Celebrate International Women's Day with all these record-breaking women who outdid men

This weekend marks International Women's Day 2026, and although we feel women should be celebrated each day, we thought that we would look back at some of the amazing ladies who've outdone their male counterparts in the world of record breaking.

Cycling into the record books

Between 29 June 2019 to 18 March 2020, Rachael Marsden and Catherine Dixon (both UK) cycled their way into record-breaking history by completing the fastest circumnavigation by tandem bicycle (female).

The pair set off from Oxford, UK, then cycled through many different countries including France, Albania, Thailand and Mexico to name a few. In total, their journey lasted 263 days, 8 hours and 7 minutes, and the pair cycled between 80-100 miles on average per day and occasionally completed 120 miles in a day.

They cycled on the tandem bike they named "Alice" and listened to lots of audiobooks on their journey to keep themselves motivated. In total, they managed to raise £31,400 (£37,265 including Gift Aid) and made it into Guinness World Records history!

The pair told us: "Each country was different and we were privileged to meet some amazing and incredibly supportive people en route... the kindness of strangers was amazing all over the world."

These amazing women didn't only claim the women's record but also beat the men's one too! The record for fastest circumnavigation by tandem bicycle (male) was completed on 16 May 2019 by Lloyd Edward Collier and Louis Paul Snellgrove (both UK) in 281 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes.

Running each day to make GWR history

On 5 November 2022, Candice Burt (USA) showed that women have a gift for endurance by beginning her record-breaking attempt for most consecutive days to run an ultra marathon distance (female).

With 13 years of ultra marathon experience already under her belt, Candice was in a good position to break the record.

Before beginning her attempt, she had set a goal to complete 100 consecutive ultra-distance runs but managed to double that goal before deciding to finish. On 23 May 2023, she had successfully smashed the record with a total of 200 consecutive days ran.

The men's record doesn't come close. Between 27 September and 15 December 2025, Sam King (UK) broke the record for most consecutive days to run an ultra marathon distance (male) by running a total of 80 days in a row.

300 miles of amazing running feats!

Another incredible running record was awarded to Courtney Dauwalter (USA) on 2 September 2023 when she set the Guinness World Records title for first completion of ultrarunning's "Triple Crown".

So, what is the triple crown? It is when a runner wins three prestigious 100-mile races. Between 24 June and 2 September 2023, Courtney won the Western States 100, the Hardrock 100 and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.