Her Ultra follows eight ordinary yet extraordinary women, all novice athletes, who go on an epic adventure in the wilds of Finland with Ultra Coach Hannah Walsh. With only eight months of virtual training before, all the ladies met for the first time in person to start a challenging 250 km Racing the Planet Lapland ultra-race above the Arctic Circle.
Watch the trailer here:
With the race taking place in 2022, the story captured the imagination of award-winning independent film producer and running enthusiast Kristin Tegtmeier Higgins, inspiring her to create the feature-length documentary Her Ultra, sharing the inspiring stories of the women taking on this life-changing challenge and celebrating their adventurous, courageous and free spirit.
Itching to find a fulfilling adventure, the film focuses on a group of women, from twenty-six to sixty-eight years old who decide they are ready to take on this intense physical challenge and push themselves to the very edge of their limits – in a multi-stage self-supported ultra-marathon.
They run, sleep, eat, repeat across the stunningly beautiful landscape, increasingly shifting the dial on their own self-confidence as they go.
Kristin Tegtmeier Higgins, Producer & Director, says: “Racing the Planet has been in existence for 20 years and as a trail runner, I had been looking at their website and reading about these incredible races for years, never having the courage to actually do one…
So, I started talking with the founder of Racing the Planet, Mary Gadams about doing a film and we very quickly decided on talking to Hannah Walsh, about following her inaugural group of normal, everyday women, who are all inexperienced runners, doing their first 250k race across Lapland. I also chose that race because it is gorgeous in Finland and I knew that the setting would be visually amazing as well.”
Hannah Walsh, women’s ultra-running coach, says:
“I started Project: Breaking 250 because I wanted to help more women disconnect from their everyday routines and be a part of something greater than themselves.
I get huge joy from helping these women see past their limitations. Coaching, for me, is about creating a space for women to come together to find a sense of belonging, community, and the realisation that you are not on this journey alone.”
Her Ultra will have its premiere at The Ham Yard Hotel, London on 24th July.
An end of year release is planned for the film.
About the film-maker:
Kristin Tegtmeier Higgins is an independent film producer having discovered a passion for making movies after growing up in her family’s rural movie theatre business.
She began to make films alongside raising a family and a successful career in enterprise software marketing in Silicon Valley. Kristin also studied screenwriting at UCLA and finally film production at San Francisco Film School. She has gone on to make multiple award-winning short films, and a narrative feature film: ClearMind (2024). Kristin’s love of sports and running led her to direct and produce Her Ultra.
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