Photo: Neil Theasby via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.
Plant-based ultrarunner Damian Hall has smashed the Pennine Way record. He arrived in Edale, Derbyshire shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 24, having covered the 268-mile national trail in a provisional 2 days 13 hours 34 minutes, grough reports.
That beats the record by more than three hours, and it is a record that has only just changed hands. Mike Hartley's time stood for 31 years until last week, when John Kelly lowered it by 34 minutes to 2 days 16 hours 46 minutes. Eight days later, Hall has taken it again.
Hall ran north to south, setting off from Kirk Yetholm at 6am on Wednesday. Rain and wind made the early going hard, but he stayed ahead of schedule throughout, surviving on power naps, and finished two and a half hours up on his target time.
This was no ordinary record attempt. Hall and his support team collected litter along the way, he says the whole run is carbon negative, and he raised money for Greenpeace, beating his target by more than 50 per cent.
Hall's diet is part of the same commitment. He gave up dairy and animal products to cut the footprint of his running, and fuels his ultras without them, Great Vegan Athletes reports:
Over the past years I've felt very troubled by the ecological and climate emergency and what can I do about it. I couldn't really think of anything so I've tried to make my running carbon negative.
Plant-based runners keep going further. Robbie Balenger ran 3,175 miles across America on a vegan diet last year, Harvey Lewis won his third USATF 24-hour title, and Catra Corbett set a 310-mile fastest known time at 53.
268 miles, no animal products, and less litter on the trail. Powered by plants.