Beyond Impossible

From Reluctant Runner to Guinness World Record Breaker

By: Lucy Waterlow, Mimi Anderson

Narrated by: Lucy Brown

Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

This incredible story of how an ordinary mum ran her way into the record books will inspire beginner runners and die-hard marathon devotees alike, proving that, no matter where life takes you, it’s never too late to achieve your dreams and do the impossible.

When Mimi first started jogging on a treadmill as an unfit 36-year-old mother of three, she never imagined she would go on to become a world-record-breaking ultrarunner. After coming to terms with the anorexia that had impacted her life from a young age, Mimi begins to reassess her relationship with food and finds a new resolve in running. With a renewed sense of purpose, she decides to take the sport that saved her life to the next level, training hard and throwing herself in at the deep end by entering the epic Marathon des Sables in the Sahara desert, despite still being a novice runner. One startling success leads to another, as she finds herself taking on ever-more-challenging races - from the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley, USA, to the 6633 Arctic Ultra - all building up to her biggest challenge yet: attempting to gain the Guinness World Record time for a female running 840 miles from John o’Groats to Land’s End.

©2017 Mimi Anderson (P)2020 W F Howes

Critic reviews

"This book will inspire you to take on new challenges and achieve things you never believed you could.... Mimi will inspire you to be brave enough to take that next step on your running journey." (Leanne Davies)

Inspiring

Very inspiring story. However, I believe the book would have been better if they had left out some of the traumatic details of her childhood and eating disorder. I feel they could have accomplished this by just alluding to these things or not going into as much detail since the book was about running not necessarily about her childhood. I also was not a fan of the narrator. She sounded robotic at times and not super natural. I much prefer an author to read their work than someone else. Otherwise, it is an inspiring story and good read for female runners and endurance athletes.

Inspirational

I enjoyed it so much, and I recommend this book to anybody interested in running long distances.

Inspirational

Great story about overcoming. She describes the training tools used by ultra runners and the memorable points of each race.

What an amazing woman!

Wow! This was very inspiring! What an amazing lady! So many challenges, this lady can do just about anything!

A Refreshing Read and Amazing Story

Such a relief to read someone's amazing story without all the poor language and cussing. Well written and wonderful account of Mimi's past hurts and overcoming such difficult challenges, leaving me with so much inspiration to see what I can conquer and achieve. I enjoyed the book and listened every chance I got to the end. Looking forward to her next book, Limitless.

Nothing Is Impossible

It's such an inspirational story for anyone who loves being active! Mimi shines a bright light on negative body image by using her voice to reach anyone willing to listen & help shape a kinder society.