Fiona runs to better animals’ lives.
This British Vegan Queen is not fond of running but she loves what the running brings.

Despite having a knee replacement and no knee cap from age 17, and being told she would never walk properly again, Fiona holds four Guinness World Records in the marathon and is the fastest woman to run a marathon on all 7 Continents and the North Pole!

When she set these records in 2013 she won both the North Pole and the Antarctic Ice marathons in course records.

Fiona has been Vegan for over 45 years and participates in endurance sport to demonstrate that her diet is not prohibitive to performance.

In 2012 Fiona was the first “life long” Vegan female to complete the grueling Marathon des Sables – often billed as the toughest foot race on the planet with a marathon a day for six days across the Sarah desert carrying all your supplies on your back! Fiona completed this race again in 2014.
She helped someone else to finish the cruel Marathon des Sables instead of chasing a record.

She runs a Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary where she provides a home for life to around 500 rescued animals, both domestic and ex-farm.
There are six separate sanctuary sites with over 90 horses, many of whom are stabled and need mucking out on a daily basis, which can take until lunchtime (Fiona rises very early). After her training instead of taking a rest she has to get back out to start the evening jobs, essentially a repeat of the morning ritual!
Fiona’s partner Martin covers the animal work whilst she competes in a race or goes away to talk at an event or festival.
Fiona is a patron of Freedom for Animals and an honorary patron of the Vegan Society as well.

She can run in extreme conditions on just one vegan meal a day.

“I always think with plant-based living and you create your own meals, if you cook from scratch, rather than grabbing it from the fridge, you tend to respect the food more and it makes you think more about what you’re eating and also the calories that are in there. It’s generally a much more healthy way you can live,” Fiona says.

“It’s nice to talk about, have a conversation and interact while you cook, really nice together-time and appreciate and share the wonderful things you’ve made.
And also when you make things you tend to want to waste it less and throw away. It’s got a lot of different qualities that people not always consider.
If you got a family it’s great family time to sit down and enjoy it together.”

Keegan Kuhn, Co-director of Cowspiracy and What the Health has featured Fiona’s work in his latest film Running for Good, which was launched on 11th October 2018.

Fiona Oakes’s signature shoe was featured in Running For Good. Renowned designer Will’s Vegan Shoes and Accessories Company of London has developed the world’s first carbon neutral, ethically made, intentionally vegan trail shoe for elite running.
30% of every ‘Oakes Cross Trainer’ sold goes directly to support Fiona’s sanctuary!

Fiona Oakes holds FOUR marathon WORLD RECORDS and FOUR marathon course records.

Fiona’s World Records:

• Fastest female to run a marathon on each Continent -aggregate time 23hrs 27 mins 40seconds
• Fastest female to run a marathon on each Continent plus the North Pole -aggregate time 28hrs 20mins 50seconds
• Fastest female to run a marathon on each Continent plus the North Pole (elapsed time -225 days)
• Fastest half marathon in an animal costume
• All verified by Guinness World Records !

Fiona came 10th in the Rio Marathon on 27/7 in 3 hrs 09 mins – this is 2 hours 50 minutes quicker than her previous best time in South America (the volcano marathon which was run at 14,400 feet & was treacherous) so she has reduced her overall time for the two aggregate time records by 2 hours 50 mins – this takes her time to run a marathon on 7 continents to UNDER 24 HOURS !!!

Fiona’s Course Records:

• The Halstead marathon(2:58:22) – 2007
• The Ruska marathon (2:58) – 2007
• The Antarctic Ice marathon(4:20:02) – 2013
• The Dartmoor Vale marathon (3:01:44) – 2011