Runner : A Short Story About a Long Run . by Lizzy Hawker . ( Aurum Press £12.99 ) Waiting nervously at the starting line of her first 155 km race around Mont Blanc , 29-year-old Lizzy Hawker looked down at her holey long johns , clumpy trail shoes and the poorly fitting rucksack she had borrowed , then up at the elite Lycra kit of her fellow competitors . She had entered the 2005 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ( UTMB ) on a whim — but now , the reality of the challenge ahead began to sink in . She would be covering almost the same distance as that between her birthplace in the London suburbs and Southampton , where she was studying for a PhD in environmental science . And her slight , 5 ft 4 in body would have to keep lifting those heavy shoes through 8,500m of ascent and descent — equivalent to climbing from sea level to the summit of Everest and back . Some 26 hours , 51 minutes and 51 seconds later , Hawker surprised herself , and everyone else , by becoming the first woman to cross the dark , wet , Alpine finish line that year , coming 24th overall . Lizzy Hawker entered the 2005 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ( pictured ) on a whim and she 's since gone on to become Britain ’ s most distinctive female ‘ ultra runner ’ She would go on to become Britain ’ s most distinctive female ‘ ultra runner ’ , coming first in the UTMB five times , taking gold in the Women ’ s 100km World Championships in Korea in 2006 , setting a new women ’ s world record for 24 hours on the road in the 2011 Commonwealth Championships and a new course record at the sunbaked 246 km Spartathlon in 2012 . But Hawker ’ s inspirational memoir does not focus on the figures . She ’ s more interested in why she is able to push herself beyond normal limits , and how running makes her feel . Her book is strong on Buddhist philosophy and the peace that comes with living fully in the now . Raised in Upminster , East London , Hawker says she always felt a profound connection to nature . She became a vegetarian aged five , and knew her future lay in the mountains after her first skiing trip to Zermatt when she was six . Only a few years later , frustrated by the queue for the cable cars , she threw her skis over her shoulders and beat her family back down the mountain . When you ask artists and musicians why they chose their paths , they will often reply that all children love to draw and sing : they just refused to stop . Hawker feels the same about running . Studying at Cambridge and later working for the British Antarctic Survey , she struggled with the hours at her desk and confined on boats . She ran at weekends and after work , clocking an average time in the London Marathon and later winning a race across the fells . But after that first UTMB triumph , Hawker knew she had found her calling and she renounced the world of employment . Sponsorship from The North Face helped fund her travel to races around the world . She owns few possessions , travelling with just clothes , shoes and a laptop . Though running makes Hawker feel ‘ beautifully empowered ’ , it has left her with ‘ unbeautiful ’ feet . As she writes ( from her temporary home in the Himalayas ) , she faces the possibility of never running again . Six stress fractures to the bones of her legs and feet may end her career . But she ends by quoting Hunter S. Thompson , who believed that : ‘ Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body , but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke , thoroughly used up , totally worn out and loudly proclaiming : “ Wow ! What a ride ! ” ’
Lizzy Hawker entered the that year Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ( UTMB ) on a whim . Hawker was the first woman to cross the finish line 2005 in 24th place . She 's gone on to become Britain ’ s most distinctive female ‘ ultra runner ’