Jake Catterall: 5000km from Norway to Spain
He destroyed five pairs of shoes, lost 7kg and a toenail, broke a car and a world record.
Wake up, run 70km, eat, sleep, repeat. This was Jake Catterall‘s life for three months as he took on his most significant life challenge so far. Running from the top of Norway to the bottom of Spain, a total of 5660km over 94 days.
Having been born in England, Jake Catterall (31) moved to Amsterdam after an internship “and then basically never came back.” He expressed that his career in marketing was his main focus at the time, and, through that, he realised he could keep returning to the job day after day with no mental issues or burnout.
This was a skill he thought he could sharpen and use towards other areas of his life: “Sport has always been a part of my life. I’ve always liked to run. My dad’s also a marathon runner, more enthusiast than professional, so that’s where I got the bug from. I applied this skill to endurance and my sport: running and cycling.”
His first big event saw him cycle from Amsterdam to Berlin in one ride (26 hours), around 700km: “When I arrived in Berlin, I realised that I’m really onto something here.”
Soon after, he began to take running more seriously, quickly progressing through the distances, clocking exceptional times. He described it as a “mind-opening experience” and was eager to see what he could do next.
When asked what inspired him to take on such a monumental challenge as a 5000km footrace, he expressed that at this point in his life, he was asking himself the big questions…
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