Welcome to the jungle! How Sophie Laidlaw has gone from never running to signing up for the 'world's hardest ultra marathon' in four years

First there was frustration, then the inspiration took over. The initial aches and pains began to disappear and new challenges were taken up.

Initially someone who had no interest in fitness but always admired those who went running for fun, Sophie Laidlaw admits that up until 2020, work was her priority. She was a smoker consumed by the daily grind and, though she had made initial strides in her running, she would never have predicted what was to come.

‘I didn’t get into fitness until much later in life. I ran a business and I smoked and drank and couldn’t think of anything worse than going for a run,’ she says. ‘But I admit it had always seemed kind of cool that people did it, just went running. I couldn’t understand but I think for a long time I wanted to be in that club. But I was still in the club and smoking had really gripped me.

‘Then in 2020. the pandemic hit. I had already started getting into fitness and had joined the gym and started to make improvements on my life. I started running just before lockdown and when the actual lockdown came it was like I had been handed a saviour that got me through that time.

‘I’ve always been told that two things will move you in life - frustration or inspiration. I was frustrated with myself and inspired to feel something that wasn’t work. I think my work had become my personality and I really wanted to carve out hobbies. A bit of escapism maybe.

‘I remember my first run alone being so hard but on that run I realised there’s a point after the aches die away and my chest heaving and gasping for air where it started to flow. My head felt clear and my legs and breathing felt effortless. That is what clicked for me, that feeling. I started chasing that but realised it was taking longer and longer to get there.’

Four years on, Laidlaw has run countless miles, competing in last year’s Loch Ness 24, a 24-hour ultra marathon on a 7kilometre loop around shores of Loch Ness, and has signed up for this year’s event that begins on August 24th.

Last time, Laidlaw ran for CALM, a mental health charity. It was her first time going over the marathon distance of 26.2miles (42.195km) and the aim was to achieve double that. She ran for 18 hours and managed a distance of 122km before her body gave out.

‘I ran to raise money for calmzone which is a charity very close to my heart,’ she admits. ‘I was very proud to raise £5,000 and I think that kept me going through the night.

‘I had never ran anything beyond a marathon, so was hoping to do double marathon distance and anything beyond that was a bonus. I managed 122km and ran for around 18 hours before becoming injured and hallucinating in the woods at about 6am.

‘The training for this was very much “time on feet”, learning to run on tired legs and learning to eat and run.

‘This year I am excited to run but this time I am running just for me, no charity and no expectation. Hopefully that means no pressure, but I have a sheer determination to beat myself and I know I just want to see what these little legs are actually capable of.’

Now aged 38 and with plenty of miles in the tank and a determination to create the best possible version of herself, Laidlaw wants to continue to push her own limits.

For some, that might mean going to a warmer climate or a new city and experiencing a different environment. For Laidlaw, however, it means traipsing halfway around the world and tackling a race recognised as the toughest of its type.

‘I’ve just booked up to take part in Beyond the Ultimate’s Jungle Ultra,’ she says. ‘It’s known as the world’s toughest ultra. Last year only 15 per cent of people completed it.

‘It’s in Peru and is 230km through the Amazon Rainforest. 30% of the run is through rivers. It’s self- sufficient so you have to carry your food, sleeping bag, hammock and anything else on your back running around 50km a day and 75km on the last day.

‘The running out there doesn’t scare me so much but the logistics do, the terrain does and the danger of certain wildlife and insects scare me. Being able to acclimatise is probably quite important too!

‘I love a fast 5k or a hilly 10k, I enjoy a half marathon and I’d still like to improve on my timing for that. I have two full marathons under my belt, and yet the draw to run ultras excites me more than anything else. Something about the distance, it being less about pace and more about endurance.

‘I like the idea of seeing what my human potential is and how far it can actually go. All the other distances I’m testing speed. But an ultra is testing your backbone. Your grit your mentality and your ability to keep going when it gets really hard.’

Having been the woman who had never ran to now taking her passion abroad and being excited to run through the biggest rainforest in the world where she could face countless spiders, snakes and animals with the ability to do serious damage, Laidlaw is looking to inspire others to get into running in Scotland.

‘Running punks is a Welsh-based running group that encourage spirit and community in running,’ she says. ‘It’s a great place to talk about life and music rather than more formal running clubs that maybe centre around pace a little more.

‘We want to keep it to trails; the Pentlands are our playground and there’s so much fun to be had in the hills. My partner is Welsh and we thought it would be great to bring the Running Punks trail club up here and create a little community. Meet new friends with similar interests and generally encourage people who like running and having fun out in to the hills.

‘We’ve not had a great success with the first two but Rome wasn’t built in a day! Taking a little break just now but we will continue to advertise on Instagram and encourage anyone who might want to try to come.

For more information on the Running Punks trail club, contact Sophie on Instagram @soph_runs_places