Emma Stuart

I'm Emma and I'm an ultrarunner and farm veterinary surgeon. I live on the edge of the Lake District with my partner, James, two very adventurous Collies and a very unadventurous cat.

I started running in 2018 and have been really fortunate to participate in races all over Britain and Europe. Some of my achievements to date include wins at the Lakeland 50, Lakeland 100, Arc of Attrition 100M, Ultratrail Snowdonia 100M, Tor des Geants (TOR330) and the Maurice Mullins 50k, as well as podiums at Lavaredo Ultratrail and Transgrancanaria 128km.

I absolutely love endurance running for several reasons but I think Alpkit'stagline of "Go nice places, do good things" encapsulates my 'why' perfectly. I love exploring new trails, especially those with a history attached, andI love stopping to admire the views from a hillside or mountaintop. I always want to take in as much as possible, so running gives me the opportunity to see more places in a shorter amount of time! I also relish the challenges imposed by long distance events, be that battling the weather, competition, fatigue, digestive issues, pain, and your brain telling you to stop! The longer the distance, the more it becomes a mentalchallenge rather than a physical one andIlove the problem solving that isrequired to get you across the finish line. As well as that, the running community is absolutely incredible and I really enjoy meeting new people, hearing their stories, and finding out their why. I've gained so much inspiration and learned so much from runners from all walks of life.

One thing that always makes me chuckle when I'm out on the trails is when I stumble across someone having a wee on the side of the path. They're usually not expecting me to run past so the look of shock and embarrassment is quite funnybecause when we need to go, we need to go, and we shouldn't be ashamed!

When I'm not running or adventuring around our fantastic countryside, I work as a farm veterinary surgeon. It's a tough job that can be really emotionally and physicallyexhausting, but I absolutely love it. The challenges it poses on a day-to-day basis have given me the resilience to get through the toughest moments while racing, even though it can be very difficult to balance training with working full-time.

I've got quite a few races to look forward to this year, including the Fellsman and wearing an Irish vest at the European Off-Road Running Championships. My season will hopefully culminate with a foot on the start line of UTMB at the end of August. I may throw another few challenges in there as well, but we'll see what the season brings. I'm looking forward to having Alpkit by my side whatever the weather, although I'm hoping the sunshine is going to make an appearance this year, as last summer was distinctly dreary!