Photo: Levi Bare via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
53-year-old vegan ultrarunner Catra Corbett has set the fastest known time on the 310-mile Muir Ramble Route from San Francisco to Yosemite Valley, finishing in seven days, nine hours and 49 minutes, VegNews reports.
The route follows the spirit of naturalist John Muir's famous 1868 walk from San Francisco to Yosemite. It was mapped by Peter and Donna Thomas, who pored over old maps to create a path that links urban trails, parks and open spaces roughly parallel to Muir's original route, according to Fastest Known Time.
Corbett ran it with a team of pacers and her dog TruMan, who has become a familiar sight at her events. She kept her energy up with Muir energy gels, avocados, energy bars and almond butter packets, and was quick to share the credit:
[I'm] thankful and grateful for my crew … since they gave up seven days to help me.
Catra's story is about far more than miles. She went vegan 24 years ago, after getting clean from drug and alcohol addiction, and now eats a raw vegan diet. Running, she says, rebuilt her belief in herself. After the finish she wrote on Instagram: “Once I got clean and sober, I started believing I could do things. I became a runner which gave me confidence. It taught me [that], 'I CAN.' The word 'can't' [no] longer exist[s] in my vocabulary.”
Seven days of running on fruit, nut butter and gels, in her fifties, is about as convincing an answer to the protein question as you'll find.
It's been a great summer for plant-powered athletes. Last month Vivian Kong won Asian fencing gold a year after knee surgery, 72-year-old Pat Reeves broke her own deadlift world record, and JaVale McGee won another NBA title. And last year vegan athletes set world records and won a huge medal haul.
310 miles, zero meat. Powered by plants.