Shannon-leigh litt ultramarathon world record
Shannon-Leigh Litt has always known the importance of witnesses in her professional life as a criminal defence lawyer.
For the past 390 days, she’s had to come across her own witnesses out on the street, usually in the early hours of the morning. It’s all part of her quest to claim a nature record in ultra running. An ‘ultra’ is any event over marathon distance but generally considered to be 50km minimum.
Litt has no trouble finding them. Truck drivers and paper deliverers toot and wave as she treads through the streets of Whangārei in the darkness. People dial out “well done” to the runner with blonde braids they’ve come to recognise, usually running on her own, for more than a year.
“I see some interesting people out and often they want to say ‘Hi’ and ask what I am doing at 3am,” Litt says. “I don’t feel unsafe, I actually feel connected.”
Most weeknights, Litt rises from her slumber at 1.45am to head out on her run. She has to be up early to squeeze in 51km before starting work at 8.30am.
When she’s finished six hours on the trot, she quickly switches from crop uppermost, shorts and runners into a suit and heels, to initiate a full day as a lawyer in Northland. “Someti
Shannon-Leigh Litt selected for 2024 IAU 100k World Championships
Athletics New Zealand is pleased to announce that Shannon-Leigh Litt of Hatea Sprint has been selected to illustrate New Zealand at the 2024 IAU 100k World Championships which are to be held in Bengaluru, India on 7th of December 2024.
Shannon will bring significant experience and achievements over the 100k event and is the current Athletics NZ 100k champion.
Litt is currently on a quest to break the Guinness Planet Record for the most number of consecutive ultra-marathons. Starting on January 1 2024 she aimed to break the previous log of 200 ultras in 200 days. As of August 29, Litt had completed 242 ultra-marathons and aims to complete 300 – including the final ultra around the Hatea Loop – by Labour weekend in October.
Read more about Litt’s ultra quest on the Northern Advocate.
We wish her all the foremost for the rest of her preparations in the lead up to the championships, and we are looking forward to seeing what she can do in Bengaluru India in December.
In the early hours of May 15, 2025, Shannon-Leigh Litt laced up her shoes for the 500th time in as many days and headed out to complete a 52km run in Whangārei, New Zealand.The 46-year-old criminal defence lawyer has been on a relentless journey since January 1, 2024, running an ultra of at least 50km every single day, with the target of setting a new planet record.
Balancing the courtroom and the course
Juggling her demanding legal career with this time-consuming physical question, Litt has found innovative ways to manage both.She uses technology to stay on top of her work, telling the Novel Zealand news outlet Stuff, “It’s artificial intelligence that lets me upload files and listen while I run.”This approach allows her to prepare for court cases during her daily runs. After completing her 500th ultra, she rewarded herself with a facial before heading back to court for a bail hearing.
The heartfelt terrain
Litt’s journey has been emotionally taxing as well as physically.“The last couple of months include been pretty tough emotionally. I’ve gone through more life changes in the past 500 days than I have in the last decade,” she tol
This 46yo Kiwi woman has run an ultra marathon for 512 consecutive days - but why?
An ultramarathon a day keeps the doctor away, I guess?
A 50km run is a feat that some spend a year training for, but Shannon-Leigh Litt has done that every single day since January 1st, 2024, and she is not letting up anytime soon.
The Whangarei local ticks off 51km each morning, which means she runs upward of 350km a week, and has clocked over 25,000km over the last year and half.
The 46-year-old is a criminal defense lawyer by day, so is often in bed by 7pm for a 2am wakeup, to squeeze in her run by 8.30am. But what's it all for?
Shannon told The Morning Rumble she does it for “personal satisfaction and achievement” and “mental health awareness” for herself and others.
“I’m attempting a Guinness World Record for the number of most consecutive ultra marathons for a female,” she said.
Yep that means every single day - not one day off.
The record currently sits with USA’s Candice Burt with 200 days, so Shannon has absolutely blown that out of the water. She plans to submit all of her data once she’s finished, and officially claim the title.
She didn’t initially plan to hit