Erchana Murray-Bartlett just broke the Guinness World Record for most marathons run on consecutive days, with 107 under her belt – but she’s not done just yet.

 

On Sunday 4th of December, Erchana ran into Newcastle’s Bar Beach Bowls Club to a cheering crowd of friends, family, and supporters, having just finished her 107th consecutive marathon and broken the Guinness World Record.

 

 

‘Yesterday was a whirlwind, I’ve barely even processed it yet,’ Erchana tells me. 

‘I felt proud of how far I’d managed to run, non-stop… I felt humbled by the love and generosity of everybody that came out of their way to support,’ she says. 

 

 

Back in August, Erchana was at the tip of Australia, Cape York with a massive goal ahead of her. 

The plan? 

To run 6,200km down the East Coast of Australia, a marathon-length every day for 150 days, to finish in Melbourne.

Why? 

Well, because Erchana loves running. But she also loves Australia’s wildlife. 

During her 150-day running mission, she’s been making noise about Australia’s fauna that’s at risk of extinction and is raising a bunch of cash for the Wilderness Society in the process. 

‘I had all this fitness and motivation and drive and didn’t have anywhere to direct it,’ Erchana tells me. 

‘And I had this passion for wildlife and native animals… and I thought, alright, well this is a time to counteract a bad world record, which is the fact that Australia’s a world leader in biodiversity loss, with a good world record.’ 

And so, here she is. Having just broken the record for the most consecutive marathons run – 107 – and she’s about to add an additional 43 on top of it!

‘I have to now take it as a moment to reflect on a massive milestone, but also to refocus because it’s not my finish line, my finish line is Melbourne,’ she says. 

‘It was very hard going out again today after that milestone was accomplished. So my real challenge is the next 42 marathons now, where I don’t have the world record to chase. I can stop now and it’d still be mine.’

Erchana’s focus will now turn to the other elements of her mission – running 150 marathons, arriving in Melbourne, and raising awareness of and cash for Australia’s declining biodiversity.

The Run

Unlike some other running expeditions, Erchana’s ‘Tip to Toe‘ goal is not a point-to-point record. She’s not stopping one afternoon and restarting at the exact same spot the next morning, but rather moving her way down the East Coast, running a marathon length each day, wherever she pleases. 

‘I have no interest in running down the Bruce (Highway). I find it dangerous and not pretty. And the whole point of this wild run for wildlife is to celebrate national parks and wildlife. And for that you have to get off the roads,’ she says.

 

 

She’s run along the coastline, through national parks, down suburban streets, and even across a golf course. Erchana plans her route only a few days in advance as she picks up tips from locals about the best trails in the area. 

‘Running from the Cape to Melbourne is my kind of personal way of showing off the best of Australia,’ she says.

Running a marathon a day is tough enough. But on top of that, Erchana is chatting with media, meeting up with locals, visiting schools, all in an effort to promote her cause. But it’s a huge load to bear. 

‘Now the hardest thing is just the extreme fatigue I’m feeling constantly… finding the energy to do all the other stuff… that’s becoming really hard because all of my energy is going towards just surviving.’

The Cause

Erchana has raised over $46,000 for Wilderness Society so far, but her final goal is $62,000 – $10 for every kilometre she’ll have run by the time she strides into Melbourne. 

‘The Wilderness Society are a really incredible organization. They work from the top down approach to try and campaign for wildlife and protecting national parks that home the animals,’ Erchana tells me. 

‘They also have a lot of grassroots projects. There’s one called, Movement for Life that encourages everyone to get outdoors, get active, and kind of do things that are beneficial for the regeneration and protection of our wild places,’ she says. ‘That’s one I’m closely aligned to.’

 

 

Erchana has been focussing her campaigning on one animal in particular in each state she runs through. Queensland was the koala, NSW the Gang Gang cockatoo, and in Victoria it’s the Leadbeater’s possum, which is losing its habitat due to the continued logging of native forests across Victoria, including in the Yarra Valley where Erchana grew up. 

‘I grew up in the Yarra Valley in Victoria and there were so many green trails I used to run through,’ Erchana tells me. 

‘I’d get covered in mossie bites and dirt and there were kangaroos, echidnas, and wombats, and now it’s a bit more like a housing estate… so it’s always been close to my heart, making sure our national parks stay national parks.’

Erchana has broken the record but still has a fair way to go to reach her running and fundraising goal. Get behind her and help Wilderness Society campaign to protect our native fauna and wild places.

 

Images thanks to @tip_to_toe_2022