Ultra Runner Sets Record by Running over 300 Miles Without Sleeping

Kim Allan laced up her shoes and embarked on a remarkable endeavor, running for over 86 hours without sleeping, traversing a whopping 310 miles. 

She wasn't being chased. 

No, if you ever hear of me running for more than 10 minutes, chances are there is something very scary trailing not too far behind. 

However, The New Zealand Herald's Patrice Dougan (h/t For the Win) reports Allan wasn't running from but rather toward something quite wonderful. 

As Dougan reports, Allan aimed to break the previously held distance record of running on no sleep, 486 kilometers.

Perhaps being a fan of nice round numbers, the mother of four decided to trek on to 500 kilometers while running in the Auckland Domain, New Zealand. For the Win reports she covered the distance in an astonishing 86 hours, 11 minutes and nine seconds. 

We can't be certain, but we assume Allan answers to any query about her preferable mode of transportation with the following: 

Now, Allan wasn't out for mere personal glory, because she managed to raise quite a nice sum of money for charity along the way. 

She raised a reported $7,000 for the New Zealand Spinal Trust. Her end goal of $8,000 for the organization aiming to help those with spinal-cord injuries is well within sight. 

Of course, running for that long without the one thing we take for granted, sleep, seems a bit unbelievable. Well, Allan is just as incredulous as you might be.

"It's all a bit surreal at the moment," Allan said. "I'm going through some of the Facebook things on my page and when you see posts about a New Zealand woman beating the world record, I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, that's me they're talking about.'"

Covering that many miles would wreak havoc on the feet, but Allan assures she has endured worse with previous "24-hour races."

According to the report, she did have a great deal of blisters, swollen feet and sore muscles, which sounds benign when you consider the swath of land covered. 

The New Zealand Herald's Rebecca Quilliam reported on the as-yet-unfinished run back on Dec. 20, profiling the obstacles as Allan completed 189 kilometers. 

Mark Gray, Allan's co-manager, described some of the issues at the time. "The heat is a problem and she's had a few stomach problems." He went on to say that the hours between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. were the hardest because that's "when the body clock wants to sleep."

If that weren't enough, they had to cut the top of her shoes to relieve the pressure on all those blisters. Now consider all of that was before the halfway mark. 

If anyone has earned immense international adulation, it would be Allan. If you need her, we imagine she will be somewhere enjoying a nice nap while soothing some very prolific soles. 

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