Elisabet Barnes\u2019 Tuesdays look slightly different than before. On this particular Tuesday in June, the 43-year-old Swedish ultrarunning elite and extreme-event coach sits in front of her webcam in her home in Norway, her brown hair brushed back and the red curtains drawn. After sifting through her trove of trinkets earlier contemplating which she would highlight to her followers today, she’s decided the time has finally come for the glass dildos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s interesting about this is that I just threw this in people\u2019s faces,\u201d Barnes says with an equally cheeky and reticent grin the following day. \u201cThey were like, \u2018Oh my God, she used to post about running. That\u2019s a dildo.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the seventh week of Elisabet Barnes\u2019 Toy Tuesday, a segment in which the 2015 and 2017 Marathon des Sables female champion showcases different sex toys. In four minutes, Barnes explains everything from texture to usage of the seven-and-a-half-inch Fifty Shades of Grey glass wand. A week ago, she explained the ins and outs of a violet rabbit vibrator. The week before saw pleasure balls featuring Barnes in a glamourous red fur coat, her hair curled to perfection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think a lot of [women] are afraid to be feminine. They don\u2019t want to get that attention. You know, I did this not because I\u2019m a woman but because I\u2019m just as good as everyone else.”<\/p>Elisabet Barnes<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Most in the running world know Barnes as the two-time champion of the women\u2019s 2015 and 2017 Marathon des Sables \u2013 the seven-day, 250-km trek through the Moroccon desert considered the ninth toughest race in the world. Or perhaps for winning the six-stage, 160-mile Big Red Run in Australia the year in between her des Sables victories, beating the nearest competitor, male or female, by an hour. Since entering the ultratrails in 2011, Barnes has become one of many women mounting the narrative of female ultrarunning\u2019s successes. Women and men flock to her social media pages for advice, coaching, inspiration, dinner recipes. Now, she’s the woman holding the dildo and blogging about candualism and contraception apps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI lost a lot of followers. I remember my first sexy photo and,\u201d Barnes points downwards and laughs, \u201c1500 followers gone. Boom, like that.” She laughs again, an easy but unapologetic chime. “It\u2019s polarising. When I post only about running, food, mundane things, it\u2019s easy to be engaged with what I\u2019m doing. It\u2019s completely non-threatening. When I\u2019m authentic, they leave.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n