mimi anderson began running in her late 30s to help her overcome anorexia, since then she's gone on to become one of the top endurance runners in the world, breaking records wherever she goes. now she's preparing for her biggest challenge so far, to become the fastest woman to run across america. sophie raworth has been to meet her. for the next seven—and—a—half weeks, mimi anderson will be running at least 55 miles every single day as she makes her way from la to new york. it's taken years of planning and a lot of training. my run will start from los angeles and it will go all the way through colorado. she'll pass through 12 states in all as she tries to break the women's coast—to—coast record, set in 1979. 2,850 miles in total. that's a long way. here are all your medals, what a haul. i know.

that was mimi anderson there talking to sophie raworth. at mimi's greatjourney across america starts on thursday. newsnight is coming up on bbc two, here's emily. tonight, is the fight against female genital mutilation being handled the wrong way? families are left devastated by false claims. join me now on bbc two. here, on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. have a good night. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm leah boleto. coming up... back to winning ways, wales beat moldova to go second in their world cup qualifying group. but a crushing night for the republic of ireland. they're third after a defeat to group leaders serbia. and chris froome extends his overall lead at the vuelta a espana after winning today's time trail. hello, welcome to the programme. we'll start with the world cup qualifiers that have just finished up. wales took their time but managed a 2—0 win over moldova this evening. well, our sports correspondent katie gornell was watching the match with us tonight. katie, it was hard work watching the game, wales

mimi anderson, who starts her journey across america on thursday. could be even bigger. these are satellite images of hurricane irma, taken by a nasa satellite. it's been upgraded to category 5, meaning it's extremely dangerous. it's heading for the caribbean, and then onto the southern united states, and could bring wind speeds of around 175 miles—per—hour. chris fawkes is here for more. chris, it looks pretty frightening. it is incredible, it is the strongest atlantic facing hurricane on record, winds of 180 mph and stronger gusts that could reach 220 mph. sojust stronger gusts that could reach 220 mph. so just catastrophic damage they could do but they are half the story. there is also going to be huge rainfall and into the centre of the pressure in the middle of the storm, the sea surface bulges up and we get a storm surge as the sea works into the land and that itself could be 11 foot. iam works into the land and that itself could be 11 foot. i am six foot three, imagine two of me, a wall of water blown in by the hurricane. it works in a cross

for the next 7.5 weeks, mimi anderson will be running at least 55 miles every single day as she makesears of planning and a lot of training. my run will start from los angeles and it will go all the way through colorado. she'll pass through 12 states in all as she tries to break the women's coast to coast record set in 1979. 2,850 miles in total, that's a long way. here are all your medals, what a haul. i have to say i'm quite proud of them actually. but mimi is used to cover challenges. she took up running in her mid—30s and since then has conquered some of the hardest endurance races in the world. this one here, the marathon des sables, which is 250 kilometres over six days in the sahara desert was my very first race in 2001, nearly died doing it but i loved it, that was fantastic. the arctic race is called 6633 extreme ultra marathon, 350 miles non—stop over eight days in temperatures as low as —40 and i actually won that race overall, male and female. and i came i think in 2a hours ahead of the only other person who finished. but running across america is her toughest challenge ye

mimi anderson began running in her late 30s to help her overcome anorexia since then she's gone on torecords wherever she goes. now she's preparing for her biggest challenge so far, to become the fastest woman to run across america. sophie raworth went to meet her. for the next 7.5 weeks, mimi anderson will be running at least 55 miles every single day as she makes her way from la to new york. it's taken her way from la to new york. it's ta ke n yea rs her way from la to new york. it's ta ken years of her way from la to new york. it's taken years of planning and a lot of training. might run will start from los angeles and it will go all the way through colorado. she'll pass through 12 states in all as she tries to break the women's coast to coast record set in 1979. 2850 miles in total, that's a long way. here are all your medals, what a haul.|j have to say i'm quite proud of them. but mimi is used to cover challenges, she took up running in her mid— 30s and since then has conquered some of the hardest endurance races in the world. this one here, 250 kilometres over six daysin one her

for the next seven—and—a—half weeks, mimi anderson will be running at least 55 miles every single day start from los angeles and it will go all the way through colorado.