A woman dubbed the ‘queen of the extreme’ has run seven marathons in seven days to raise money for her animal sanctuary.
Epic challenge
Fiona Oakes completed the tough challenge at the Stevenage Marathon (2 November) where she won the women’s section and came eighth overall, completing the run in a time of 3hr 06min. Not bad at the end of a 183.4 mile week, while fitting in caring for 400 or so animals!
Fiona has 62 horses, around 50 cats, 15 dogs, 84 pigs, three peacocks as well as numerous sheep, cows, chickens, geese and ducks at Tower Hill Stables in Essex. All of which cost around £10,000 a month to keep.
To help fund the rescue centre, which she runs with her partner Martin and 72-year-old mother Meg, Fiona has taken on some epic challenges. Last year alone she set three marathon world records and five marathon course records, including the North Pole and the Antarctic Ice.
Just do it
What makes these achievements even more incredible is Fiona had her right kneecap removed as a teenager due to a non malignant tumour.
“I was told I wouldn’t ever walk again properly, let along run,” says Fiona. “Even now when I’m walking downstairs I think ‘one at a time’, so it’s something I’m always aware of. But you just get on and do it.”
Fiona is up at 3.30am every morning to care for the animals before starting her gruelling training regime. Then it’s back to finish the sanctuary residents off for the night.
Extra cash
“I’m in bed at around 9pm – or whenever the animals are done,” Fiona told H&C. “Although when I was training for the Marathon des Sables [considered to be the toughest footrace in the world] I was running during the night with a head torch on.
“I remember on Christmas evening thinking, ‘Do I really want to go out?’. The answer was no, but I did it anyway.”
Incredibly, Fiona also manages to fit in a few hours each week as a retained fire fighter to earn extra cash. This means she’s carries a pocket alerter with her and if it goes off she has to be at the fire station within five minutes.
“It’s good because I can work around the animals and still earn money, so I only do it when Martin is here to cover,” she explains.
Animal magic
In terms of running marathons, the 47-year-old isn’t done yet. She is aiming to repeat the seven-day challenge in February 2015, but next time each marathon will be on a different continent.If she’s successful it will be her fourth world record.
In the meantime she’s off Nepal at the weekend to compete in the Everest Trail Race, a high-altitude ultra marathon that covers 100 miles in six days. As you do…
“We’ve got to pay for the sanctuary – it’s the love of the animals that drives me on,” she says. “I’ve raised around £80,000 over the years and every single penny goes to them.”