Williams College graduate Alyssa Clark this summer ran her way into the Guiness Book of World Records by running a marathon distance for 95 consecutive days.

 

Clark ran the 26.2-mile distance every day from March 31 through July 3.

 

“I am so incredibly thankful for the experience of running these marathons and sharing a bit of my journey with others,” Clark said in a news release on the record authority’s website. “It truly changed my life in the most unexpected ways and I am deeply humbled by the chance I was given to complete these marathons.

 

“I also will say it is impossible to run 95 marathons without the undying support and love of a massive community. I could not have achieved this goal without all of the people along the way who believed in me and my dream.”

 

Clark, who grew up in Bennington, Vt., lives with her husband, who works for the United States Navy and was stationed in Naples, Italy, in early 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a competitive runner, she was unable to compete in any races due to lockdown measures which banned people from going outside in order to stop the spread of the virus. So she decided to set herself a new challenge of completing a marathon on a treadmill every day until the lockdown ended. Her initial plan was to run 14 marathons, however lockdown was extended and she decided to continue until it was ended.

 

On day 25, she realized she could challenge for a record title after seeing the record to beat was 60, and so decided to continue with her daily marathon runs until she had broken the record. The runs became such an important part of her daily life as she navigated the effects of the pandemic that she decided to try for 100 consecutive days, and came so close to achieving her goal. On day 95, she became ill and could no longer complete the required distance. Her plan was always to stop at 100 as she had races and adventures planned for the fall and needed time for her body to recover.

 

Clark rowed as competitively as a freshman at Williams and played three years in the women’s lacrosse program, but she has been a runner most of her life.

 

Growing up, she would do runs and hikes in Montana’s Glacier National Park with her family. She had no idea it was not normal to go out on long adventures at a young age and challenge your limits.

 

 “My parents never pushed us to be athletes, but it became a huge focus of our lives,” Clark said.

 

In high school, she began long-distance trail running and cross-country skiing and continued through college. One of her fondest memories from college was her annual “run to school” with her mom. By way of the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail in Vermont, they would run 20 miles from her hometown and end at her dorm room in Williamstown.

 

She vowed to one day complete a marathon after graduating but ended up skipping that stage and went straight to ultra-marathons, competing in official races as young as 22. Her brother and sister are also accomplished athletes in cross-country skiing and rowing, respectively.

 

Out of her record-setting 95 runs, Clark said her fastest time was around 4 hours, and her slowest was about 4:45, on a very hot day.

 

Perhaps the most challenging day was the one she and her husband returned to the U.S. via military cargo plane. She ran a marathon in the morning before getting on the plane in Italy, however, they were delayed and did not arrive at the Air Force Base in Germany until 9:30 p.m.. Their flight to the U.S. was scheduled for 9 a.m. the next day, so to make sure nothing went wrong she decided to wake up at 12:30 a.m. and complete her daily marathon in the early hours. After finishing around 5:20 a.m. she immediately showered, ate and fell asleep for a few hours, before taking the flight home.

 

Generally, Clark followed a strict schedule for three months, starting each run at 7:30 a.m. while in Italy or at 6 a.m. after returning to Florida. She always made sure to have everything prepared the night before so she could get up and go each morning, she said. Sleep was also a very important element of recovery and getting a good night’s rest on each day was crucial to success.

 

“[The] biggest key is to enjoy what you are doing,” Clark said. :If you don’t fundamentally love what you are doing, it will become a chore rather than a gift. I genuinely enjoyed, I would say, 95% of the time I spent running marathons.”