Woman Runs For 3 Days Without Sleep

If you're about creating nearly-impossible standards for yourself, Kim Allan is your new hero. Why? Because this past week, while we were stuffing ourselves with turkey and dozing until 12 p.m., she set a new world record for the longest run with no sleep . How long did she go without sleep? For 310 miles — over 86 hours, 11 minutes, and 9 seconds, or just over 3.5 days. She beat the previous record by nine miles. How did she make it? We have no idea. (I barely got through that paragraph.)

Allan had to cut her sneaker tops off (her sneaker tops) to avoid getting terrible blisters, but she still ended up pretty sore from the run, apparently suffering:

• Swollen feet
• Swollen ankles, with lots of bruising
• Sunburnt lips
• A few stomach problems

Did we mention she didn't sleep? Fortunately, the ultra marathon runner had companions overnight to run alongside her and help her finish her goal. This also wasn't open country running — she ran 332 laps around the Auckland Domain. We're supposing that since she was allowed no sleep, she must have been allowed short breaks to take a snack — or, to relieve herself. We can only imagine how, ahem, interesting that would be if she weren't.

Besides being an ultra-marathon runner, Allan is also, amazingly, a mother of four. She ran this marathon not only to break the record, but also to raise money for the New Zealand Spinal Trust. So far, she has raised $7,000 for the charity. In the past five days since she broke the record, she's managed to recover and travel with her children for vacation, as well as apparently get them presents from Boxing Day sales.

A mother? A professional runner? A charitable giver? A woman who just can't get tired? Jeez, talk about the bar for "having it all" being continually raised.

Here are some delighted reactions to Allan's run from a couple of Kiwis: