Amy Hughes

Amy Hughes (born 1987) Hughes decided that she wanted to break the marathon running record in order to raise money for the Isabelle Lottie Foundation, which "raises awareness about the importance of diagnosing brain tumors early in children". She was also inspired by Larry Macon, who ran across all 50 U.S. states, desiring to run in all the major cities of the United Kingdom. From Chester, she travelled from north to south and then to the south-west, that she broke the world record for most consecutive marathons; according to the Guinness Book of Records, the current women's record is 60, set by Alice Burch in Southampton, England in 2015, and the previous women's record was 17, set by Parvaneh Moayedi in 2013. |group=nb Hughes also raised over £42,000, of which £10,000 was donated to the Neurosurgery Department at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Her claim was rejected by Guinness, was subsequently heavily scrutinised and met with scepticism by some in the running community, in particular on Let's Run's forum, and the Ultrarunning Community Facebook group. Criticism was largely focused on the lack of any verifiable data to support this or any previous record claims, limited evidence to suggest the requisite athletic pedigree to break a record previously held by elite runners, and video evidence of Hughes taking breaks whilst the treadmill continued to run.

A subsequent investigation website concluded that "As a result of her treadmill record being denied, people have questioned her ability. 520 miles on a treadmill in 7 days would require an ability on par with the elite ultra runners and multi-day runners. While she will not be able to have this record validated, there are many sanctioned multi-day races – or even 24-hour races where she could at least validate her abilities. To date, none of her official races stand out. She admits that she is not fast, but she can prove her stamina in any # of sanctioned events".

Other activities After completing the marathons, Hughes was involved in a number of high-profile events. She helped Blue Peter presenter Lindsey Russell train for the London Marathon, and has spoken at many Running Expos. Her record won the "best running moment of the year" at the 2015 Running Awards.

Personal life Hughes works as a sports therapist in Oswestry, Shropshire.