A cancer survivor from Lancashire will attempt to break four world records this weekend in order to raise awareness of women’s menstrual & reproductive health.
Andrea Mason, from Blackpool, has confirmed she will attempt four new world records starting this Sunday 24 July at Lake Bala, North Wales.
This is after she was diagnosed with severe endometriosis, a condition where tissue starts to grow outside the uterus, as well as cervical cancer in 2017 which resulted in life-saving surgery.
She will attempt to swim the three longest lakes in Wales, England and Scotland, run the three highest peaks in all three countries and cycle between all of them as part of the Sea to Summit Extreme challenge.
This will mean swimming 65km, cycling 800km and running 44km up three mountains – in just five days. Her epic challenge will equate to swimming the English Channel twice, riding 20 Olympic distance triathlon bike legs and running the London Marathon.
Andrea hopes to smash the world records and become:
- The fastest known person to swim Lake Bala, cycle to and run Snowdon
- The fastest known person to swim Lake Windemere, cycle to and run Scafell Pike
- The fastest known person to swim Loch Awe, cycle to and run Ben Nevis
- The fastest known person to swim and run the longest lake and highest peak in Wales, England and Scotland, cycling between them
Like many women, it took Andrea years to get an endometriosis diagnosis and after missing several smear tests, she has been on mission to encourage women worldwide to attend or organise their smear tests.
She is also tackling the bigger issue of the taboo surrounding menstrual and reproductive health which means many conditions go undiagnosed.
Andrea said: “Despite improvements, the menstrual health education is substantially below par both globally and in many schools within the UK.
“I believe that we must improve the current education and empower both girls and boys with knowledge of menstrual and reproductive health. We need future generations to grow up feeling confident talking about this.
“Sea to Summit Extreme is one way to get people talking normally about menstrual health, which is why I decided to plan my most ridiculous challenge yet.
“ I have huge distances to cover and cold temperatures to swim in, particularly in Loch Awe.
“I have set myself a big challenge, especially trying to complete the whole course in five days, but my motivation to raise awareness of female menstrual health has never been stronger.”
Andrea has already helped raise awareness with her two previous Sea to Summit Extreme challenges.
One saw her swim the English Channel, cycle to Chamonix in the French Alps and climbing Mont Blanc in five days.
In 2020 she swam 38km around the perimeter of Lac Annecy, cycled the gruelling Tour Du Mont Blanc and ran 170km around one of the toughest trail runs in the world, the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc.
In 2020 she also set up a charity ‘Lady Talk Matters’ which has a developed an interactive, globally available platform giving access to menstrual education for people of all ages, race and socio-economic status.
For more information about ‘Sea to Summit Extreme; and how you can get involved or donate visit http://www.seatosummitextreme.com/.
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