Now here's a story to send you into a guilt trip over your Saturday morning sleep in.
For most Kiwis running a marathon seems almost impossible, but a group of North Otago runners is planning to run a marathon per day for a week, Seven Sharp reported.
They're training for their greatest challenge, the 316 kilometre 'Alps to Ocean' race in February which takes competitors from Mount Cook, through the Waitaki Valley to Oamaru, over seven days.
A staged ultra marathon breaks down into a marathon per day, and in this case a double marathon on day three.
They'll race as individuals, but are training as a group, getting up at 3am.
"I would average between 85 and 125 k a week," said Wendy Fallon, an ultra marathon veteran.
Other members of the group are comparative newbies, but why put yourself through the pain of running 316 kilometres at all?
"It was all about sort of challenging myself," said one man.
“It's very meditative, it's very soothing. It just consumes you
Another said: "I probably like pushing my body to the limit really."
Sara Jones-Hogan, who's new to staged ultra marathons, has a different motivation.
"I moved down from Auckland at the beginning of the year. And it seemed like a really good opportunity just to get to know people in the area," she said.
"We get up at 3.30 in the morning and then we go and do what we do. And then we still go to work, we've still got our families, we've still got our commitments. And it just becomes a normal thing to do."
Ms Fallon said: "It's very meditative, it's very soothing. It just consumes you. You think about it every day. There's no blocking it out - it's always there."
"It's an addiction," Ms Jones-Hogan added.
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