Lucja Leonard and Marina Ranger admit they are broken and exhausted after after running 500km in their underwear for charity. But the pair still managed to smile as they finished the epic five day run along the length of Holland.
Marina said last night: “I never quite realised how difficult this challenge was going to be and what we would have to put our bodies through to get to the finish line.
“I’ve never felt so broken and exhausted, nor cried so much and felt so much pain but we’ve both proved that anything is possible.
“I couldn’t have done it without my partner in crime Lucja and I couldn’t have chosen anyone better to share the experience with. It is my greatest achievement to date and I still can’t believe we did it.”
The friends wore bright pink Runderwear bras and pants for their #500kin5days challenge. They ran 100km (60 miles) each day for five days on the famous Dutch walking route, the Pieterpad Trail, to raise funds for breast cancer charity, the Pink Ribbon Foundation.
Lucja, 37, a hotel manager from Edinburgh was born in Holland. She met Londoner Marina, 25, while running a Kalahari desert race.
The breast cancer charity, the Pink Ribbon Foundation, is poignant after three of Lucja’s aunts and her mother-in-law were hit by the disease.
The friends set off on Wednesday morning from Pieterburren in the north of the Netherlands to reach Maastricht in the south.
They have run for up to 16 hours every day and survived on only five hours sleep. At times they could hardly eat due to exhaustion.
They faced very changeable weather with cold mornings, then hot sun, high humidity and torrential rain. And although it’s Holland, there were many unexpected hills to test them to their limits.
They also have suffered with blisters, chafing, swollen legs and feet, a toe infection and nasty bites from horse flies and mosquitoes.
Rhianon West is a friend and was one of the supporters on the run. She says: “These ladies are amazing. They have pushed themselves beyond anything they could have imagined. On some days they were literally running while crying for hours at a time.
“It is incredible what they have done to raise money for such a worthwhile charity.”
The women wore Runderwear briefs and crop-tops. The running underwear company are donating 10% of sales of pink briefs and crop top to The Pink Ribbon Foundation.
So far the women have raised £6500. They have a goal of £20,000. You can donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/simply-runderful
