Sydney long-distance runner and cancer survivor Heather Hawkins has run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.
The World Marathon Challenge wrapped up in Hawkins’ hometown of Sydney in the early hours of this morning at Manly Beach.
“The emotions are running high, to see so many wonderful friends and family come out in the middle of the night, to have their support was absolutely epic,” she told AM.
“We ran along the beachfront here at Manly and to hear the sound of the waves and to be back home was such a wonderful way to wrap up an incredible journey.”
She said she was now looking forward to “a big rest”.
“It feels a little bit surreal not to have to pack up the bag tonight and hop on a plane and run somewhere else.”
The 50-year-old mother of two got off to a rough start with a bout of gastro for her first race at the Union Glacier in Antarctica.
Three breaks totalling 40 minutes put her behind the pack, but she made it to the end.
She managed to claw back some time in the next race in Punta Arenas in Chile.
Then it was three marathons in 36 hours in Miami, Madrid and Marrakesh.
The event was not only a physical challenge, but a logistical one.
Just hours before the last marathon, event organisers were dealing with flight delays and the impacts of a storm.
Hawkins only took up long-distance running three years ago after surviving ovarian cancer.
After surviving emergency surgery to remove a fast-growing ovarian cancer in 2007, she decided she needed to challenge herself.
“It was just a life-changing experience,” she said.
“I feel so eager to have experiences and to live life and to really push some boundaries physically as well as to prove that the cancer hasn’t beaten me.”
Hawkins dedicated her running to friends and fellow ovarian cancer suffers.
“I dedicate it to friends and fellow ovarian cancer survivors and people battling the biggest battles in their life with cancer,” she said.
“And that just helps wield you along and you just think if I get to the end of this race and then I’ll get to the next one and we’ll get through that as well.”
Hawkins’ husband Doug described her journey as “an epic tale of determination, guts and a will to achieve, all done with a smile”.