Inspirational mum completes her quest

After two years of sacrifice, hard work and determination, an inspirational mum from Glossop finally has her hands on a Six Star Medal. 

Claire Bardsley’s journey began with the London Marathon back in April 2023, before she tackled marathons in Tokyo, Berlin, New York and Chicago. 

The 45-year-old then rounded off the stunning achievement late last month in Boston, when she completed her sixth and final major world marathon, two years to the day after she began the quest. 

With the Boston Marathon largely considered the most prestigious of its kind, there was perhaps no better way to cap off the feat. 

“It was everything I expected it to be and more,” Claire told the Chronicle following the event. 

“The whole place was just turned into a marathon zone. All the roads were shut off and everyone had their Boston jackets on, it was just an amazing experience. 

“The race itself was very undulating, and it was more or less a straight line, there were no twists and turns like you get at some of the other majors. 

“It wasn’t as physically tough as New York for example, my legs felt fine, it was just a lot tougher mentally because I didn’t know what to expect.” 

Claire’s time of 3 hours and 39 minutes at Boston meant she managed to finish all six marathons in under four hours. 

Boston was made even more special by the presence of Claire’s daughter, Isobel (pictured right), who ran with her in the pre-marathon 5K race. 

“Racing with my daughter was the highlight of the weekend, it was really special,” the 45-year-old told the Chronicle. 

“She also managed to get her first sub-35-minute 5K, so it was a great weekend for her too.” 

Speaking on the achievement as a whole, the mum of two admits it has taken a while to sink in: 

“It still feels a bit surreal. I never expected to be able to achieve something like this, and it’s even more special because I’ve done it for myself. 

“I did it because I wanted to, not to prove anything to anyone else, but to prove to myself that I could do it. 

“I could’ve stopped at any point in time, and there were times where I was out training in the snow in floods of tears thinking this is ridiculous, but I kept going, and it’s all been worth it. 

“Another reason I wanted to do it is for the women. 

“I was reading the statistics for those who have completed all six after my first marathon and thought- I can do this.  

“So few women have done it compared to men.  

“Just under 6000 women have done all six whereas over double the amount of men have.  

“Only 565 females in the UK have done it, and I just wanted to add one more to the tally.” 

And the Hadfield resident is not resting on her laurels; she has already qualified for next year’s edition of the Boston Marathon. 

“Because of how tough it is to get a place, I thought it’d be a real missed opportunity if I didn’t run it again,” Claire told the Chronicle. 

“My main target for next year is to tackle two world majors in one week- I’m hoping to do Boston on the Monday, travel back and then do London on the following Sunday.” 

For now, Claire is setting her sights on a slightly shorter race, as she looks ahead to this weekend’s Manchester 10K.