On the 12th July 2009, Jo Kilkenny will attempt to be the first ever female to complete the Enduroman Arch to Arch. Jo is already an established ultra distance runner. Her achievements so far have been:

Beacons Ultra 2008 1st Lady MOOSE 2008 1st Lady Canadian Death Race 2008 1st in age category Marathon of Britain 2007 1st Lady Marathon of Spain 2007 1st Lady MOB Coast 2007 1st Lady Seni Extreme 2007 3rd place (200 miles) Marathon de Sables 2007 Enduroman Lanzarote Ultra 2009

Steve Haywood talks to Jo and asks what motivates her to attempt the most challenging event in triathlon.

SH: So why the Arch to Arc?

JK: I decided to attempt the A2A after speaking to my coach Andy Mouncey about it. While most people thought it was insane I loved the idea of it. I had always wanted to swim the channel so I figured why not doing the bits either side of it too. I like the fact that so few people have done it, it presents an enormous challenge. The fact that it is so tough is the very reason I want to do it. Why do something everyone else can do after all?

SH: You can't do this on your own Jo, so who's in your support crew?

JK: My support crew consists of Rosie Lewis, a fellow ultra runner who i have raced against before. Along with her other half, Jason Manning, they have been the perfect crew so far and have recced the run and cycle route with me. They are the most incredible support to me and am very lucky to have them as my crew. Fiona Montgredien is also part of my crew. She is one of my best friends and has been a great supporter of all my silly races. She is a very good navigator and is also quite a sporty lady. Toby Pearson will be along for the run section and to see the start of the swim, he has been my sports therapist for a few years now so he fixes me when I break after my ultras! Andy Mouncey will hopefully be coming along on the boat as support for me. Andy pretty much set me on the path to the A2A and gave me the confidence to go for it so I'm not sure whether I should thank him or not!

SH: Tell me a bit about your training?

JK:Trainwise from now, I am building up my swim time to do a 10 sea swim by the end of May. For the last few months I have been doing a long run on friday evenings followed by a swim and cycle on the saturday, mini a2as I suppose. I am also planning on cycling the run route, not really to recce it as such but to get a long cycle in as I do my best cycles if I have a particular place to get to rather than doing laps. My life has been A2A for a long time and fully expect it to stay that way until its done. This week I am off to Scotland for the Scottish Ultra, the race director of which has kindly arranged training swims for me too.

SH: What about your nutrition strategy?

JK: My downfall during races is usually my nutrition, I struggle to eat during a race but my crew are under orders to make me eat. During the last training session with Rosie, she figured out how to make me eat, little and often and I wont complain.

SH: How did you get into this crazy sport?

JK: I got interested in Ultra running a few years ago after i saw the Marathon de Sables on TV. I completed that race as well as a few others in 2007 and became hooked on ultradistances. Since then I have completed several more, one of the toughest being the Enduroman Lanzarote Ultra. I have been worried about the swim but as time goes on I find I am enjoying the sea swims more and more and will most likely keep them up after A2A.

SH: Trapped on a dessert island and you can only keep one bit of ulltra tri kit... what is is?

JK: I can't live without my Injini toe socks for running races, they are great, they look weird but stop me getting blisters.

SH: What bike are you using?

JK: My bike is a Felt road bike which was kindly donated by Up and Running.

SH: Is there life after the Enduroman Arch to Arc?

JK: If I complete this I have got a couple of races lined up, the Gobi Challenge and the Eagle Isle Ultra. I will probably concentrate mainly on ultrarunning but may do the odd ironman.

SH: Good luck Jo.... may the channel gods be with you.....