She's run a marathon in Kenya and cycled across the US but Pippa Middleton has said that taking part in a gruelling swim-run was "one of the hardest things" she's ever done. The keen sportswoman was in Sweden for the Otillo Swimrun World Championship, which she completed with her younger brother James and her friends James Matthews and Jons Bartholdson.
Pippa, who celebrated her 32nd birthday before the challenge, may have been exhausted but she was smiling brightly as she crossed the finish line on Monday.
The younger sibling of the Duchess of Cambridge came in 82nd, completing the 47-mile course in 13 hours, 4 minutes and 24 seconds.
Pippa Middleton completed the 47-mile course in just over 13 hours
She and her brother competed in support of the Michael Matthews Foundation, which helps build schools in poverty-stricken areas around the world and is named in honour of 22-year-old Michael who died in an accident on Mount Everest. Michael's older brother, James, who also took part, used to date Pippa.
The Otillo race features teams of two swimming about six miles in the frigid Baltic Sea followed by a 40-mile trail run.
She competed in Sweden alongside her teammate Jons Bartholdson
"It's relentless," Pippa, who had trained in Sweden especially before the race, told Reuters. "Much of the running is trail running on uneven ground, hopping over rocks on the shore line, dipping in and out of bays."
The author and columnist went on to describe the challenge as "an unusual and unique event, not for the faint-hearted," but something that she had wanted to do because she was "taken by the idea of competing in the stunning surroundings" of the Swedish archipelago islands.
It was "an unusual and unique event, not for the faint-hearted," said Pippa
Earlier this summer Pippa completed her first marathon in Kenya in aid of Tusk Trust, the conservation charity supported by her brother-in-law Prince William. Writing exclusively for HELLO! magazine, Pippa explained why she wanted to run the taxing 42km course.
"I decided that a marathon was a 'life box' that needed ticking and this year was my time – despite it being one of the toughest in the world, with temperatures rising to more than 30ºC, at an altitude of 5,550ft and with the possibility of bumping into lions or rhinos," she wrote.
Finishing in three hours, 56 minutes – placing her 30th overall out of the 200 competitors – Pippa recalled: "I was exhausted. My eyes welled up with tears. Could I really manage this? I turned right and thought of the schoolchildren, the rhinos, elephants and lions, the incredible Tusk projects – the reason I was doing this."