Don't Tell Me I Can't… Be A Record Breaker

Mimi Anderson shows it’s never too late to take on a challenge – and become the best.

- Sarah Holmes

My muscles ached and my fingers stung from the cold. But after six days of trudging through sub-zero temperatures, I wasn’t about to give up on my dream of becoming the fastest person to complete the Arctic Ultra race. I might have been 44 years old, but that was the last thing stopping me from becoming a record-breaker.

When I was younger I wasn’t nearly as competitive. I didn’t start running until I was 36. All I was hoping for was thinner legs, but within four years, I’d completed a handful of half marathons.Then in 2000, my friend showed me an article about the Marathon des Sables – a 155-mile race through the Sahara desert.