Mimi Anderson
Kent, England
United Kingdom
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Email: marvellous@mimi1.com
I began running in 1999. Having started with shorter races I soon found that the shorter races such as 5ks, 10ks and ½ marathons became less and less of an attraction; it was the ‘ultras’ that got me excited and motivated, I enjoy seeing just how far I am able to push myself – is there a limit? Over the years I seem to become stronger and stronger finding new goals to achieve and conquer, not only do I enter races with the challenge of finishing I now compete for a placing.
I have been lucky enough over the years to race in some of the most beautiful places in the world, meet wonderful people who have helped and inspired me – quite simply I love running!
I am a married mother of 3 and the grandmother of one little boy!
Race Bio:
DOUBLE COMRADES
23rd May – 24th May 2009 – Comrades Marathon is South Africa’s most famous Ultra. Its approximately 90km in length with cut-offs along the route and has to be completed in 12 hours. The route goes from Durban to Pietermaritzburg or vic-versa depending on whether it’s an up or down year.
I became the first female to complete Double or “back to back” Comrades.
I ran through the night on the 23rd May completing the UP journey in 9 hours 50 minutes then joined 13,000 other runners from all over the world to complete the DOWN run in a time of 10 hours 40 minutes.
TRING TO TOWN 2009
31st January – 1st February 2009 – T2T is an 80 mile two day event running from Kew in London to Tring in Hertfordshire then back again the following day along the Grand Union Canal. 1st Female, 8th overall.
CAPE-ODYSSEY
8th – 12th October 2008 – The Cape Odyssey is a 5 day staged race held in the Western Cape of South Africa. What is unusual about this event is that you have to run in pairs, this was a new experience for me but one that I enjoyed. My original running partner had to pull out due to an injury, my new partner Ray Cranston was only introduced to me on the Saturday before the race!
This wasn’t a race I was going to run to compete as my body hadn’t fully recovered from my World Record, I just went out to enjoy it and that I did and still managed to come in in the top half of the field.
WORLD RECORD
On the 16th July 2008 I set off from John O’Groats in Scotland and ran 840 miles to Lands End in Cornwall to break the female world record. This I did finishing on the 28th July at 11.03pm completing the record in 12 days, 15hrs and 46 minutes!
ADDO 100
1st May 2008 – The Addo 100 is a 100 mile non-stop race held in the Addo Elephant Park in South Africa. This is the first race that I unfortunately didn’t complete. I got to 70 miles feeling strong and in 4th place overall, but my ankle hadn’t recovered properly since the Atacama and I had my world record attempt coming up in July so I made the very difficult decision to pull out – but the right one. A stunning, well organized event.
ATACAMA CROSSING (CHILE) 2008
30th March – 5th April 2008 – The Atacama Crossing is a 150 mile self sufficiency staged race over 6 days. 73 competitors started and I finished 20th overall and first female. It was probably the most difficult STAGED race I have done but one of the most beautiful. We had the first rain storm in over 50 years during the race!
TRING TO TOWN
2ND/3rd February 2008 – T2T is a two day event running 40 miles on each of the days starting in London and running along the Grand Union Canal to Tring in Hertfordshire then the reverse on Sunday. I did 5hrs 43 on the saturday and 6hrs 10minutes on the Sunday (slight diversion due to a dead body under one of the bridges on sunday!) 50 of us did both days so was pleased with my 2nd female placing and 9th overall.
THAMES PATH ULTRA
19th January 2008 – TPU is a 50 mile race from Reading to Shepperton. This year the Thames was flooded so large sections of the Thames were unrunable! – swimming & wading was the order of the day. I finished the event as 2nd Female in a time of 7hrs 48 mins coming 18th overall with over 100 starters.
SENI 07
May 2007 – A 200 mile non-stop race from Dudley just north of Birmingham to the Excel in London. We had to supply our own crew for the duration of the event as well as navigate ourselves through the course. (The route was mainly cross country!) Winning the race in 67hrs 13 minutes and 25 seconds.
The 200 mile Seni-Extreme has to be one of the most extra-ordinary and toughest of life experiences for the 12 starters of his new Ambition Event. Starting off from Next Generation Club, Dudley at midday on Thursday 17th of May, the competitors had the target of London’s ExCeL arena in Docklands set firmly in mind.
In great weather conditions they were quickly down to the 45 mile official feed station at Stratford Racecourse. Mimi Anderson and Chris Hills way out in front of the pack. Already at this stage Roy Fleming and Justin Maclaurin had retired and by the time the runners had returned from the devilish 18mile loop, Chris Hills looked tired keeping up with Mimi. He actually got to 65 miles before retiring with very tired feet; he was understandably disappointed as he had flown from Tasmania especially for the race.
Down the field Cyril Bennis, Jo Kilkenny and Micky were going well with Dawn Craig from the USA in tow. It was her first big ultra event and although she certainly had the stamina unfortunately she had knee problems and had to drop out. As the distance and time grew so did the blisters with first Jackson Williams at 100, Steve Moore retiring at 125 miles, Pete Mulvihill (Cyril’s Partner in Crime) 132 miles and Gary Jackets finally throwing in the towel at 150 miles. During all this time, Mimi just ran on and on…reaching the compulsory 174 mile checkpoint stop just before midnight on the Saturday night. With just five hours sleep she managed a remarkable 67hrs 13 mins and 35secs. The following group splitting just before the end of the race to give Cyril Bennis 2nd in 82hrs 39mins 38mins and Jo Kilkenny and Micky Sutton joint 3rd in 83hrs 11mins and 38secs.
The feat of human endurance was wonderful to witness and a new classic race that will test the toughest athletes from the world over has been borne.
6633 EXTREME ULTRA
March 2007 – A 352 mile non-stop race in the Arctic, pulling all our equipment needed for the race in a sled. The checkpoints ranged from 23 – 70 miles apart crossing the Arctic Circle and finishing on the Arctic Ocean, in temperatures of –40 degrees. WINNING in 145hours 25 minutes, just under 6 days and finishing 24 hours ahead of the next person.
A quote from the Race Director
“Mimi continues to be inspirational. For anyone who doesn’t know Mimi let me try to briefly describe this barking mad woman. She is as slight as any person I can imagine, she loves pink, she is absolutely driven and she has been the topic of conversation amongst everyone involved in the race. She is living proof that in extreme ultra distance racing women can be men’s equal and in this case can quite possibly kick ass too”.
AUGRABIES EXTREME MARATHON
October 2006 – A 150-mile staged, self-sufficiency race in the Kalahari Desert over 7 days. The organizers supply the water and tents. The water is limited to 1½ litres per checkpoint and 4 litres on arrival at camp.
30 competitors started the event. I finished 6th over all and 1st female finishing in a time of 31 hrs 46 minutes.
LIBYAN CHALLENGE
March 2006 – A 120 mile non-stop self sufficiency event over 4 days, using GPS for navigation which has never been done before in an ultra event. The event takes place in the Akakus, considered to be one of the most beautiful desert regions in the world. 37 competitors started the race. I came in 3rd overall and 1st female finishing in a time of 43 hours and 33 minutes.
PENNINE 100
June 2006 – A self-sufficiency race over 100 miles, self-navigation.
29 competitors started the event. 8 of us finished and I finished 4th overall, 1st female and 1st female Veteran (over 40) in a time of just over 31 hours (since 2006 only two women have completed the event)
T2T
January 2006 - A 45 mile race starting from Tring in Hertfordshire and finishing at Little Venice in London, the last 45 miles of the Grand Union Canal.
105 people started. I finished 28th in a time of 7hrs 47 mins, coming in as 2nd female and 1st female vet.
BADWATER ULTRA MARATHON
July 2005 – This is a qualifying invitation-only event of 135 miles starting in Death Valley. The course covers 3 mountain ranges for a total of 13,000 of cumulative vertical ascent and 4,700 of cumulative descent.
81 people started. I was the only British female and finished in a time of 41hrs and 5 minutes, finishing 23rd, 1st Brit and 6th Female.
PARIS TO LONDON THE HARD WAY!
April 2005 -The Paris and London Marathons were only a week apart so four of us decided (3 men and myself) that it would be a good idea to do the Paris Marathon then run to London via Calais and finish with the London Marathon, a total of 330 miles. We had one support car and carried all our kit, including tents.
HIMALAYAN 100
October 2004 – A staged 100-mile event over 5 days, the longest day being a marathon day. The race goes from 5,000 feet above sea level to 12,000 feet all in the first day and the temperatures went down to as low as -5.
I finished this race as 3rd female.
GRAND UNION CANAL RACE
May 2004 - A 145-mile non-stop race from Birmingham to London. The race has to be completed in 45 hours reaching Navigation Bridge at 70.5 miles in 19 hours or competitors are disqualified.
54 runners started the race with only 23 of us finishing. I came in as 2nd Lady and 15th overall in a time of 39hrs and 39 minutes.
MARATHON OF BRITAIN
August 2003 - A self-sufficiency 175 mile staged race over 6 days, the longest stage being 54 mile, again, good navigational skills are required in this race.
Finishing as 3rd Lady.
SOUTHDOWNS TRAILWALKER
July 2002 - A 100km race over the South Downs. This event has to be entered as a team. We had a mixed team, 2 men and 2 women.
We won the category of Fastest Mixed Team.
MARATHON DES SABLES
April 2001 – A 150 mile, 6-day self-sufficiency race. The average backpack weighed approx 12kg and each person was allowed no more than 9 liters of water per day. I entered this race as a team known as “Tuff Muthers” Before the race started I picked up a bug making me extremely ill during the race. I had 5 bags of IV during the race and 5 once I had finished!
We completed the race and received the prize for the team with the best sense of humour!!!
THAMES MEANDER
2001, 2002, 2003 – A 54-mile race from Reading to London. Map reading skills are required for this event.
