EVERY time Sophie Curnow returns home she takes a run around Lake Wendouree. Now Sophie is anxiously waiting to learn if she has the chance to run around Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the French Alps, in an epic race against daylight.
Sophie will learn on Monday whether she has made the cut as an amateur runner to contest Beat the Sun – an epic relay from sunrise to sunset on the northern hemisphere’s longest day of the year.
A key part of her bid has relied on votes. Sophie was shortlisted from 56,000 hopefuls worldwide down to 50 that have been put to the public to decide but, while ranking about third most of the week, Sophie is hoping discretionary judging would be the difference.
If successful, Sophie will have one month to be ready.
All she can do in the meantime is prepare.
“I’ve been doing a lot of training in the bush and on mountains, but it’s hard to train for,” Sophie said.
“You have to be prepared for anything.”
Conditions could include heavy snow. And Sophie is based on the Gold Coast.
Competitors race in relay teams of six with 13 different race legs, ranging from four kilometres to 19 kilometres. Some legs are flat, others are gruelling inclines.
Sophie is an experienced marathon and ultra-marathon contender. She wants a new challenge and set the epic Mont Blanc course as her goal. Running against the sun was completely different.
If she misses a spot, Sophie’s training will adjust to the Gold Coast Marathon in July, which she documented last year with a GoPro.
Sophie moved to the Gold Coast six years ago, where she is now studying nursing. That was where her running journey really started. Along the way she has captured attention.
Her photo featured in Women’s Running Australia after a runner-up finish in a 50km event. Sophie became the magazine’s action cover girl in November after thanking staff at a Gold Coast Marathon stall for publishing the initial finishing photo.
Always seeking a new challenge, Sophie is also training for her first half-ironman to contest Ballarat in December.
