As the landscapes change around her during her daily 55-kilometre run, Nikki Love has burned through nearly 10 pairs of sneakers.
It’s day 51 of the 56-year-old’s running trek from Perth to Sydney and, after running more than 1,500km so far, she doesn’t have blisters yet.
“Ten pairs of shoes but so far, all the toenails are still there and no blisters, so I think I’m doing alright,” Ms Love says.
The Geelong-born woman has lived in Nottingham in the United Kingdom for the past 20 years but has been working up the courage to run the 2,500km journey for the better part of a decade.
“I am trying to set a world record. It’s been a thing I’ve had in my head for more than 10 years, I grew up in Australia in Geelong, I watched somebody run that route and I thought, what would that be like?” she says.
“It’s taken me 10 years to sort of work up the courage to do it, and the ability to do it.”
If achieved, she will be the fastest woman to go by foot from Perth to Sydney.
Ms Love also hopes to raise awareness for women’s health, as she is running while experiencing menopause.
“Two years ago, I ended up with a stress fracture in my pelvis and it was perimenopause-related,” she says.
“It’s taken a long time to get back on my feet, but I just wanted to show that you can still do these things at this age — and beyond, I hope.”
Passing through Jamestown on Tuesday night, Ms Love will run through to South Australia’s Riverland before crossing the New South Wales border on the way to Sydney.
She hopes to reach her target destination by mid-July, making the entire Perth to Sydney journey in 75 days.
“It was 1,500km this morning, so I’m chipping away at it slowly … I’m nearly two-thirds of the way, so it has been an incredible experience,” she says.
“The Eyre Highway is ridiculously long, and it has been scary, it has been incredible, beautiful, friendly.”
Hard yakka
Ms Love is being followed by her partner Sharif Owadally in a van where they sleep most nights.
“It takes me about 10 hours to run my day, and so if I’m at a caravan park that’s fantastic because I get to shower,” Ms Love says.
“If I’m not, and there have been many nights where we haven’t been, it’s basically just a little towel wash and try to get to sleep as quickly as possible.”
Winding down in limited space is tough, she says.
“That’s been a little bit tougher than what I’d originally hoped for, we’ve got a van … and there’s not a whole lot of room for stretching and recovery,” she says.
“But dingoes run alongside me, wedge-tailed eagles are seen feasting on dead animals. The scenery from the animals, the landscape, has been incredible.”
Motivation from the community
Ms Love says it has been surprising to see the number of people stop and check if she is OK.
“I must look a little bit crazy,” she says with a laugh.
“It’s such a beautiful thing to see people stop and turn around and come back and ask me if I’m OK and not leave me floundering in the middle of nowhere. It’s a real community feeling.”
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