As the huge reputation of CurraNZ grows in endurance sport, we're delighted to announce and welcome these new ultra-running ambassadors to the CurraNZ family in the UK and New Zealand:
Meryl Cooper
British ultra-trail Running Champion, 2021, GB representative
Scottish ultra runner and coach Meryl is a leading light on the UK scene, racing to national title success in 2021 and representing Great Britain at the World Trail Running Championships in 2019 and 2022.
A brilliant season in 2021 also saw Meryl add Transgrancanaria 30km and Ultra X 50 Scotland women’s titles to her tally, rounded off with a brilliant sixth of 194 women at UTMB CCC World Series Final.
With several bouts of Covid causing major training and racing disruption last season, Meryl is looking forward to an interruption-free 2023, which she kicked off in style with a CurraNZ-powered win and new course record at the Fetteresso Trail Marathon in February.
Kim Collison
Ultra/Trail/Adventure/Mountain Marathon Runner, 2x GB/Northern Ireland representative, Lakeland 24 Hour Fell Record-holder
Kim is a hugely accomplished ultra-endurance athlete who has twice represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at World Trail Championships, winning team Bronze in 2015.
The British Trail Running Champion in 2014, Kim has set a number ultra records on the trails including Hardmoors 55 (55 miles), Lakeland Trails 110km (65 miles), Lakes in a Day (50 miles) and Arc of Attrition (100 miles).
In April 2021 he broke the record for the Paddy Buckley round in Wales (16 hours 20 mins 40 seconds). In July 2020, he set a new record in the Lakeland 24 hour Fell, with 78 tops in 23 hours 45 minutes.
A regular overseas, Kim has been a top-ten finisher in the Skyrunning World Championship, winning the Falcotrail Ultra in Spain and finisher at the Courmayeur Champex Chamonix (CCC), Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS) and Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB).
Kim says: “I have felt great using Curranz the last couple of years. I regularly take the supplement as part of my morning routine, and it helps me get the most out of my training. I’m looking forward to experimenting with it during my ultras to see if I can feel the added benefits later on in races or challenges.”
Lowri Morgan
Ultra / trail runner, ultra-cyclist, Ironman triathlete, broadcaster
BBC and S4C sport and adventure broadcaster Lowri is a regular on the endurance racing and extreme adventure scene, having completed some of the most gruelling foot races on the planet.
Lowri has the coveted 6633 Ultra win to her name - the only person to complete the race that year, and a top-ten overall finish in the Amazon’s 140-mile Jungle Marathon (both documentaries following these races have won BAFTA and international success).
She was also part of the first ever female crew to complete and take line honours in the Three Peaks Yacht Race which was filmed for Channel 4, came fourth in the World’s Toughest Mountain Race Dragon’s Back Race (despite being injured - she now presents the race for BBC) and has also completed the 333, which saw her run from North to South Wales via the country’s highest peaks in 60 hours a few months after giving birth to her son.
She has won multiple awards for her adventures and broadcasting and was invited to Buckingham Palace for a private meeting with the Queen for her services to adventure and exploration.
The TV cameras will again follow Lowri’s journey as she prepares and races in Ironman Wales in 2023.
Lowri, a busy working mum with a heavy training load, has noticed a difference using CurraNZ.
She says: “I don’t have time for recovery with everything I have on, my training load is massive and I need all the help I can get. I’ve been using CurraNZ consistently now and not feeling as bad as I was. Previously I’d come back from a run and would feel exhausted but now I’m able to train twice a day and am coping better mentally and physically.”
Anna Frost
Winner, Sky Runner World Series 2010, winner Hard Rock 100, Transvulcania
New Zealander Anna is another trail running legend and established icon of the trail running world.
While she divides her time between Colorado, USA and New Zealand, Anna has raced the world over since 2004 as a professional mountain, trail and ultra runner in every distance and terrain imagineable.
She has won the Sky Runner series and is a two-time winner of the Transvulcania and Hard Rock 100.
British Trail Champion, 2022
Chris, 40, a former amateur footballer, discovered his love of running in 2017 when taking up the sport as part of his rehab from bilateral hip surgery in 2016.
The former heavy drinker and smoker has achieved things that he never thought possible. From running his first marathon in 3:05:16 in 2018, he won his first Ultra, the Stour Valley Path 100km by over an hour and a half in course-record time.
He broke that record by 38 mins two years later with a time of 8:09:19 then stepped up to finish third in his first 100 miler in 2022, the Centurion Running South Downs Way 100, in a time of 15:53:05.
En route to winning his first national title last year, he won the Stour Valley Path 50km before winning the Ridgeway 86 miler, also the British Athletics Ultra Trail Championship.
He says: “Despite challenging conditions on the day I also manged to win this one too and capped off last year with a PB of 2:35:07 in the Valencia Marathon in December.”
“This is not something that I have spoken about or made public before but prior to finding running I was quite a heavy drinker and smoker.
“I found myself going down the wrong path during my late teens and early twenties. I had managed to turn things around to some extent however it was getting into running and turning vegan, which I did at a similar time, that really became the major catalyst for change in my life and I owe this sport an awful lot.”
With the London Marathon, Grand Union Canal (145-mile) and Lakeland 100 miler between now and July, Chris reports CurraNZ is making a tangible difference to his training.
He says: “I’ve been feeling much fresher following my sessions especially the big ones and when it’s time to go again, I’ve been ready and able to do so at the level required for my training.
“I have some big challenges this year and I am thrilled to have CurraNZ assisting me. The fact that it’s a 100% natural, vegan product is also really important for me.”