Extreme Adventures: Tackling the World's Toughest Races With Grit and Humour

Extreme Adventures is a rocket-fueled, heartwarming journey through curiosity, self-doubt, reinvention, and improbable triumph, where every finish line is the next starting point. Emerging from a childhood where she skipped gym class and was mystified by mathematics to a high-flying career in finance, on the outside, Beatrice Lessi seemed to be conquering the world. But inside, she was battling eating disorders and struggling to find meaning in her life. Fast forward to her forties when on a whim Beatrice signs up for the Marathon des Sables, the grueling multi-day ultra race across the Sahara Desert. No training plan. No race preparation. Zero athletic experience. Instead Beatrice competes in the toughest footrace on earth fueled by wild curiosity and a hint of madness. What follows is an outrageous, exhilarating, and soulful transformation that takes her to Everest Base Camp, the glaciers of Antarctica, and into the heart of ultra-endurance culture. Along the way, she proves that a person doesn't need youth, talent, money, a perfectly healthy body, or mathematical brilliance to live adventurously--just curiosity, guts, and a sense of humor. Extreme Adventures inspires anyone who has been told they're too old, too unfit, or just not "sporty" enough by showing them how they can achieve any goal in life. With laugh-out-loud anecdotes, honest confessions, and bold inspiration, Beatrice Lessi makes the reader believe that the best time to start is right now because it is never too late to seek adventure.

Beatrice Lessi is a blogger and journalist. At age 40, with no previous experience in sports, she started running and went on to compete in numerous extreme races. She now writes to inspire others to take up running and embrace personal growth. Beatrice lives in Zurich with her husband. She has three daughters. She is driven by an endless energy and hopes to capture in writing what she experiences in life: good moods, curiosity, and beauty.