Mimi Anderson, the 48 year-old long distance running grandmother from Smarden in Kent, added yet another achievement to her already impressive running palamares when she set a new world record of 403.81 miles for the ‘furthest distance covered on a treadmill by a female in 7 days’ on Saturday 23^rd October 2010. The new record was achieved despite the pain of a suspected broken foot and the consequent impact on her running efficiency and gait which led to the development calf muscle stress and of equally painful blisters.

The new mark beats the previous officially recognised world record of 395.25 miles, which although naturally very satisfying, was nevertheless also a disappointment since without the injuries Mimi had been expected to complete a substantially further distance of 500 miles or more.

However, within just a few hours of starting the record attempt, a pain in the toes of her left foot which had previously troubled her in training, but which had disappeared during Mimi’s taper for the record attempt, manifested itself once more and quickly made each stride a painful one and her running style becoming a noticeably uneven gait. Continuing bravely on despite the pain, but now having to walk rather than run as her calf muscles also tightened, her helpers called in local sports shop and injury clinic Podplus - who were already supporting Mimi with shoes - to come to the rescue.

The podiatrist came to the conclusion the pain was probably being caused by a stress fracture across two toes. Mimi was given a calf massage and some orthotic supports to help alleviate the pain and correct her gait as much as possible. Podplus continued to provide massages during the week, which helped a lot, although Mimi’s foot continued to swell and big blisters developed on the other foot as a result of uneven running. By the end of the record attempt she was wearing shoes 2 sizes above her normal size to make walking and occasional running a tolerable possibility.

Said Mimi: ‘I thought the initial problem was simply a bruise in my foot, which would have healed by the time I started my record attempt. I was devastated and upset when it returned so early in the run. I can’t recall ever running in such pain in all my previous runs, especially when the blisters, which again I don’t normally experience, developed on my other foot.

It was very frustrating and frankly extremely tedious to have to walk for such a large part of the time, but I was so totally determined to break this record that opting out was never a consideration for even a moment. I tried pain-killers to help relief the pain, but given the number of days still to go and the advice from my support team that too many pain killers could damage my long-term health, I eventually had to just grit my teeth and mostly carry on without them. Under the circumstances I am delighted to have broken the record, which is a marvellous feeling despite knowing I could have made it so much more challenging for future record aspirants to break it.’

The attempt was based at the Ashford Designer Outlet and was officially started by local MP Damian Green, Minister of State for Borders and Immigration, at 12 noon on Saturday 16^th October. It was officially finished exactly 7 days later on Saturday 23^rd by Sarah Russell, Contributing Editor for the Running Fitness magazine with support from His Worship the Mayor of Ashford Cllr Allen Wells.

Mike Buss, the current holder of the male record with 517.25 days, was on hand all week to encourage Mimi in her attempt and to congratulate her on the achievement. He ran with her in the final hours on the support treadmill to give her support and promote the fact that both were working to raise funds for Help for Heroes. Several thousand pounds were raised during the week.

Mimi ran for at least 20 hours each day, eating and drinking as she ran and despite her injuries, averaging nearly 3 miles an hour every hour for around 140 hours of running! People who would like to show their appreciation of what she has achieved can still donate to Help for Heroes from her website www.marvellousmimi.com or at www.justgiving.com/Mimi-Anderson.

Mimi would like to thank the Ashford Designer Outlet for their generous hospitality, to Damian Green MP, to her helpers during the week who worked long hours to ensure the Guinness World of Records required documentation was accurately recorded, and to her food, clothing and equipment sponsors and supporters.These include Star Trac treadmills, Buff headwear, Ed & Phil Active, local sports shop Podplus, Wigwam socks, Likeys adventure gear, Neovite colostrum supplement, Wemmi Wipes, Byoshower travel body wash, Nike Ashford Factory Store, Sunwise sunglasses, elete electrolyte drink, The Inkerman Group and Risebridge Health & Sports Club.