"Let’s be honest: women have been enduring for centuries" – inside the rise of female endurance athletes

At the end of a marathon, the first runners crossing the finish line are most likely going to be men. In fact, men tend to outperform women by 10-12% in regular marathons.

However, research shows that in ultra-distance competitions that last longer than six hours, the disparity can be as small as 4%, and for races above 195 miles, women were recorded as 0.6% faster than men.

In other words, the longer the race, the more likely we are to see women coming in at the front of the pack. And while it’s traditionally a male-dominated area, more women are taking up endurance sports, particularly in later life.

“Let’s be honest: women have been enduring for centuries, whether it’s childbirth, caring responsibilities, or battling through barriers society has put in our way. Maybe it’s no surprise that we’re pretty good at endurance when it comes to sport too,” says Sally Orange, 51, who has completed over 500 different endurance events.

Sally's long list of achievements includes finishing 85 marathons, the world’s toughest cycle race - the Race Across America, eight Ironman triathlons, two swims across the English Channel, a 100-mile run across a frozen lake in Mongolia, a run across Iceland, cycles the length of the UK and New Zealand, and the Everest marathon.

Lily Canter, 46, now a freelance running journalist and author of Ultra Women: The Trailblazers Defying Sexism in Sport, “accidentally” got into endurance sport. Following her first ultramarathon, she started signing up for ultra races – 28 miles, then 35, and then multi-stage races such as 100k over two days.

“My biggest event was in 2023: Ultra X Tanzania, 250 kilometers across five days with about 5000 meters of elevation,” Lily says. “It was an amazing experience. I trained hard, enjoyed the event, loved the country, and was proud of what my body could achieve. After that, I wanted to do more, to go further and longer.”

Marie Leautey (who goes by Lootie), 48, began the biggest adventure of her life in December 2019: running around the world. “I ran across Europe (Lisbon to Istanbul), Australia (Perth to Sydney), North America (Seattle to New York), and South America (Patagonia to Buenos Aires),” she says. “A total of 28,500 km, or roughly 700 marathons, over 2.5 years.

“I became the second woman ever (and the fastest) to complete this feat. I’m now a member of the World Runners Association, one of the smallest running clubs in the world, with just seven members. It felt like living life at its fullest — every day was an adventure filled with joy and discovery.”

Lootie has since written about her remarkable world tour in her book, Lootie's World Run: The Extraordinary True Story of the Fastest Woman to Have Run Around the World.

"It started as a short run"

Many women don’t start out thinking they will one day be ultra-athletes – they just start moving, and one 20-minute session eventually leads to a 15-hour one.

“I was never really that sporty,” Lily tells us. “I played netball on and off throughout my whole life, but I never really did any running. In my 30s, I started doing short runs, maybe 5k, to try and get fitter for netball. I gradually ran a bit further, but I found it really boring.”

Friends convinced her to join a triathlon club, which she didn’t enjoy, but through the club, she met a running coach who showed her how to vary her training and improve.

“I did a half-marathon, then a 20-mile race, and became curious to see if I could reach the marathon distance. I entered a looped race where you could run as many 5k loops as you liked in six hours. I went intending to do about 23 miles, but ended up running 30. I realized it was more enjoyable and relaxed than road running, and I liked testing myself in terms of how far I could go rather than how fast.

“Running became about having a lovely day out on the trails in nature.”

When Lootie was 26, living in Greece for work, friends invited her to go on a 5k run by the sea.

“At the time, I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day and was more interested in parties than exercise,” she tells us. “That first run was a shock — I couldn’t even keep up for 500 meters. Out of breath, with my lungs on fire, I felt humiliated and angry with myself.

“That day changed everything. I quit smoking, bought a bike to commute everywhere, and started running daily. Nine months later, I ran my first marathon. Everything escalated from there.”

Sally, a motivational speaker from Salisbury, remembers sitting in front of her TV watching the London Marathon aged seven, thinking she’d love to run the race one day.

“It just took me another 27 years to pluck up the courage to actually do it,” she tells us. “For a long time, I thought marathons were for ‘other people’ - super fit, elite types, not me. But eventually I reached a point where I thought, why not me?”

Once she’d decided to start running and training at 34, she had no idea if she’d ever manage to work up to a marathon.

“Just running a few miles was tough, and I often doubted myself. But with each small milestone, running 5k, then 10k, then my first half-marathon, I started to believe it might just be possible. When I finally crossed the finish line of my first marathon, I was exhausted, but also absolutely over the moon.”

Sally tells us that for nearly every event, she dressed up as a piece of fruit. “It might sound silly, but it’s my way of making people smile, breaking down barriers, and encouraging conversations around mental health,” she says.

“Each event has felt special in its own way, but honestly, it’s not always the medals or records that feel like the biggest achievements; it’s the fact that I’ve completed them whilst battling with severe depression and crippling anxiety and more recently, breast cancer.

“For me, the real achievement is proving to myself, and hopefully showing others, that mental health challenges and cancer don’t define what you can do.”

Benefits in everyday life

Endurance sport will no doubt have an impact on how your body feels and functions, but what positive impact does that have in everyday life?

While Sally’s body has gotten stronger, adapting in ways she never thought possible, due to endurance racing, it’s the impact on her mental health she’s most grateful for.

“I was medically discharged from the Army due to mental illness, and for a long time I felt broken, like I’d lost my identity,” she says.

“Endurance sport gave me something positive to focus on, a way to process my emotions, and a reminder that I’m more resilient than I give myself credit for.

"Every setback teaches me something – patience, resilience, or simply how to laugh at myself in a ridiculous fruit costume when things don’t go to plan.”

During her years of running, Lily’s body has changed, becoming bigger and stronger.

“I care less about aesthetics and more about what my body can do,” she says. “Endurance sport has shown me that the only limits we really have are the ones we put on ourselves. I have had injuries, but strength training has helped me overcome them.

“I have become more carefree, more willing to try new things, and more confident in pushing myself.”

Changing the face of endurance sport for women

There is a lot of speculation as to why women’s race times at longer distances beat men’s. Men tend to have muscle fibers that are good for high-power sports, whereas women have muscle fibers that produce less force but are more resistant to fatigue. Some say women’s bodies burn fat for fuel more efficiently than men, meaning they don’t hit a wall once their glycogen is depleted. And it could be that women are more likely to move at a consistent pace, rather than pushing too hard too early.

Indeed, when researching this article, we heard from several other women pushing their minds and bodies to their limits to achieve their goals in endurance sports, including the following.

• Jen Benson, a lifelong runner, has completed more than 50 marathons and ultramarathons, achieving top-three positions in several races, says she uses running as a means to cope with "everything."
• Jasmin Paris, who won the 268-mile winter Spine Race, beating her nearest male competitor by 15 hours, even stopped along the way to express milk for her baby daughter.
• Louise Goddard, a 58-year-old ultra runner who, alongside running, owns her own business and parents two teenage girls, trains and coaches other menopausal women to challenge themselves and the social stigma around older women.

But instead of celebrating women’s achievements in endurance sports as compared to men’s, Lily wants her achievements and those of other women athletes to be celebrated on their own terms.

“Men should not be the benchmark. What matters is making the sport more equitable – through race access, media coverage, equal pay, pregnancy deferral policies, and the adoption of SheRaces guidelines as standard.”

Sally is excited that more women are not just taking part, but excelling in events that used to be male-dominated. “When I first started, I didn’t really see many role models who looked like me in endurance sports. Now, being part of that change feels really special.”