The endurance running scene in Australia is growing, especially thanks to some extensive media attention around male runners crossing the continent, but Erchana Murray is making her own strides across the country.
And while she is still a few weeks from her destination, Murray has already achieved her goal of holding the Guinness World Record for completing 107 marathons in a row. She beat the previous record of 106 in a row on Sunday, when she met her parents at the finish line of day 107 of her epic cross, before getting some sleep to do it all over again on Monday.
Murray is running from Cape York to Melbourne – the tip to the toe of Australia – which has inspired the name behind her run to raise money for wildlife (“Tip to Toe 2022”).
But while many will have already heard about Nedd Brockman’s successful run from Western Australia to Sydney, and Sean Bell’s run from Cairns to Melbourne, Murray is breaking through to represent women, making such an epic Australian crossing.
“There are no women out here- I’m the only one,” she told Women’s Agenda, days before breaking the World Record.
“I just wanted to do it as a quiet example that anyone can do this and it doesn’t matter what your background is or where you’ve come from. You just need a good pair of shoes and to get on out there.
“If a young girl only sees men doing these things, they just subconsciously don’t think about it,” she says. “But if there’s a woman out there doing it, then they might just think– ‘ah that’s something I could do’.”
The 32-year-old is still running consecutive marathons, planning to complete 150 before reaching the end of the journey.
She’s also raising $62,000 for The Wilderness Society to help end extinction in Australia.
When we spoke with Murray, she had just finished running her daily marathon, having first entered New South Wales.
So after breaking the record, why not stop? Understandably, she wants to hold onto the record for a while before it gets broken again.
“The record has been beaten three times in the last two or three years– it was 94 (consecutive marathons) and then it was 100 and then it was 104, all since 2019.
“I just want to make sure it stays on Australian soil for a little bit longer. I really want a woman to beat it and I’m going to support them when they reach out and ask me questions, but I just want to hold onto it for a little while.”
However, holding the world record isn’t the only reason she’s doing this run. Her main motivation to keep going is driven by the cause she’s raising money for– protecting Australian native animals and national parks.
Murray is the campaign ambassador for the National Venomous Bites and Stings Day, and she’s hoping that spotlighting endangered animals on her run, including those that are “more venomous”, encourages people to learn more about these creatures and feel empowered to experience the beautiful Australian outdoors.
“For every day that I’m out here raising money, I’m sharing a story,” says Murray. “And at the end of the day, that’s what drives me forward, along with wanting to make myself proud.”
“We’ve all had big failures in our lives, and we just want to do one thing right to the end and show ourselves it’s possible.”
Surprisingly, it wasn’t running itself that sparked the idea for Tip to Toe, but rather a childhood dream of someday crossing the length of the country.
“I just wanted to cross the country. That was always the plan,” says Murray.
While she’s always enjoyed playing sport, Murray only first got into running in her mid-twenties when she joined an athletics club in Melbourne to make friends in a new city.
Murray went on to be a competitive runner, even trying for an Olympic qualification until an injury stopped her in her tracks. This led her to take a step away from the sport for a while and build up her fitness in other ways, but her love of running was still there.
“In lockdown, I was in Melbourne on my own and was going through a rough patch. I’d just been through a breakup, so I’d gone from living in a sharehouse to living on my own and dealing with working remotely,” she says.
“For my mental health, I moved up to my parent’s place in Queensland and while sitting in the hotel room for two weeks, I had a very clear reflection moment and thought this (crossing the country) is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Since she was still only in her thirties and had the physical capability to do it, Murray decided to take the leap. After getting out of lockdown, she went into planning mode straight away to start Tip to Toe and run the length of Australia.
Well into her run now, she’s projected to reach Melbourne on January 16th, 2023.
“I’m going to feel proud to get there. It’s the biggest challenge I’ve ever set out to achieve.”
“I already can feel that I’m going to want to do something else. I think it’s within me. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ll definitely take stock and reflect, and I’m going to spend a lot of time thanking everybody who’s contributed in their own little way to Tip to Toe.”
“I want to keep using this momentum to do more and connect with people in the conservation space and sustainability space and just keep growing… but I might have a wine and a night off first.”
On completing the 107th marathon on Sunday, Murry posted on Instagram that the day was the “best type of big”, as she greeted her parents who surprised her by driving eight hours to meet her at the day’s finish line.
“I’m sore and I’m tired, and did I mention sore? But I’m not going to remember the aching heel or the chafing underarms. I will remember this thought. It’s not the finish line, far from it, but a great moment to reflect on how far we’ve come and all the good we’ve achieved.”