Nikky Love: Believe in the purpose
In 2016 Nikki Love attempted her extraordinary, to run 63 marathons in 63 days. ‘Why 63?’, was the first thing that sprang to my mind, ‘seems like an odd number’, I thought. But it was a considered target, one which made perfect sense once Nikki had explained it.
“For some years I’d had the idea that I wanted to run 50 consecutive marathons during the year I turned fifty, but whilst I was in the planning stages, I discovered that the Guinness World Record for most consecutive marathon distances by a woman, was 60”, she says, recalling the attempt with a big smile. “I thought, ‘if I’m going to do 50, I may as well try for 60, and of course if I’m doing 60 – I may as well try and beat the record’. The only rule was, I had to run the marathons in consecutive days, so with seven days a week, if I ran for nine weeks, the total would be 63. Strangely in my mind, to run for ten weeks seemed absurd, but nine was maybe doable.”
Nikki grew up on the south coast of Australia, south of Melbourne in a small town called Geelong. Known as the ‘Surf Coast’ for its proximity to the notorious Bells Beach, surfing, skate-boarding and the outdoor lifestyle were the norm. It was whilst at school that Nikki got her first introduction to running any sort of distance after entering a cross-country race at the age of 13. “It made me feel amazing and I loved it” she says. “From that point on, it became a big part of my life and I would run with my dad. It was our ‘together time’ and it was special.”
As Nikki got older, she was able to run faster and further and so her dad traded in his running shoes for a bicycle, still wanting to support and spend quality time with his daughter. She began to realise how running could be combined with adventure, finding and seeing places in a different, more absorbing way, and aged 21, she took off backpacking to explore the world with a pair of trainers.
It was in 2001, now living in Nottingham in the UK, that Nikki decided to run her first ever marathon, just six months after giving birth. “With my background in running, I naively took it for granted that I would be able to complete the distance, so I didn’t really do any training. Inevitably I failed to finish, giving in at around 19 miles and I couldn’t accept it. I’d thought about running a marathon most of my life, so I wasn’t prepared to leave it there. I learnt from my mistakes and after training hard, 6 months later, I completed the London Marathon in an acceptable time.”
“I tend to live through three filters – Love, Fun and Adventure”
It gave Nikki the realisation that not only could she run a long distance, but also if she put her mind to something, she could achieve it and failure was sometimes just a part of the story. She became more and more interested with the idea of pushing personal limitations, seeking inspiration from others and soon adopting the mind set ‘if they can do it, then I can do it’. Influenced by a book called ‘Just a Little Run Around the World’ by Rosie Swale-Pope, Nikki devised a challenge within her own capabilities - to run 7 marathons in 7 days.
Working as a fitness instructor, Nikki took great care in looking after her own well-being, both physically and mentally. “I completed the challenge, but I was battered by it” she says. “My body took six months to recover, and my work suffered for weeks. My friends and family, whilst supportive of my efforts, were worried about the implications of what I was doing to myself, so gently encouraged me that I should probably stop there. So despite being the opposite of what I was brought up to think, I agreed, and that, as they say, was that.”
It took Nikki almost six years to realise that the feeling deep inside her to challenge herself further, wasn’t going to go away. She wanted to put all of the things she had learnt previously into something bigger, something that would once again test her physical and mental limits, and as she approached her 50th birthday, the idea of 63 marathons became a reality. Nikki went on to complete all 63 marathons, overcoming challenges and obstacles along the way, however, due to a discrepancy in the Guinness World Record requirements, she failed to set the record.
But there was another layer to Nikki’s motivation which I really admire. She wasn’t running for record time over the mileage and wasn’t going to listen to the doubters who questioned whether walking some of the miles still quantified a running challenge. In true Aussie style, above all else, she wanted to make sure she had fun and adventure along the way. She says, “I tend to live through three filters – Love, Fun and Adventure. For the 63 challenge, I wanted to see as many iconic locations throughout the UK as my little legs could take me to. I wanted to meet and run with as many people as I could, and I wanted to have fun. I ate ice-creams, drank beers, run-danced, got lost, laughed, had the occasional cry, had the support van break down and issues with a dodgy stomach. I visited primary schools to inspire children, attempted to summit mountains, (not one of my smartest ideas), and had friends fly in from all over the world. I gave absolutely everything I had to make my dream a reality.”
“People often ask me ‘how far is too far?’ and my honest answer was always, I don’t really know”
By now Nikki had got the bug and it wasn’t long before more challenges were set, running Land’s End to John O’Groats, the perimeter of Ireland and across Malta, amongst a few. Her latest planned challenge, a step up from 63 marathons, was to run across her home country of Australia, approximately 2,500 miles, from Perth to Sydney, but due to the Covid pandemic, this had to be put on hold. So, in true Nikki style, she decided to use the time to train for the monotony of running across the vast Nullarbor Desert of Southern Australia, by replicating the distance on a treadmill. However, although the Treadmill Oz challenge got off to a good start, Nikki suffered a torn tendon in her foot forcing her to make the decision to pull out at 1040 miles.
“People often ask me ‘how far is too far?’ and my honest answer was always, I don’t really know” she says. “But on this occasion, I knew the answer was 1040 miles in 42 days on a treadmill. My body gave me all the signals that it had had enough, and it was time to stop. I found it really difficult at first to come to terms with the annoyance and self-doubt of not finishing, but you have to be able to adapt and change. To accept that failing is sometimes part of the process and learn from it. So, the Treadmill Oz was renamed the Treadmill 1000 challenge.”
As a fitness and aerobics instructor, Nikki’s job for 30 years was to help and encourage people to push themselves that little bit further. To be able to lead by example and often demonstrate that by maintaining our self-confidence and belief, we can all achieve our goals. Fuelled by a desire for personal improvement, on Saturday May 1st 2021, Nikki embarked on her new challenge, to run 100 marathons in consecutive days. It will see her revisit the World Record that she failed to set last time - the unofficial record now stands at 95 - and it will be her biggest challenge to date.
She says, “I’m a 54-year-old woman, who is coming to terms with being perimenopausal, finding my way through this stage of my life. I have a lot of people reach out to me, asking how they too can run the distances that I do, so my aim is to help by showing them how and what they can do to achieve the same. Just to inspire that one person definitely makes it all worth it, but there is also the flip side of that. The question has to be, if nobody was watching, would you still do it? For me the answer is yes, because above everything, I love what running gives me.”
You can follow Nikki’s 100 marathon challenge on Instagram @nikkiloveruns or sign up to run alongside her and be part of her world record attempt here >>
