In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, meet Ioana Barbu—an unstoppable ultra runner with big goals, bold energy, and a fierce belief in betting on herself.
After winning the Ice Ultra (230km at the Arctic Circle) and the Highland Ultra (125km in the Scottish Highlands) in 2025—each by hours and against stacked fields—Ioana is now going all-in to complete the entire Beyond the Ultimate series in one calendar year. That means racing across jungles, deserts, mountains, and ice—self-funded, self-motivated, and 100% committed.
We dive into her mindset, training strategy, and what it takes to juggle full-time work while prepping for some of the toughest foot races on Earth. From selling her flat to afford the journey, to building her endurance and community from scratch, Ioana’s story is raw, real, and massively inspiring.
Explicit language: This episode contains one F-bomb.
If you’re chasing big goals or need a fire lit under you—this is the one to listen to.
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Show notes
- Who is Ioana
- Based in London
- Working in post production of video production
- Being an ultra runner
- Growing up in Europe
- Moving to the UK at 18
- Living in New Zealand and Canada
- Being into Snowboarding
- Getting into running
- Her younger years
- Growing up with her grandparents in the countryside
- Getting into swimming, ballet
- Starting snowboarding in her early 20s and how it changed her life
- Wanting to get good at the sport
- Book: Power Speed Endurance : A Skill-Based Approach to Endurance Training. By Brian Mackenzie
- Breathe work, breathing, posture
- Running on a treadmill for training
- Training with Altitude Centre in London, in an altitude chamber
- Living in Wellington, New Zealand
- Working with a snowboarding coach
- Don’t think about it too much or you will catch fear
- Always end on a high
- Moving back to the UK and fast forward a few years
- Getting back into running during lockdown in 2020
- Starting to sign up for races
- Royal Parks Half Marathon
- How her running journey progressed
- Running the London Marathon for charity
- Make Some Noise
- Giving a voice to small charities
- Working with Spencer Matthews on his Big Fish Podcast
- Deciding to sign up for the - Beyond the Ultimate Jungle ultra - 230km
- Being surrounded by people who encourage you and support you
- Being told she couldn’t do a 30 miler
- I’ll prove you wrong
- Julian Morgan-Ayres
- The Early Birds
- Is it a race or is it an event?
- Emma Kirk-Odunubi - Running Coach
- To The Finish Line
- Having a lovely time running the marathon
- Adam Kimble - Running Coach
- Kris King
- Never quit at the end of the day
- Doing the right volume of training (6 days a week) but doing the wrong type of training
- Averaging about 30k - 50k a week max - which wasn’t enough
- Running 70k - 100k weeks
- More running and less hyrox/strength training
- Beyond The Ultimate - Jungle Ultra
- Palate fatigue
- Needing to be her own hero
- Winning Races
- Arctic Race - 230km race
- Going out to race and win
- Getting her period in the jungle and ending up doing the short course
- Wanting to make ultra running a full time job
- Global Expedition Medics
- Going into the ice-ultra with such a strong mindset
- Knowing what to expect with snow and ice
- 2025 - Racing the full series in one year (calendar year)
- Self funding the challenge
- Harry Edmonds - youngest racer to compete the extreme sport series
- How much will it cost?!
- Selling her flat and using the money to pay for the race series
- Needing to buy specialist kit
- Approx £30k so far…
- Wanting to quit her job and do this full time
- Dr Freya Bayne - London Southbank Uni Sports Department
- Heat acclimatisation in a heat chamber and why it was one of the best things to do before the desert race
- All female researchers
- How can people connect and follow along
- Final words of advice
- Find people who are like minded, don’t be afraid to join a community
- Inspiring other women to start running
Social Media
Website makesomenoise.enthuse.com/pf/ioana-barbu
Instagram @ioanabarboux