A Woman Tried Running Across the Irish Sea in a Giant Plastic Hamster Wheel for Charity

Lindsey Russell, a British TV presenter, recently tried to cross the Irish Sea in an very unusual way. Instead of by boat, she chose to travel via zorb–a plastic orb used for recreational events that resembles a hamster wheel. They're typically used on land, but Russell challenged herself to maneuver the giant zorb in open water.

The distance to be covered, between Donaghadee in Northern Ireland and Portpatrick in Scotland, was about 34.8 kilometers (21.6 miles) total–an incredible endeavor considering the typical zorb travels less than a kilometer.

Russell took on the challenge in support of Sport Relief, one of the UK's biggest fundraising events. She anticipated the journey would take 14 hours to complete and started at 6:30AM on February 25. By noon that day, she had travelled over 20 kilometers (over 12 miles) and took a break to eat some spaghetti hoops and chocolate. Several hours later, however, the weather conditions changed for the worse and she had to stop.

Despite having to end her trek early, Russell traveled an impressive 17 nautical miles. A spokesperson for Sport Relief reiterated this, stating, “We hope her amazing efforts have inspired lots of children around the UK to do their bit for Sport Relief.”

Above photo source: BBC

Above photo source: Sport Relief

Photo source: Jenny Rose Lawrence

Photo source: Sport Relief

Photo source: BBC

via [Mashable, BBC]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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