What's it like to run a marathon - 42.2 kilometres? Probably impossible for many people. In 2022, however, Erchana Murray-Bartlett ran 150 marathons in 150 days. In doing so, the 32-year-old Australian ran a total of 6330 kilometres from the far north of Australia to Melbourne in the far south.
In completing this challenge, Erchana managed to raise over 100000 Australian dollars for an environmental charity, though the idea of doing the run first came when she was looking for a way to highlight the crisis facing wildlife. '500 Australian species are endangered,' Erchana says, 'and we need urgent action.' Erchana describes meeting conservation groups in different places as among her best memories from the run.
Erchana faced many difficulties as she crossed Australia: deserts, jungles, thunderstorms and 35 °C heat. She was naturally very worried about crocodiles, snakes and deadly spiders, and was constantly bitten by ants and mosquitoes. Being chased by a wild bull on one occasion was the most frightening thing that happened to her, though it did give her a good story to tell when visiting schools on her route. Those visits were 'probably the most enjoyable things I did as I crossed the country, along with getting to know local communities', she says. 'I always ran in the morning so I had time for other stuff in the afternoon.'
To give her the energy she needed, Erchana had five big meals daily, as well as regular snacks. Besides eating healthy food like salad and fruit, she treated herself to a large helping of ice-cream at the end of each day - she would often imagine herself enjoying the cold sweetness of it when she was halfway through a marathon. Lots of pasta and pizza in particular helped keep her weight up.
Although her support team followed her in a camper van, she mostly ran alone, and she admits to getting lonely and often wanting to quit. As time went on, though, whenever the wrong kind of ideas entered her mind she didn't fight them - they went away faster like that. She tried listening to music but found it didn't help much.
In the final weeks of her journey, Erchana attracted lots of media attention and people started to join her daily runs, which she welcomed. They liked talking about the distances she had run and reminding her of how close she was to the end, but the key benefit was that they distracted her from the pain in her feet. When she finally crossed the finishing line in Melbourne, about five months after starting, her priority was putting her feet up for a long time. 'That really felt fantastic,' she says. 'One of the nicest things I've ever done.'
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