Sophie Woods finished the 2,000-kilometer ultramarathon along the Via Alpina route in 29 days, setting a new record for the fastest crossing of the Alps on foot [1, 2, 3]. She completed the journey on the Mediterranean coast in Monaco on Saturday night after starting on July 4 in Italy [2, 3].
The Via Alpina trail stretches through eight countries, including Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, and Monaco, with a total elevation gain equivalent to climbing Mount Everest 12 times [2, 3]. Woods faced extreme weather and terrain, including storms, heatwaves with temperatures reaching 37 degrees Celsius, floods, wildfires, and swarms of horseflies [1, 2, 3]. Wildfires forced a detour adding roughly 5 kilometers and 200 meters of climbing to her route [2, 3].
The 42-year-old runner from New Zealand ran 15 to 18 hours daily, fueling herself with pasta, McDonald's meals, and energy gels. She was supported by her husband George, her friend Zoe, and her dog Nila [2, 3]. Woods said, "Through the whole thing, I was only ever thinking about the day, the hour, the sort of minute that I was in" [1]. She described the last days as grueling, running on "one and a half to two and a half hours of sleep to really push at the end," which "tipped me over the edge a little bit" [2].
Reflecting on the challenge, Woods said in Mandarin, "有幾個時刻，我真的不知道自己該如何抵達終點，我從未想過要停下，但它的艱鉅程度有時真令人喘不過氣" (There were moments I really didn’t know how I would reach the finish line; I never thought of stopping, but the difficulty was sometimes suffocating) [3]. She added, "我或許不是速度最快的人，但我知道如何在山裡撐過漫長辛苦的一天，並在渾身疼痛時繼續前進" (I may not be the fastest, but I know how to endure a long hard day in the mountains and keep moving when my whole body aches) [3].
The previous fastest time to complete the Via Alpina ultramarathon was 35 days, making Woods's 29-day finish a significant improvement [1, 2, 3]. After finishing late on August 1, Woods and her team began recovery and planning for upcoming events.
