At 71, ultramarathon runner Val Muskett would be forgiven for putting her feet up when she reached 160km in a shade over 25 hours.
But the veteran ultramarathon runner is showing no signs of slowing down.
Mrs Muskett, who lives in Hampden with her husband, John, celebrated yet another milestone at the Hagley Park ultramarathon in Christchurch last week.
Braving atrocious weather, the athletes ran on a 2.8km course around the park with the goal being to cover as many kilometres in the time they were allowed.
There was the six-day event, 72-hour event, 48-hour event and 24-hour event.
She ran 100km in 13hr 56min 5sec; 100 miles (160.9km) in 25hr 23min 2sec and finally ran a total of 236.21km over the 48-hour period.
In order to cover such long distances, Mrs Muskett broke it down mentally in stages.
"I just batten the hatches down because the weather was atrocious.
"So it was about mind over matter, just staying out there. I’d intended to run for the whole, until I hit the hundred mile, run or walk.
"That was my goal, everything else was a bonus.
"So at 163km John said right that’s it, it’s time for a sleep. So off I went for a sleep.
"Unfortunately for me it was probably the best weather that we’d had that whole time."
Mrs Muskett, who went through three pairs of running shoes and battled blisters for much of the race, said the second day was even worse, weather-wise.
"There were at least three cases of hypothermia. Some people were just not able to cope any more. But we kept going."
But Mr Muskett, who walked alongside Mrs Muskett as an assistant, said the organisation of the event could not have been more friendly or professional.
"This was without doubt the best organised event we’ve ever been to.
"Nobody complained and I guarantee you, if they hadn’t have been running through such terrible weather, everything would have been fine."
Mrs Muskett, who kept a detailed diary of her running goals, said she achieved all of them for the event but admitted it meant she had to be ultra-focused.
"‘I’m visually impaired. I can’t see the clocks, I don’t wear watches. I tend not to talk to anybody when I’m running."
At her home in Hampden, she enjoys regular runs at the beach and said it takes a good week or so to truly recover from an ultramarathon.
As for her next goal, she was still thinking about that but said she would like to compete in the Christchurch event next year.
Mr Muskett said he would be there to help.
"But I’m worried she wants to do the full six days."
