World Record attempt under way in Auckland Domain

World Record attempt under way in Auckland Domain

A welcome cool temperature and overcast sky greeted Kim Allan as she started her World Record attempt run at 6am sharp in Auckland Domain this morning.

The 47 year-old mother of four from Tuakau is attempting to break the women's record of running without sleep. Her target is 500 kilometres and, if successful, she will stop running sometime late on Sunday or early Monday morning.

Kim, a vegetarian, will sustain her energy with special high carbohydrate drinks and snacks from Matakana, under the watchful eye of her support crew. Her crew includes many experienced ultra distance runners and they’ll make sure she keeps to "a slow" 8min.30sec per km pace for the first few hours. A petite 50kgs, she expects her to fluctuate by up to 1kg during the run, and this will be one of things that will be regularly checked during the attempt.

Kim started this morning with fellow Auckland runner, Penny Kirkwood, who has recently completed a 100 mile run.
Kim is raising funds for the NZ Spinal Trust, inspired by an incident last year when a friend was thrown from a horse and now uses a wheelchair.

"I feel so lucky to be able to do this," said Kim, who some years ago, overcame a limp from a bad leg break after also being thrown from a horse. She was once a professional jockey.

Kim is inviting people to join her in the Domain over the next few days. And for those who can’t be there, people are encouraged to ‘Run with Kim’ along their own street, or on a treadmill at their local gym, or while taking their dog through the park and direct people to Kim’s Facebook and fundraising pages.

People can join Team ‘Run with Kim’ at: https://give.everydayhero.com/nz/team-sleepless-in-auckland

People can sign up, support or donate at: https://give.everydayhero.com/nz/sleepless-in-auckland-world-record-attempt-1

Follow Kim’s story on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ultrarunner.nz

ENDS

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