mind today was how
hot is it in a cattle truck?

And they haven't got any water.

My mind drifts off
always in that direction.

I know I should be thinking about me self

and what I'm doing, but truly
my mind always compares.

I'm ashamed when I think, we're moaning,

and because we're suffering.

But we're not suffering.

We're not suffering like animals.

I wouldn't be here if it
weren't for the animals.

No way would I be away from the sanctuary.

I am here now, and I want
to make the best of it.

But it is a spectacular place to be.

It's awesomely beautiful, serene.

Privileged to be allowed her.

(dramatic music)

When you can see the
finish, if you can jog

and run into the finish,
it gives you think like

I did actually get it right.

I didn't actually crawl
into the finish line,

have to walk in and collapse.

I did actually get that one right.

(dramatic music)

(beeping)

So after a long day in the desert,

a hearty meal is required.

But instead of a hearty
meal, you've got this.

So we have to prepare ourselves for this.

[Runner] You need this
walker at the marathon.

[Man] Extra large, and (muttering).

[Man In Orange Shirt] It's
actually better than him.

(muttering)

[Man Off Camera] Oh, not too bad.

(muttering)

(laughing)

(muttering)

Looks like it's going to be a cold meal

for me tonight.

(speaking in a foreign language)

[Man Off camera] Literal translation.

(muttering)

I don't eat that much out on the course.

It's not energy I'm gonna lack out there.

Bearing in mind, I only
eat one meal a day at home.

I'm not doing that here.

I'm taking snacks, and
I am forcing myself.

I would expect to be on
my feat all day at home

and eat one meal.

And that would include a
run, and I never, ever take

anything in a road marathon.

So I'm quite able to run
two, 38 in a road marathon

with only taking water.

It's difficult to be surprised by Fiona

because she's just everything she does

she does to the absolute maximum.

And obviously when she said she was

going to try a marathon,
I thought okay I know

she's gonna do fine.

And she did a marathon, and she did it

I think under three hours.

And it was just like this
is your first marathon.

When she started winning marathons

and winning local events.

You say oh right, okay,
you've won another one.

And obviously she was doing it to try

and build herself a platform
from which she could speak.

And she found that obviously from winning

local races to winning marathons

still wasn't giving her
the platform she wanted

which is when she started to turn

to you know the endurance events.

When Fiona was offered the chance

to run at the North Pole,
it was just like okay, fine.

You know it's kind of like you expect her

to come up with something that most people

would say, "What?"

If you say to someone,
I've done a marathon.

People know it's extreme.

They know that the North Pole is extreme.

So I figured put the
two together, North Pole

and a marathon, you've got a win here.

That's definitive hard core.

And I just literally went
out as normal running,

came back, walked into the house and said,

right Martin, I've got
something to tell you.

"What's that?"

I want to do the North Pole Marathon.

And he just looked at be and ah.

Because of the knee
condition that I've got,

I cannot afford to slip.

If I slip, I tear, I dislocate
it very, very easily.

There's nothing to keep
it stable in there.

So I didn't really know whether it was

going to be possible for me
to run in these conditions.

The race organizer wrote to me and said

if you will consider doing
it, I will give you the place.

And then it was like well game on.

It's a massive opportunity,
and it might never come again.

(dramatic music)

When the plane door opens,
it's just like whoa.

The reality just hits you.

All you can see is just snow.

You can hear the ice and the
water underneath you cracking.

The cold is the kind
of cold that you throw

some water up in the air, and it freezes.

There's no going back.

I'm thinking about hypothermia
and potential frostbite.

You've got to be very, very careful.

I had spoken to the other
runners, and there was

almost like an overconfidence to them.

Fiona was really refreshing
because here she was

touted as one of the elite runners sharing

with me in all honesty
that she was terrified

just as I was.

And I looked at her I'm like
how can you be terrified?

So we're laying there in our cots,

and we're just like staring
up at the tent ceiling

going this is gonna be brutal.

And she was like, "Yep,
it's gonna be really hard."

It reached minus 30 at its coldest point.

Like you'd take a step,
and you'd sink down

to knee deep snow.

There are parts that were
super icy, and you couldn't

really get good footing.

It is one of the most amazing
experiences I've ever had.

Fiona is a legend.

She ended up winning
the North Pole Marathon

very, very easily.

(dramatic music)

Probably I did a bit too well.

It caused a bit of animosity from

the point of view of the other runners.

For a woman to come out here
carrying a small teddy bear

and humiliate us.

I placed with the men,
got the course record.

I came in like six
and a half hours later,

and she hugged me, and she just said,

"I am so proud of you."

And I was like really,
"You've been laying here"

"for six hours waiting for me to finish."

And she was like but I
think you were the toughest.

She's so incredibly strong,
and she kind of denies

it in herself, but she's so willing

to acknowledge it in others.

Honestly like I've never
seen someone so strong

and so humble.

When I actually finished
the North Pole Marathon

I was absolutely elated.

Not at winning the race, not thinking

of anything more than the
fact that I'd got through

this awesome achievement
of surviving out there.

She runs.

"Oh yeah, I finished."

How did you do?

"Oh, I won."

You won?

You (laughing) won?

"And I broke the course record."

I was just like oh okay.

[Rich] The course of stage three

for Marathon Des Sables is exceptionally

challenging and dramatic.

Runners are required to scale three steep

technical mountains over 31.6 kilometers.

The first strenuous ascent forces

racers up a sandy rock strewn slope.

Once summited, runners must
navigate along the ridge

of Joua Baba Ali Jebel
before dropping down

to check point one only to have to climb

back up again on the other
side of a dry riverbed.

In an almost sadistic design,
the third and largest climb

takes runners back over
the mountain they scaled

the previous day, a treacherous
technical and exposed route

of jagged volcanic rock.

After descending, 10
kilometers of stony plateau

still lays ahead of racers
before camping for the night.

I'm actually really worried about today,

seriously worried because it all climbs,

and my knee does not like to climb.

It protesteth something
rotten in the street.

I was just thinking that I
was running along yesterday.

And I've got my cashew
nuts out, and it all

went horribly wrong
with some poles banging

around my feet, and I was just getting

in a right kerfuffle with bag open.

And I didn't get them all in my mouth.

And they kind of went to
the side and round my cheek.

And I'm so desperate to not drop

these two cashew nuts,
that they're rolling

around my cheek to get
'em back inside my mouth.

I'm like what am I doing?

It's two cashew nuts.

And I'm thinking oh no,
that's like 25 calories.

Get it in my mouth.

Don't let 'em fall on the ground.

Some sort of ludicrous,
mad person going along.

(laughing)

It puts it in perspective.

Too much perspective.

(laughing)

(dramatic music)

The reality hits here.

It's not called the toughest foot race

on the planet because it's a 10 K.

You know Sunday morning,
it really is tough.

And they pride themselves
in making it tough.

(dramatic music)

It's hard, and it's long,
and it's relentless.

It's completely alien, and
you just want it to go away.

You just want to cry out there.

You just want to cry.

(dramatic music)

I've got a faint idea
of what the climbs were.

And I thought oh no, they can't
be including all those in.

But they did.

(dramatic music)

That's me gritting it out.

That's not me doing something
that I want to do at all.

I would never dare to do that attempt

because at some point I
know my leg would give up.

And today when they said the three climbs,

I thought if there's three
climbs, there's three descents.

That's a problem to me.

It genuinely is.

I mean in truth I think
people would be shocked

to see what you've gotta do.

It's nothing to do with running.

It's almost like rock climbing.

It's so steep and sandy,
and you're just left

to your own devices.

You get frightened.

You think I can't do that.

I cannot do that climbing.

I literally can't do it,
and I get use my right leg.

It's not got the power that my left leg,

so everything has to be
done from the left leg.

That scared me.

That really scared me.

This was somebody who was told

they wouldn't walk properly
when they were younger.

(dramatic music)

It is insane.

You wouldn't be allowed to do it

in any other country, wouldn't get away

with the health and safety.

You just wouldn't.

It's mental.

You do see grown men cry out there.

(dramatic music)

I was just so relived to get down there.

I was so worried when
we got to descending.

(dramatic music)

Man, that was hard.

It was really, really hard.

I just wanted to sit down and cry in fact.

I don't wanna do this.

I just don't wanna do this.

I just don't wanna do it.

I'm doing it for the animals.

I'm not doing it for me.

(dramatic music)

That's one of the worst
days I've know in this race.

You saw Fiona suffering.

You saw her in a lot of pain.

(dramatic music)

The most important things
that you're gonna do

is get ready for tomorrow if
there's gonna be tomorrow.

You just gotta prepare for it.

This is one thing that
makes me really appreciate

when you get back home.

One tiny drop of water and a
towel, and it feels so good.

It feels better than any power shower

you could ever go under.

You know because you're
here in these conditions,

and you're really appreciating it.

And you really use every
inch of everything.

Something that in the West
we're guilty of not doing.

I'm not saying everybody
should live like this.

I'm not asking everybody
to live like this.

I'm just asking people to consider

that people do have to live like this,

and how lucky was are to not do.

As you can see, my toenails are now

so blistered they're comin' off.

No point in trying to keep 'em on.

I'll just pop 'em and put iodine on.

Yeah, I'm about to lose my big toe nails,

and they are sore.

They're like sore, man.

They've got some bashing.

I did something actually
tremendous yesterday.

I was in such a state of confusion,

I put Tabasco on my toes.

(laughing)

Yeah, I picked up the
wrong pack, oh it's there,

and in total oblivion, I
just poured it on my toes.

Probably did 'em good actually.

(groaning)

[Man In orange] Damn you.

This isn't.

This is a sand storm I think.

[Man In Orange] Ah Fiona, your socks.

[Fiona] Have you got two
socks there, two small ones?

- Yeah, two little ones.
- Thank you.

Seeing it there, it
just blows up like that.

(muttering)

[Man In Orange] That's great
that the helicopter came,

and suddenly it started.

(muttering)

Fiona has some remarkable achievements

under her belt, and she doesn't really get

the media attention that
she actually deserves.

(dramatic music)

When I came back from
the North Pole Marathon,

the BBC contacted me immediately.

They said we'd like you come to Salford.

We'll pay your expenses
which was a big thing for me.

Bring your mom that's
fine, get you a hotel.

We want you to open and
close BBC Breakfast.

And the researcher said
there's just one thing,

we would prefer it if you didn't mention

the fact that you're vegan.

And I thought but that's the whole part

of me being there.

That's the punchline.

That's the barrier to getting the athletic

achievements out there.

It's because I've done
it with a hidden agenda

as far as their concerned.

I wanted to do it to promote something

which they're not happy to promote.

I sat on the sofa there live, and I was

literally the whole time that they were

kinda talking and questioning me.

I was thinking how do I
mention the fact that,

dare I, dare I.

I better not.

What do I do, how do I do it?

How do I say it?

And in the end they kind of say to me

why did you run a marathon
at the North Pole?

And I think that if I'd have said

because I'm just an
airhead kind of adrenaline

junkie, and I just wanted to
do it 'cause it was there.

I think that they could've
connected with that

a lot better than the answer I gave.

I'm a lifelong vegan.

And I'm a patriot of the Vegan Society.

It's their 70th anniversary next year,

and I was looking to do
something really, really special.

So I just thought what's the
most extreme thing I can do.

I've done a lot of other marathons.

As I say, I wanted to prove I could do it

on a vegan diet and
raise money 'cause I run

an animal sanctuary and
sort of help them as well.

The second part of the
interview came later

in the show.

There's no uptake on this vegan diet.

They've completely blanked it.

They didn't want it on
there, and that's it.

We have had reporters
who told us off record.

I can't really feature
you because you're flying

in the face of the
people who pay our wages,

the advertisers, they're paying them

to sell their meat and dairy.

And here we are promoting a vegan athlete

who's showing actually you
don't need all that crap.

If Fiona can do what she does and has been

vegan for 40 years, you
know surely a vegan diet

will be enough to manage
you down the shops

to get your weekly shopping
from Tesco or wherever.

So many people have it in their mind.

I mean I have it too
this idea that you need

to have meat, you need
to have animal protein

to be able to push harder and faster.

But I really think of what
I'm putting into my body

is fuel that's gonna fuel my workouts,

but also fuel recovery.

And I think that's probably
the biggest benefit

of a plant based diet is that ability

to fuel it with the best fuel possible,

but then it's also the fuel
that's gonna help recover you.

That's going to allow my muscles to heal,

to allow my body to be
ready for the next workout,

or to be ready for the next race.

I genuinely see food as a fuel.

I'm not a food obsessive person.

I respect food.

I respect the fact that
I have enough food.

And that's something that
which a lot of people

in the world and animals do not have.

She only eats one meal a day,

and she eats that when all the work

is finished for the day.

She will then eat.

And she eats methodically, slowly,

and then she goes to bed
and hopefully sleeps.

When I came back from the North Pole,

that's when the world
record attempt came up.

There's a record to be
the fastest woman in days

to actually do a marathon
on every continent

plus the North Pole.

I explored the possibility
and potential costs.

No way we could afford it.

This is an opportunity to
get in the Guinness Book

of World Records as a vegan,
and I'm throwing it away.

And I knew I was throwing it
away because there's no way

I was gonna go back to the North Pole

and run that marathon again.

I thought this is just too good to miss.

I just can't not do this.

Surely to goodness I can't not do this.

But in the meantime, I'd
written to one or two people

to ask for help.

And a guy from America
had actually written back

to me and said he'd like to support it.

It was pretty much game on then.

The first race I ran, I won.

I didn't intend to.

Martin said to me, "You do realize that"

"if you could do that in every race,

"you would actually
become the fastest woman,

"you'd get three world
records instead on one.

"You'd be the fastest
woman in running time

"in actual physical ability
wise not just logistic-wise"

"to run a marathon on every
continent and the North Pole."

The pressure then was on to no just amble

around these races was actually to run 'em

and do as well as I could in
'em so when the accumulated

times were rolled together, I would be

the fastest woman ever to
actually physically run

on these continents.

We're just saying goodbye to Fiona

and her mom now as they journey halfway

around the world to Australia.

[Meg] Hello Mr. Percy.

Are you ready?

Did he make the right
decision finding his coat?

[Martin] Yeah, he did.

(dramatic music)

[Fiona] We were in Australia less time

then we were flying there.

Tip out of the plane, run the marathon,

do the championship
time, get back on a plane

so that immediately I
arrive, Martin can go

to work to cut down the amount of days off

he's having to facilitate me do this.

Morning, it's eight
o'clock in the morning.

Fiona's getting ready with Percy

to go in the taxi to Omsk in Siberia.

And we're just gonna go
through the final checklist

to make sure she's got everything
that she needs to have.

Running gear?

Yep.

[Martin] Currency?

Yep.

[Martin] Trainers?

Yep.

[Martin] What about the training?

You've done the training?

What training?

[Martin] For the marathon.

You have to train for them?

[Martin] Yeah.

(muttering)

The Omsk international
marathon is the biggest

race in Russia.

I'd had no sleep, and
then tip out and run,

placed in it, and it was quite tough.

Every time I was running
these quick times,

the pressure was then on to keep doing it

to get these three world records

instead of the one world
record I'd originally

set out to do.

And the next challenge
was to go to America.

The nearest one I could
find on the East Coast

was the Atlantic City Marathon.

I think I won that race.

(dramatic music)

When we arrived home, I was quite poorly.

And I remember I think
I've got about 12 days

before I've got to go to Africa.

And I don't know how I
got through it, but I did.

And I did the time I wanted to do it in.

So now it was back home
to the UK, try to recover,

do the last two marathons in this series.

You're geting more and more
tired, more and more prone

to injury and fatigue, illness as well.

You get very, very stressed out.

You've only got one chance,
and if something goes wrong,

the whole thing's out the window.

[Rich] On the morning
of stage four of MDS,

Fiona discovered that
the soles of her shoes

were disintegrating.

The previous days of harsh terrain

running on volcanic rock
had taken their toll.

They've just ripped
to pieces underneath.

And it's both of them.

It just basically took the soles off.

The tread just came off.

They're not particularly built

for hours and hours of
climbing and descending

in very, very hostile and hot terrain.

They're built for road running.

My shoes really didn't occur to me

because I've tried and
tested 'em for so many times.

It didn't really occur to me.

But that just shows you what this race is.

It throw up things that you don't expect.

As I say I've created a sole with this.

And if you were then
to get some gaffer tape

to hold this in place or just keep putting

gaffer tape around to give layers.

Again if your shoes go, you go.

You go home.

There's nothing you can do.

Mark down there is going to lend me

some gaffer tape, and I'm
gonna try and tape them

and see how far I get.

Well I've just gotta go out
there and see what happens.

Nothing I can do.

(dramatic music)

[Rich] Stage four of MDS also known

as the long stage is the equivalent

of two marathons back to back.

Runners are given 36 hours to cross

the 86.2 kilometers of dunes,

dry salt lakes, riverbeds,
and jebels along the route.

Runners must push through the night

to make bivouac four in time
to avoid disqualification.

In an effort to try to preserve her shoes

remaining tread, Fiona decides to walk

the entire stage with
her fellow tent mates.

(dramatic music)

I've seen people drop
out because they didn't

hydrate enough, but to
be honest, I've seen

more people drop out because they didn't

take care of their feet.

It's the combination of
the heat and the sweating

of your feet and you know
the roughness of the sand

and sand getting into your shoes.

It's like the perfect storm of why people

are forced to drop out.

(dramatic music)

I stop at every checkpoint and wrap 'em

till I've got some tread.

I think the bags'll hold.

It's just funny.

It was a matter of going around the camp

and trying to beg and
borrow tape from people.

I think any kilometer that
the soles of these shoes

are now protected is a win.

It's just brutal.

You actually are looking at 86 kilometers

with a giant backpack in hostile terrain,

hostile condition climbing, trudging.

(dramatic music)

The thing is it's not
the last stage today.

So even if you get
through today on no shoes,

you've got a marathon to
worry about on no shoes.

The whole stage it had to be weighted.

What do you do?

Do you hammer your shoes and try and get

off your feet as quickly as possible

but risk hammering 'em too much,

so you can't actually
enter the marathon stage?

Or do you take it really, really easy,

watch every step and
try and nurse them home?

(dramatic music)

It makes you wanna cry
because you know thinking

you're gonna be out here doing this,

and then I've gotta go through tomorrow.

I'm just praying.

(dramatic music)

It's grim when you look at it and think

right 86 kilometers.

Even if you do a relatively decent pace

factoring in stops, you're looking

at a cozy 23 hours.

(dramatic music)

And it's literally going through
checkpoint after checkpoint

fixating on getting to a checkpoint.

You just sit.

Then it's body and equipment management.

First thing before I was
actually seeing to myself

was looking at the shoes.

(dramatic music)

I was laying in bed last night
sort of I'm not doing it.

I'm not putting myself through that.

The disappointment of
having to go out there now

knowing that you probably
might have to pull out

because of your shoes.

(dramatic music)

It's relentless.

I mean you've just gotta
keep moving forward.

Demoralizing, you can't see the terrain.

You can't see what's out in front,

so you just have to rely
on having enough strength

to cope with whatever comes.

(dramatic music)

Night is just a different game

to running at night as
opposed to running the day.

That's when the demons
come to play at night.

And they do play some
fairly nasty tricks on you.

So it's really hard.

You've got to go dig really deep

to get yourself out of some of the holes

that your mind puts you in.

And that requires
extraordinary, extraordinary

depth of character.

(dramatic music)

You know what an ox or a
horse or donkey feels like

being harnessed up.

(dramatic music)

And you know you're gonna be
out there for a long time,

and you just hope your body holds up.

That's the main thing.

You're just desperately hoping your body

and your mind holds up.

(dramatic music)

(electronic ticking)

Well we're just waiting
for the taxi to come

to take Fiona to the airport for what?

- The annual egg and spoon.
- Annual egg

And spoon competition.

[Martin] That's what
you've been training for?

Yeah.

[Martin] That's not right.

I think you're going to
run across the desert.

No, no, I think it's an
egg and spoon competition.

So you're telling me
all you're training has

been based around egg and spoon.

Well yeah, we've got
the egg and spoon here

that we've been training with.

[Martin] That's a pepper Peppa Pig

egg and spoon set made of plastic.

Yeah.

[Martin] Well I'm sorry,
but that's not right.

You're gonna have to give those to me,

and you're gonna have
to put that backpack on

and run across the desert unfortunately.

We went off to South
America, and I have to say

if I'd have known what I
was letting myself in for,

I question whether I
would've actually gone.

It was so horrible.

And I'm forever grateful that
my mom actually went with me

and witnessed it because if she hadn't,

I don't think she would've believed it.

The Atacama Volcano Marathon is extreme

in a very different way
to the ice marathons.

It's one of the highest
marathons in the world.

So you start at 14 and
a half thousand feet,

and you've only got 11% oxygen.

It's about what you'd have at sea level.

And I'd convinced
myself that it wouldn't be

too bad running a marathon
at 14,000 feet altitude.

I really hadn't given
it that much thought.

Running at altitude I think
especially for someone

who comes from sea level
is definitely a challenge.

It is very, very extreme.

I think more extreme and
potentially more risky

than the ice marathons.

You've got to contest with the fact

that you're running at
altitude, but you're

not kinda running.

You're battling very, very
bad terrain about 28 K.

I rolled my knee on a stone or
whatever it was I don't know.

I just rolled my knee and slipped.

I knew I'd damaged it
badly the minute I did it.

I just thought okay
I'm gonna have to walk.

I'm gonna have to do what
I have to do to finish,

and it's not gonna be pretty.

And it really wasn't.

If I'd have just been trying
to do this for myself,

I wouldn't have put myself through it.

I have to say that.

But I wasn't doing it
for myself, so I did.

(dramatic music)

And I remember laying the
back of this ambulance,

14,400 feet up the side of a volcano

in the Atacama Desert
thinking how the hell

am I gonna recover from this?

The doctor has just told
me that I am not gonna

run again this year.

It was November, November 14th.

How the hell am I gonna run
in Antarctica in five days?

Just complete silence,
game over kind of thing.

I couldn't even bend my leg.

And we got back to the hotel mom and I.

We just went back to our
room and thought this

is the worst nightmare that
could possibly have happened.

We got into Santiago, and I
was pretty much panicking.

And we went off to Antarctica.

And I thought this is not possible.

I was really scared.

I just couldn't run.

I just couldn't bend my leg.

I didn't know what to do.

I got all these expectations
resting on me, guilt, fear.

I got these world records.

I'm doubtful whether I can do 'em or not.

I've failed basically.

(dramatic music)

I just thought how am I
gonna possibly keep on?

It was very, very cold.

I won't say I prepared myself for my run

because I didn't think with this knee

that was just constantly throbbing,

and I was like severely
depleted from the Atacama

race anyway, and I was in a lot of pain

which was very, very worrying.

I'm just gonna run, shuffle, crawl, slide,

whatever I've got to do.

As long as the knee
continues at this pain level

and doesn't get any
worse, as long as I can

just block that out, I might be able

to just keep going.

You're so aware of
treading this fine balance

between something go wrong,
and if it goes wrong,

you've got no way of making it go right.

You just can't, and it
hits you really quickly.

It really does hit very quickly.

One minute you're running in fog,

and the next minute it's
just like some curtain's

been drawn in front of you.

It was absolutely majestic.

Just the ethereal beauty
of looking around you

and seeing nothing and no
one and like check this

I'm in Antarctica, wow.

As the kind of kilometers
or miles tick by,

I realize that I was
beginning to catch runners.

I don't know it was like a total epiphany.

The Fiona that had been worried
and in pain with the knee

kind of left my body, and
the spirit of a new Fiona

came into my body, and
it was like wow perhaps

I'm not going that slowly.

Perhaps it isn't
completely out the window.

Perhaps I can still salvage
something from this race.

Perhaps I can, dare I
say break this record

of being the fastest
woman in actual running

time to go to these
continents, these extra

two bonus world records.

And dare I even dream it, I can win it.

So it all kinda came
rushing upon me all at once

seeing the camp, seeing the gantry,

seeing the finish line
and more importantly

seeing the tape being help
across for the first lady home.

(horn honking)
(audience cheering)

Broke the tape, nearly broke me neck

'cause I fell over on
the tape and slipped.

Very, very unlady like.

I said oh did I win?

That's the only thing.

Did I win?

And he said, "Yeah, yeah, you won."

"And you even broke the course record."

I couldn't actually believe it.

(dramatic music)

I still don't know how
I did it, but I did.

And yeah, that was my world record.

(laughing)

[Rich] Fiona Oaks set
three world records,

fastest aggregate time
to complete a marathon

on each continent, fastest aggregate time

to complete a marathon on each continent

and the North Pole, both
cumulatively and elapsed.

Stage five of Marathon Des Sables

is the final leg of the race.

At 42.2 kilometers, it is
a marathon distance run

and the second longest
stage of the entire week.

The course forces runners
along painfully uneven terrain

before sending them down
into a deep, dry wash.

After climbing out, they must traverse

a long section of rocky plateaus and steep

wind blown sand dunes.

The course then passes through the ancient

and abandoned village of Methis

in the final stretch to the finish line.

(sucking air)

That really, really stung.

'Cause I know my toe
nail's gonna come off.

When it does come off, I
don't want it to be loose

in my shoe.

Feeling nervous about
today, but I think everyone

in the tent agrees we're
feeling pretty blessed

to be in a position to be sitting here

even considering going out there

because in the beginning of the week

getting to Friday does actually seem

like a daunting prospect.

In the beginning of the week,
yeah, yeah whatever happens,

I'm gonna crawl to the finish
on my eyelids, you know.

And then even yesterday when
the long stage was over,

people then start thinking oh my God

what if something goes wrong in the night?

What if I wake up with a cold?

What if I wake up with the cramps?

You know what if?

All the what ifs because that long stage

takes so much out of people that you don't

want to have done it for nothing.

And that was my main
concern with the shoes.

If worst outcomes it is a couple of stones

and some plastic bags and
some more gaffer tape,

and you know whatever it takes.

But let's say we hope
it doesn't come to that.

(dramatic music)

People listen to Fiona talk, and they come

to me afterwards and they
say, "You must be very proud."

And I say no.

Pride reflects onto me.

I look at her in awe, and
then the guilt kicks in.

The guilt at having brought
a life into the world

that is so compassionate
and feeling and loving

that she has to push herself
to these tremendous lengths

to try to get a platform
so that she can speak

for those who have no voice.

(dramatic music)

I've been very strong, but
I am very, very sensitive.

I abhor cruelty to
humans and animals alike.

I don't think that in the
21st century especially people

should be suffering, and
I certainly don't think

animals should be suffering
at people's hands.

I can't turn a blind eye.

It's not in me to do that.

I always want to try
and do the right thing

and do as much as I
possibly can whilst I'm here

and able to do it.

(dramatic music)

(audience cheering)

(dramatic music)

(speaking in a foreign language)

[Rich] Fiona finishes
with a total running time

of 46 hours, 31 minutes, 26 seconds

in the top third of female runners.

It's kind of mixed
emotions when you finish.

It's been the focus of
your life for a long time

before you came here.

And for the last week,
you've been fully aware

that you're working toward
this particular moment.

And when it comes, it's
not exactly a let down,

but it's just I think
to be honest with you,

it reminds me more of relief.

I'm all talked out about it now.

It's done.

It's over.

I've done it.

So it's move on and do something else now.

Go home, feed my lambs.

That's where I wanna
be, so much I wanna be.

So yeah, that's what it's all about.

(dramatic music)

Fiona, she's so pure.

And she's just doing it like
everything from her heart.

She's not defined by
a physical condition.

She doesn't define herself
by her extraordinary running.

She does this completely selflessly.

For her, it's for her passionate belief

about veganism and about
her animal sanctuary.

Part of what makes her so incredible

is that she's just so humble.

Her life and her work with the animals

with her sanctuary
drives her, and it gives

her a focus for her running.

For so many reasons, I want Fiona

to succeed in her
running and her advocacy.

I think sometimes
people look at individuals

like Fiona, and it's like
oh they're super human.

Maybe she does have some genetic abilities

that have helped her, but she's got

an incredible amount of will,
and she's a great example

for what you can continue
to do throughout a lifetime.

(dramatic music)