Woman completes 100-mile race across frozen lake

A British woman has arrived home after completing four marathons in as many days across a frozen Mongolian lake.

Anya Eames, 51, from Frampton on Severn in Gloucestershire, had planned to skate across the lake but snowy conditions meant she was forced to run 80 of the 100 miles (160 km) of the Mongol 100 across Lake Khuvsgul.

Despite contending with temperatures of -38C (-36F) and sustaining an injury in a fall while skating, Eames completed the challenge - raising more than £1,500 for charity in the process.

"It was amazing," Eames said, describing the surroundings as "so expansive, beautiful".

Eames had to learn to ice skate, in her efforts to complete the challenge which raised money for the anti-knife crime charity Increase the Peace and the Great Western Air Ambulance charity.

But with heavy snowfall on the lake she was forced to run the majority of the distance, which she had not trained for.

"The impact on your feet is tremendous because it's rock hard,. You've got spikes on but there's no way of training for that," she told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"After about an hour of running my feet started to burn from the impact," she added, describing the feat as a "huge challenge".

"The ice skating is less physical than the running, but it was more mentally challenging for me, because you had to concentrate on where you were skating because it was quite dangerous, and I did take a bad fall," she added.

While she was part of a group of other participants from around the world, camping together in teepees on the ice, most of the challenge was completed alone with support from local guides.

"I could see three miles in front of me and not see anyone," Eames added.

When it came to getting through the challenge, especially after the pain of her accident, there was one remedy suggested by the guides - vodka.

"They give you a shot of vodka in the evening after your run, and if you don't take it, they get quite offended," she said. "It dulls the pain, I suppose, and it gives you a bit of warmth."

Despite facing such a huge physical effort each day, Eames said sleeping on the ice was a "major challenge", as was "trying to get changed in the cold and trying to eat without taking your gloves off" to avoid frostbite.

"The toilet challenge - that was a major talking point for the participants," she added.

It is not the first extreme effort Eames has completed for charity - in previous years she has raised more than £7,000 in a trek with a husky team and an Arctic ski.

But by the end of the Mongol 100, she said, she was "very broken, very sore".

"I just cried when I got over the finish line," she added.

But while she is now taking some time to recover, when asked about the prospect of a future challenge she said "never say never".

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