BRYONY Keys proved she could go the distance to become the last woman standing and claim a major international ultra marathon title.
Bryony Keys
The Tain athlete was the top woman at Go One More Ultra 2026 where she ran non stop for over 30 hours to claim victory in the women’s competition in Austin, Texas.
Keys (33) managed to run 37 laps of a continuous loop which measured 4.167 miles, only having one hour to complete each loop or face being knocked out of the competition.
The sports nutritionist, who lives in Inverness, ran through sweltering conditions as well as rain and mud overnight to claim the title.
Over 180 athletes from around the world competed at the event, with athletes attempting to run for as long as they could. Keys finished one lap ahead of Lauren Osbourne who finished in second with 36 laps with Jill Dennes of the United States in third on 28 laps.
Despite the huge physical challenge the competition represents, Keys says the battle with the mind to not give up was an even tougher aspect.
She said: ”I covered 155 miles during the race, but it is more of a mental than a physical challenge.
“The lack of sleep is the toughest part. Going into night one, I was 11 hours in and I thought I can’t do this anymore. Then there were a couple of hours of lows. Then you get to a high, but they say that the highs would be followed by a low. A lot of the challenge is mental for sure.
“I had no issues through the day, it was the night time that I found harder. Once the rain and mud hit on night two, that was the killer. Some of the time it was 100 per cent humidity which is absolutely ridiculous.”
Bryony Keys
During the race, athletes also had to plan bathroom and refuelling breaks in between and Keys says planning tactics before was a major part of her preparation.
However, she said putting her plan into practice was a different challenge altogether.
The loop takes you 50 minutes to do you have a 10 minute leeway for a bathroom break and grab food and then you go again. So much of it comes to timing. One of the biggest things that knocks people out is poor fuelling.
“If you don’t get that right, you get that out so much earlier. I had a list of basically what I want and when I want to eat and when to hydrate. Writing a plan is all well in theory. But it hard to continually hydrate and eat for so long.
“So you stick to the plan as best as possible.
Her foot was left destroyed by the accident, but she says that she has managed to make a full recovery and that her victory in Austin has proved she can compete in top level competition.
Bryony Keys
She said: “It is still trial and error because we don’t know what I can withstand. I did have to limit training because I don’t know how much time and volume my foot can hold up.
“Everyone is surprised how well I have done and it is totally fine now.”
Keys is no stranger to endurance event but says this was one of her proudest accomplishments and will look to return next year.
He said: “It is mentally challenging, I have never done anything like it before. I feel like because the events I have done are so different, they are all challenging in a different way. But this is definitely the longest event that is for sure. That was my first backyard ultra, now I know what to expect, I hope to go longer.”
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