To end 2020 and kick start 2021, Jem Rooney ran 805.074km (500 miles) in 10 days. This was for Aravaipa Running’s - Across The Globe (10 Day) Race.
Jem emailed me to tel me ..... "The aim of the race was to run as many Miles as you could in the 10 days , I was fortunate enough to both succeed in reaching my personal pre-race goal of 500 miles and also win the race .
Due to a number of factors 90% of the mileage for this event was done on the treadmill in my garage . This actually worked out really well as I had everything available to me for example my aid station, sleeping mat, TV, extra shoes and clothes etc.
How did I do it?
I wrote out a schedule with distance and estimated running times for each day including a sleep schedule. The first week I was also working so I had to be super diligent with the plan. Each day I was only concerned with that particular days mileage and didn’t let the total mileage goal intimidate me. I chose 500 miles as a personal goal because I knew it would put me deep into the pain cave for a long time and truly test me in so many ways.
My running team/crew, The Wolfpack, have a saying "we Party in the Pain Cave", which basically means find your personal pain cave and rather than dread being there, want to be there and party there. In the Wolfpack we believe if something is easy, then we don’t want it.
This brings me back to my why.
In my life I have gone through an excessive amount of emotional pain. I struggle with severe anxiety and depression and I have discovered that no amount of physical pain can ever be as bad as what I’ve experienced and endured in life. This is turn makes it possible for me to endure more physical pain than most people. I actually want to be in the pain cave, I want to go to that place and party there. This I feel gives me a huge edge over other runners in these super long ultras.
Aside from personal goals and dreams though I just want to show people that we as human beings are capable of so much more than we think. That the only limits we have are the ones we place on ourselves. Ever since this pandemic hit I’ve seen peoples motivation drop, as a runner all my races were cancelled. For me personally ever since the pandemic hit though the absolute opposite happened, I became more driven and focused than ever to work harder than I ever had before to become the best Ultra runner I could be. Luckily along the way wonderful race companies such as Aravaipa Running have figured it out and put on some incredible virtual events one of which was Across The Globe (10 Day) Race as I mentioned I was blessed enough to win.
As an individual it is my dream to become an elite ultra runner, I know I will achieve this dream because I believe in myself, work hard and back myself. However along the way if I can also inspire as many people to love themselves more , love others better & explore their true potential well than that would be truly incredible🙏❤️. With love & gratitude- Jem Rooney🐺
