08/10/2026
Sophie Grant set out from the Italian coast on July 4th and, 29 days later, ran into Monaco on Saturday night as the fastest human being ever recorded on one of the most difficult trails on Earth. The 1,242-mile (2,000 km) Via Alpina crosses eight countries and climbs more than 359,000 feet (109,000 meters) -- the equivalent of scaling Everest from sea level twelve times over. The previous record, held by British runner Jake Catterall, was 35 days; the fastest woman before her had needed 38. Grant, a 42-year-old New Zealand native, beat them both, taking six days off the outright mark.
For 29 days she ran fifteen to eighteen hours at a stretch, often setting out at three in the morning, through storms, flooded trails, wildfire detours, and heat approaching 104 degrees. In the final week, she cut her sleep to as little as ninety minutes a night to protect the lead she had built. When people asked how she got through the hardest moments, she gave the same answer every time: "Just one step. That's all you have to do. Just one step forward."
Grant is no stranger to suffering on a mountain -- she has finished the brutal 205-mile (330 km) Tor des Géants three times -- but this run carried something the others did not. Last year, she and her friend, the ultrarunner Stephanie Case, were the subjects of a documentary called "Off Course," which followed the two women through their parallel attempts to become mothers through IVF, the losses along the way, and the friendship that held through all of it.
"Running is an outlet for all my emotions," Grant has said. "For joy, for sadness, for grief. It's where I go and just put my stuff." The film, she says, was the catalyst for this challenge -- and of everything she has done, this run means the most to her.
The two friends' paths diverged. Case's IVF succeeded, and she gave birth to a daughter, Pepper, in late 2024 -- then, six months postpartum, won the 62-mile (100-kilometer) Ultra-Trail Snowdonia in Wales while pausing to breastfeed at the aid stations. For Grant, the hope of motherhood remains uncertain. What both women share is a refusal to stay quiet about how hard any of it is. That same honesty -- about her body, her limits, what it takes to be a woman doing something this hard -- drew tens of thousands to follow Grant's run across the Alps.
She was crewed the whole way by her husband, George Woods, her friend Zoe Salt behind the camera, and the family dog, Nila. Asked at the finish line in Monaco how she felt, Grant said simply: "ecstatic, but knackered. I'm really tired." And then, still stunned by the scale of her accomplishment, added: "I can't believe I did it."
Huge congratulations to Sophie on this extraordinary achievement!
To see more photos from her incredible journey, visit https://www.instagram.com/sophieamygrant/
For an inspiring picture book about the woman who became the first to officially run the Boston Marathon by registering simply as K. Switzer -- and had a race official physically try to remove her from the course -- we highly recommend "Her Fearless Run: Kathrine Switzer's Historic Boston Marathon" for ages 4 to 8 at https://www.amightygirl.com/her-fearless-run
For an excellent book for adult readers about 22 trailblazing women runners, we recommend “First Ladies of Running: 22 Inspiring Profiles of the Rebels, Rule Breakers, and Visionaries Who Changed the Sport Forever,” at https://www.amightygirl.com/first-ladies-of-running
For a book celebrating trailblazers and record-breakers across more than forty sports, from the 1800s to today, we recommend "Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win" for ages 10 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-sports
For a fantastic t-shirt that speaks to the fact that strength has nothing to do with gender, check out the “I'm not strong for a girl. I'm just strong.” t-shirt for both kids and adults at https://www.amightygirl.com/strong-t-shirt
Thanks to the Female Quotient for sharing this image!
