On January 1, 2024, Shannon-Leigh Litt, started her attempt to break the world record for the most consecutive days running an ultramarathon.
The now 47-years old criminal defense lawyer from New Zealand felt she could keep going, so now she’s aiming at 1000 runs. Her final record run will be on September 26, 2026, in her hometown Whangarei, together with her local running community.

“Don’t get intimidated by the distance; if you’re not fit at the start, you don’t have to be, you just have to have that mental strength and know that you will get fit throughout the process. Everyone’s an athlete who gets out the door,” Shannon-Leigh says.

“I think if you want a goal, you have to be single-minded and not let external factors affect it.”

Having done so many runs on a row, you might think it comes easy to her. Most of her runs do indeed feel quite ok.
“But then there’s that 30-40% of the time where it is really hard and you are really struggling.”

“What I do find is the earlier I do it, the better I feel. The earlier I get it out the way, if I start at 1 or 2am then it’s done because nothing can distract you during the day. If you get the hardest thing done first, you’ve got those endorphins to carry you through the day.”

“When you’re moving, you’re like meditating, very hard to be down when you’re moving. So I suggest that if people are feeling down or depressed, to get out and start moving, and they’ll probably start to feel a lot better,” Shannon-Leigh says.

She has made sure she’s compliant with the Guinness World Records, which includes filming at least 15 minutes of her run each day, capturing GPS data, supplying two witness statements daily, and taking up to 20 photos per run.