First Australian to conquer Racing the Planet's Grand Slam Plus

Racing the Planet stages five 250 km ultras each year across some of the most inhospitable desert environments on earth: Namibia, Mongolia, Jordan, Antarctica and Chile. As Sal read more about the series, she discovered no Australian had ever run all five races in a year. Challenge accepted.

`I thought—that’s me. I’m there. I want to be the first Australian, not first female, but first Australian.’

She signed up for the Gobi Desert ultra, scheduled for Mongolia in June, allowing her a reasonable 12 weeks to prepare. In the meantime, she contacted organisers to let them know she was aiming to be the first Australian to complete the `Grand Slam Plus’.

To her horror, she found out she’d got the timing slightly wrong.

`They said, `No, Sal, if you want to be the first Australian, you have to start with Namibia—and it’s in three weeks’ time.’'

Cue a brief meltdown, followed by a cup of cold concrete and some Herculean organisation, and three weeks later, Sal was running through 57-degree heat in Namibia to complete her first 250 km.

Each subsequent desert had unique challenges. In Mongolia, she battled blisters that felt `like someone was shoving a knife into my feet’. Jordan was `relentless’, while in Antarctica, she earned the opportunity to complete an extra lap of the 4 km circuit after finishing the race.

Although her body just wanted to stop, Sal took up the offer not only because she knew she would never get the chance again, but as a show of gratitude and respect for her charity of choice, Nerve Connection. Throughout her record attempt, Sal has been raising money for the Queensland foundation that funds research to find a cure for diseases of the muscle and nerves, such as muscular dystrophy and motor neurone disease.

`There was no way I was going to say no to having another opportunity to do another lap when the people that I’m raising funds and awareness for would not have that opportunity. So that straightaway gave me the motivation.’

In April 2025, Sal achieved her goal, finishing the Atacama Crossing ultra in Chile to become the first Australian to complete the Five Desert Grand Slam Plus.

Her post-race `celebration’ was much more subdued than planned, however, due to ongoing nausea and exhaustion from the gruelling high-altitude course, which hovers at a dizzying 2400-3000m above sea level.

`I underestimated the impact that (altitude) had on me with nausea, dizziness etc leading to lack of appetite.’

On day four, Sal had one of the most challenging days of her entire record attempt when she hit Atacama’s famed salt flats, which she likened to running on frozen broccoli.

``Running at this point was virtually impossible; constant stumbles and ankle rolling. At the end of the 44km for that day I was in incredible pain, dehydrated and sick. I kept asking myself, and those around me, how on earth was I going to get 75km done the next day. Quitting was not an option, so that left trying to get some sleep and getting checkpoint to checkpoint the next day; break it into small achievable parts and hope for the best.’’

Finishing was elation mixed with relief … and the ongoing nausea. Now she’s back on thankfully sea-level home soil, Sal plans a bigger celebration with those who have cheered her on, sponsored her and donated to Nerve Connection.

But stay tuned, as she's not going to lie around on the couch. In late August Sal is off to run the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a timed 175km race through France, Italy and Switzerland. Of course she is.