Fiona Oakes (born 1 August 1966) is a British distance runner who holds four world records for marathon running.[1][2][3][4][5] In 2013, she won both the Antarctic Ice Marathon and the North Pole Marathon. She runs despite losing a kneecap due to a tumour when she was 17.[6][7] Oakes has been vegan since she was 6 years old.[8] As far as Fiona is aware, she was the first vegan woman to complete the Marathon des Sables. She runs Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary,[9] is an ambassador for The Vegan Society,[10] and is a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society.[11]
World records
editIn 2013, Oakes became the fastest female in aggregate time to complete a marathon on each continent (23h:27m:40s);[2] the fastest female in aggregate time to complete a marathon on each continent and the North Pole (28h:20m:50s);[3] and the fastest female in elapsed time to complete a marathon on each continent and the North Pole (225 days and 18 hours).[4] In 2018 Oakes broke her 4th Guinness World record by becoming the fastest female to run a half marathon in an animal costume (dressed as a cow) in Tromso, Norway (1h:32m:24s).[5]
Other achievements
editIn the women's category of the Atacama Crossing race in September 2018, Oakes won her age group (50 - 59). She also won stage six in her gender group in the same race.[12]
Oakes won the "Charity Champion" category of the 2018 Brave Britons Amplifon Awards.[13]
In 2019 Oakes qualified to represent England Masters in 2020 for both the Fleet half marathon and Bristol 10 km races.[14] Both qualifications were subsequently carried over to 2021 as a result of cancellations[15] due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published a biography titled 'Running for Good: The Fiona Oakes Story' in 2020. ISBN 9781636849171
Fiona is the founder and Race Director of the ultra-marathon, Running for Good Ultra. This is a week-long foot race held during October in the Moroccan Sahara Desert. The specific aim of the event is to raise awareness of, and issues surrounding, the global impact of climate change.
Running for Good
editOakes was the subject of Running for Good, a documentary film by Keegan Kuhn, centred around her run in the 2017 Marathon des Sables.[16]
References
edit- ^ Fiona Oakes at World Athletics
- ^ a b "Fastest time to complete a marathon on each continent, aggregate (female)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ a b "Fastest aggregate time to complete a marathon on each continent and the North Pole (female)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ a b "Fastest time to complete a marathon on each continent and the North Pole (female)". Guinness World Records. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ a b "Fastest time to complete a half marathon in an animal costume (female)". Guinness World Records. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ Finn, Adharanand (25 November 2019). "Vegan runners: can a plant-based diet provide what you need to compete – and win". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
- ^ Williams, Tom (25 March 2015). "The vegan 'Queen of the Extreme'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
- ^ "Interview with Fiona Oakes: Vegan Marathon Runner". Viva La Vegan!. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- ^ "About Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary". www.towerhillstables.org. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
- ^ "The Vegan Society, Ambassadors". vegansociety.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "CAPS - Who we are". Captiveanimals.org. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Atacama Crossing Chile (2018) official website".
- ^ Ellis Whitehouse (17 October 2018). "Dengie's Fiona Oakes wins Amplifon Award for animal sanctuary work". Maldon & Burnham Standard. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ "2020 Vegan Runners UK AGM – Bristol". 25 February 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "10k Masters team opportunities". Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Running For Good".
External links
edit
- Matthew Knight and Duarte Mendonca (5 March 2015). Fiona Oakes: 'Queen of the Extreme' redefines art of running. CNN. Accessed on 24 June 2015.
- Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary
- Fiona Oakes Foundation
- "Fiona Oakes - runbritain rankings". runbritain. UK Athletics. Retrieved 2 March 2019.