Ultra endurance athlete Mat Grills is taking on a challenge of epic proportions, running 50 marathons in 50 days in order to train his body for his next big event.
The Bargara man began his journey on 22 September and will crank out at least a marathon (42.2 kilometres) and up to 50 kilometres every day until 10 November.
“Everything I am doing is the build up to running from the Western most to the Eastern most points of the country next year,” Mat said.
“It's basically to practice, build up and test my body before the mammoth task ahead of me where I will run 100k a day.
“Last year I ran 100 half marathons in a row and this year I am running a marathon a day for 50 days, but 50km on my days off from work.”
During the 50 day challenge Mat will put the region's coastal areas, bush tracks and streets to good use as he travels along different routes.
Mat said he had been ultra running for more than 12 years and loved the challenge that came with each step.
“I'm constantly trying to push myself and explore the outer limits of human potential and this is another way of doing that,” he said.
“I have not done anything to this magnitude before.
“I have run much further in one go, but not the volume of doing 42.2 kilometres or more day after day for over seven weeks.”
And while he is known to complete some of his runs barefoot, Mat said he won't be sans shoes as part of this challenge.
He has secured zero drop shoe sponsor Altra and, because they are made specifically to keep your heel and toes level which mimics your natural barefoot position on a flat surface, he no longer feels the need to travel barefoot!
Mat said while he was on his own personal and physical journey as part of the 50 marathons in 50 days, he was encouraging others to join him on some of his runs while also adopting a vegan lifestyle.
“I encourage people to set their own challenges, push themselves and make no excuses,” he said.
“Ultimately I would love people to try and go vegan for 50 days but any sort of challenge, sport related or otherwise would be super rad!”
You can follow Mat's progress with the 50 day challenge on Instagram at Adventures and Activism or Strava at Mat Grills.
