s5/e20 How to Run Around The Whole World with Marie Leautey

The Running Explained Podcast

Running Explained

Sports, Running

4.6 • 534 Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What would happen if you decided to just… run around the world?

No, seriously. That’s what Marie Leautey did. She’s only the second woman in history to complete a verified World Run—crossing four continents, coast to coast, on foot. She pushed a stroller (not with a baby - important note), slept in a tent, dodged kangaroos, used bear spray in Montana, and somehow didn’t get injured while running over 28,000 kilometers.

In this episode, Marie and I talk about:

How a random doodle at work turned into a 2.5-year global running adventure
What actually counts as a “run around the world” (yes, there are rules! No, they don't make you run on water!)
Staying injury-free while running 700+ marathons in a row (the “body scan” trick is genius)
The joy of running without pace goal… or time goals… or really any data at all
Being mistaken for a mom with a baby in a stroller (and how that probably kept her safe)
Why she got fined $2,600 over a rogue scallion at the Australian border
And how to tell the difference between giving up… and just hitting a (global pandemic) Pause Button

Marie’s story is one of those rare ones that’s impossible to summarize and even harder to forget. It’s about running, yes, but also freedom, persistence, problem-solving, and learning how to really listen to your body (and your gut).

📖 Her book Lootie’s World Run: The Extraordinary True Story of the Fastest Woman to Have Run Around the World is wonderful; part memoir, part field guide, part “wait, she did what?!” Get your copy today!

Research & production assistance by Sophie van Leeuwen

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, friends. A quick technical update before we get started. Recording a podcast with guests
0:05.3	around the world presents its own set of challenges. And we did experience some minor technical
0:09.2	issues while recording this episode. Normally not a big deal, except my guest this week also does
0:13.5	a very strong French accent, which can make some sections harder to understand than we would
0:19.1	prefer. Unfortunately, there's no way to further adjust
0:22.6	this in post-production. So I hope that you still are able to enjoy this episode. And trust me when I
0:27.2	say that we are always continually striving to improve the Running Explained podcast.
0:32.1	Hello, my friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Running Explained podcast.
0:36.5	I'm your host, Coach Elizabeth.
0:38.3	Thank you for joining me today, wherever you are around the world, whether you're in your car or on a run or doing errands or what have you.
0:45.9	I appreciate you being here and really enjoy spending time with you all.
0:50.4	So thank you.
0:51.7	Now, this was a fun one.
0:53.7	My guest this week is Marie Lutee and Marie
0:57.2	ran around the world and then she wrote a book about it, which is really good. The book
1:02.1	is called Lutie's World Run and it's like part travel memoir, which it is because it's
1:06.2	literally a travel memoir and part like running around the world. And I mean that slightly figuratively and that you can't literally run across ocean, but there
1:15.2	is an official governing body for sanctioning runs around the world.
1:20.8	They have rules.
1:22.4	There are guidelines.
1:23.7	There are things you have to follow to make it official.
1:26.5	And she did all of those things.
	...

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