Written by Neil Turnbull - https://thefarsideofbeyond.wordpress.com

So Chapter 2 was born after my failed attempt in Chapter 1. I won’t go into the details on this post as I have already covered the subject……. and in some detail too. However if you do actually fancy reading an account of Chapter 1, then you will find a long winded and rather rambling post on the page that is oddly entitled “Chapter 1”.

Back on track then – Chapter 2 was a 24 hour solo run on a 5 mile circuit of the tracks and trails of Shear Water in Wiltshire. Commencing at midday on Sat 19 Sept 2015, and if all went to plan, not finishing until midday on Sun 20 Sept 2015.

The short version (for those that can’t face another drawn out and never ending post from me) is that it did all go to plan: 24 hours. 14 laps. 70 miles. 6,762 feet elevation.

For those that prefer more meat on their bone:  read on…………………………………

I arrived at Shear Water car park, bright eyed and bushy tailed at 1030 am. I had arranged to meet Jane, who is the wife of my friend Martin O’Neill (more about Martin later). Jane had very kindly offered the use of their enormous, mahoosive motor home as a base, as well as agreeing to remain at the location for the entire duration of the event. Prior to actually seeing the motor home I had already began to think of and refer to it as “the mothership”. Seeing it on the day did nothing to dissuade me from continuing to so. I was a beast!!

Jane and I quickly got to work erecting the Help for Heroes banners and organising all the other items that the charity had provided. Underneath the awning we placed out chairs and laid out all my food and drink on a table. Now, attached to the front of this table was one of the H4H banners, and before I had even finished organising my food, two elderly gents pulled up into the car park. As they got out of their car they observed the banners and wandered over, asking as they did so, how much the food was to buy. No no no no. My food. Not for sale. Sorry. I explained this to them in a more polite manner and informed them of my purpose for being there. They kindly put some money in the collection bucket……and left minus any food. I gather from those that took a stint of piloting the mothership that this was a regular occurrence throughout the event. However when it was explained as to what I was attempting and why, all the intended purchaser left still hungry and having put money in the collection bucket :) The Shear Water Lake Tea Room also had a collection bucket in their cafe and donated all their staff tips for both days as well.

Midday arrived before I knew it. This would be time for me to go then. My spouse to be Donna had arrived along with my step son Josh and youngest daughter Summer. My eldest daughter Stacey was also there with my grandson Ronnie too. In fact she liked it so much she is going back next weekend!! I departed with the sound of friends and family clapping and cheering and the tones of Aces and Twos by The Devil Makes Three ringing in my ears.

As I made my way on the inaugural lap I felt fantastic. The sun was shining, I was outside in nature, I had vested a (fairly) large amount of time and energy to get to this point…….and now it was here. It was happening! Was I under trained for a 24 hour run? “Hell yes!!!” is the honest answer. I had dropped many runs in my preparation, mainly due to the “Big L” – Life – popping up and scuppering my best laid plans.  Those that have read some of my previous post will know that I can’t use that as a stick to beat myself with. It happens. C’est la vie. I also knew that over training was a much more perilous demon to deal with. “Under train and you can still finish. Over train and you probably won’t even make the start line” – someone far more an accomplished runner than I once said. And I took confidence from the training I had done – I concentrated on hills and time on my feet, avoided junk miles, and the sessions I did do were quality ones. So as I quickly arrived at my first climb of the day I felt invincible, the sun was out, the sky was blue, what else would anyone rather be doing on a day like this? Probably not a 24 hour run. But what do they know eh!!

Invincible in the sun

I also knew this particular route inside/out. I had run the circuit countless times and knew where every twist and turn were.Where every sharp bend was. Every rock and every boulder. Every tree root waiting to trip me up. Every overhanging branch lurking to pounce. Every point on the trail that was boggy and every section that was dry and compact……………..or so I thought. In the main I was right……….but one particular small section still managed to take me by surprise.

As I reached the top of the first climb and turned left making my way down a steady ascent I came across an area of the forest that had recently been the victim of a burglary. Some one  had brazenly stolen some of the trees. Perhaps I should of taken this as an omen for what lay ahead. Lay being the operative word in that sentence.

Someone call the police!

About a mile further on from the site of the home invasion the trail disappeared. In the words of Tommy Cooper – “Just like that”. But not in a puff of smoke – as if by a magician pulling an epic prank on me. And there was no way I could be hallucinating yet. Not now. Surely not after only 30 mins of running. This was going to be one very long, trippy night if I was!! But the trail was gone. Instead I was faced with a mass of greenery where once there had been a nice little trail.

Hmmm. Err. ???

So, as I didn’t happen to have a chainsaw stuffed in my waist belt today (next time perhaps), I detoured around the green wall and was met with this on the other side:

Somewhere to sit down a bit later on maybe.

So having stolen trees from a mile back, the thieves thought that they would have another go here. Probably got disturbed by the zombies that frequent theses woods and made off empty handed this time!

The rest of the first lap went pretty much as expected and I made my way around, up, down or through these:

My plan was to have a quick pit stop of no more than 5 mins after each lap with a longer 15/20 min stop on every second lap (10 miles). And this is what I managed to do. I am not going to write an account of every single lap cos that would not only be boring for me to write……. but even more boring to read. Well done for those that have read this far by the way!

At about 6.30pm I was joined by a running buddy Steve Carroll from Frome Running Club who ran a lap with me. I have been to a few Ultra events that Steve has been at too, and I recently travelled to and from Long Run in the Meadow early this month with him. I know (cos he told me) – he would of liked to have stayed to do a few laps in the dark but had Purbeck Marathon the following morning. Next year Steve :) At 10pm I met up with Martin O’Neill (told ya I would get back to him again). Martin is a mad as a box of frogs Irish man, who also happens to be keen runner and fit as a fiddlers arm. The night shift was gonna be a blast. Two grumpy old men, in the woods, in the middle of the night – what could go wrong!! He ran every lap with me, through the dark, cold, small hours of the middle of the night, and continuing with me until I finished at 12 pm on Sun afternoon. Martin had joined me for a lap of the route prior to this day coming so he was familiar with it.  However on our first lap together we came across a hill that has a particularly steep incline. At the bottom of the hill Martin said “I don’t remember this hill. At the top of the hill he swore at the hill and said “I can see why I blocked that out from my memory now”.On all the remaining laps and after every successful  ascent of this particular hill – Martin swore at it.

Officially named “The hill of many curses”

A condensed version of the night would be fair to say, we tripped, we stumbled, we climbed over trees, my left knee hurt, I fell – more than once, we slipped, we slid, we talked utter tripe,we played the alphabet game – twice, my left knee still hurt, we laughed, we joked, we swore, my knee still hurt, we talked more tripe, I ate Martin’s jelly babies, my left knee still hurt, I ate soup, I drank coffee, both of us had head torch issues at on point or the other (thankfully not both at the same time), and we took it really steady through the hours of no light. In fact it was mostly walking (and eating) at this point. It wasn’t until the sun came up that I got an energy transfusion and even considered a little bit of running again.

So a whistle stop summary to the finish then: I was joined on my final lap by Denise Ellis and Tina Vivian from Avon Valley Runners. I had warned Denise beforehand that I probably wouldn’t be moving very fast by this stage (not that I moved fast prior to that) and to think “comatose tortoise”. In that respect I wasn’t lying – it was a slow lap.On my way through the small village that leads to the car park where the mothership was orbiting I was given a rendition of……..I’m sorry I didn’t actually recognise the tune,…….of something by two girls playing a violin and a cello. Surreal!! I was also met Martin White of Frome Running Club who had been running around the woods for about 7.5 miles looking for me. He found me 200m from the finish!! Likewise Carrie Wooley and Angel Preece had been stumbling through the woods (and following their own footprints in the mud) trying to find me. Go girls!!!

I finished the 24 hours. It was my walk on the moon, my sail away and see if the world is flat. I had never ran for 24 hours before and I wanted to see how I fared. I now know . It was fun :) :)

HUGE HUGE thank you to all the following. They all gave up their time to support me in one way or the other, and to be there for me. Time is the most precious thing that can be given. I am genuinely indebted to them all

Martin & Jane O’Neill, Donna Mounty, Stacey Turnbull, Steve Carroll, Martin White,Lorraine Rice, Vicky Howick, Carrie Wooley, Angel Preece, Denise Ellis, Tina Vivian, Josh Venn, Megan Mounty, and all the staff from The Shear Water Lake Tea Room

Written by Aleks Kashefi - https://pursuingthevoid.wordpress.com

Sunday 30^th August (Day 34 of my run).  After 38 miles I had an amusing conversation with my Uncle, who joined me to run some of the final sections as the reason for my run was also close to his heart.

“So, when are we actually going home?” he asked

“You’ve seen the schedule haven’t you?” I replied

“Yes, but when are we actually going home? You’ve got over a hundred miles to cover.”

“I’m finishing this thing Wednesday.”

“No you’re not. When are you planning on finishing? I hate camping so when do I get to go home?”

The weather was poor at the start and poor at the end. It didn’t matter though. I’d said that I’d finish on the 2nd and that’s what I was going to do.

But I get ahead of myself, how did I get to the North of Scotland? How can I share, what was an epic journey for me, the scale of the undertaking in a way that doesn’t fill page upon page with thousands of words?

I’ve tried 3 times to make this a concise post on the experience of running LeJog (Lands End to John o’Groats). The problem lies with the fact that it was 38 days, or 35 days of running with lots of different things happening on the majority of days, so I’m going to compress the days into sections of trails to give an idea of what it was like to run, unsupported from one end of the country to the other.

Starting on the South West Coast path meant that navigation was actually fairly easy. Just keep the sea on your left. Occasionally you end up following a desire line (the sections of trail that cut corners or wander off away from the trail only to re-join them later on) or getting carried away on a downhill route, but generally it didn’t take long to realise that the route I was on wasn’t quite right. I even started to try and find more direct routes from A to B as I realised the frustrations of running along fractals! The SWC follows the coast so tightly that in parts a marked 3 mile route would take an hour of running, so I learnt to ignore the distances early on and just focus on place names. You may think that finding drinking water and food was easy, but actually, staying on the coast path you won’t see many shops or places for food. The LifeStraw water filter I was carrying meant I could drink from most for the puddles and streams, but this is where I started to drink less than is normally recommended. It was a balancing act between the weight of the pack and the discomfort of being thirsty. Bigger towns like St. Ives were a good place to stock up or just gorge on food before moving on. The SWC path is incredible to run along and it shouldn’t be seen as being flat, since the day with the most climb per mile was along this glorious bit of trails.

Finding Sleeping spots became easier, and on some nights you’d bump into kind people who’d recommend a glorious spot like this one (thanks Keith)

Then there’s the weather and tide times. If you’re lucky, there won’t be any rain or wind. If like me you aren’t, be ready to be blown around a fair bit and to get wet. But there is a distinct advantage to running the coast. If you get tired or bored of the winding, technical and hilly routes you have the option of running along the sandy beaches and do a little bit of scrambling along the rockier parts of the coast. If you know the tide times, then they make for a fun game of beat the tide, as you see how far you can get before the tide forces you back on to the coastal path. It was along this path and early on that I picked up the first of two injuries.

It’s possible to carry on moving with lots of injuries, but this one led to tendonitis in the opposite leg! Compensation injuries suck.

The gales on the second day had a tendency to catch me off guard and on one of them I was running towards a rock stile and got pushed off balance, catching the top of my foot on the rock. It did what most body parts do if you hit them hard enough. The swelling was fairly impressive and egg shaped, but it didn’t affect my running, or so I thought. I lucked out on the camping sites and managed to get a few good sleeps in, although not having seen any of the trails or areas I ran through (this was the case for everywhere I went apart from the stretch between Bakewell and Hathersage) it took me a while to get the whole skill of finding a suitable sleeping spot sorted. The best way is to use Googlemaps on satellite view and locate a field that is sheltered from view and if the weather is dire, sheltered from the weather.

The worse spot I found to sleep. I was paranoid all night that someone would return!!

There are a few sections along the coast path that can’t be crossed at high tide (like the section between Crantock and Newquay) so those tide times come in handy and you can buy a book cheaply with a years’ worth of tide times in!!

The beach at Crantock at low tide makes for a short route to Newquay. Otherwise your choice is to swim or head in land and on to the roads.

Luckily the tide was out enough to cross the estuary and get up and out towards the SWC in Newquay.

But I’m getting side tracked…

The euphoria of reaching the end of a day and being on track with your schedule. Upper parts of Closely.

Clovelly is a delightful little place, where you either go steeply down or have to crawl up.

The journey takes you to Clovelly and this is the first part where you notice a distinct change in the terrain. Gone are the rocky technical trails. They’re replaced by mud and dirt trails with larger rocks that occasionally poke out the ground. There are still some of those awesome hills to run down and up which makes arriving at the mouth of the estuary and Barnstaple a bit of an anti-climax. 5 days in I arrived at Barnstaple and up until the last few miles I felt great. Crossing the estuary along the A39 I could feel my right calf getting tighter and an annoying ache developing at the point where the Achilles tendon joins the Soleus muscle. Here’s injury number two…. Tendonitis!

This was the moment when I had to decide whether the journey was over or not. Luckily a friend sent me a message that did the trick. Thanks Amy.

Sometimes you just have to make the most of a shit situation. Thanks to some friends, the injury could be forgotten for a bit.

I managed to hook up with an old friend and then spent the next day working out whether this was the end of the trip. With a swollen foot on one side and tendonitis on the other I wasn’t sure if I should carry on with a schedule that was around 35 miles every day, so, I changed the schedule. This is probably key to people completing or failing a LeJog. I was really hell bent on sticking to the route and the schedule until that point. After it I seemed to adopt a nice daily routine and it must have been a good one. I finished 31 days later. So, here’s there routine that seemed to develop organically. Wake up around 5:30am, check the schedule for place names and then plant the route. The planning of the route involved plotting waypoints on the OS map app and making a mental note of the overall mileage. Next was packing the equipment and getting it in the pack in a specific order to minimise the size of the pack and make it comfortable to carry. Tent was always packed away last. The days running and walking was done at my leisure. It was my holiday time after all, so if I wanted to sit and have a coffee in a cafe or a drink in a pub I did do. I found the combination of half a pint of beer, a pint of cola and a pack of pork scratchings to be the perfect pick me up before doing any part of a route that I knew would be difficult. The navigation was done by memorising small 1-3 miles sections and just going along them until I either reached the end of what I remembered or I needed to be sure that I was heading in the right direction. I even managed to navigate across Exmoor using the most basic road map ever. I have to say I loved my compass that day.

Exmoor. Completely different to the SWC path and the start of some good weather.

Finding those hidden places on open access land made up for the excruciating pain of the hugely swollen Achilles tendon on my right foot.

The days had a tendency of blending into each other and the coping strategy of not focusing on the entire journey and only small sections, meant that I could never really say where I started a day or two before. The tendonitis was managed using a stout wooden walking stick that I picked up somewhere on a hill in Exmoor. It was the most Lord of the Rings stick I could find and being a fan of the Hobbit, a fair few quotes were randomly shared with any vegetation or animal that was close enough to hear me.

Sleeping spot at Wheedon Cross. I actually could decide where to sleep it was such a big space!

Eating left over roast potatoes thanks to the kind folks at Wheedon Cross. Exmoor has some great woodland trails.

Typical of the Exmoor I saw. Big rolling hills and woodlands. And lots of dried out thistles!

This is where the weather improved and then got warm! The Somerset flats were like running in an oven and with the constant change between footpath and road, my feet were either comfortably cold or burning hot. As you hit Exmoor and move away from the coast you get farms. This is where you can feast on fruit, vegetables and eggs, and all at a really low price. Little stalls with honesty boxes are the only reason I managed to find food as I made my way to Cheddar, since most of the villages and hamlets didn’t have shops or… The shops didn’t open until I was a fair few miles away.

The night before reaching Cheddar. Great little hidden spot and a glorious sunset.

This is where the animals have a tendency of following you around a field. Be ready to be a cow or sheep magnet!

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Adhoc physio to try and reduce that egg on my foot and help deal with the tendonitis. In the words of my physio friend Nick, ‘Squeeze the F*@% out of it!”

Heading away from Cheddar and towards the Severn Bridge.

The flatness made this part of the trip a little monotonous but at the same time you can cover a good amount of ground without the strain of running hills. That is until you hit the Cheddar Gorge. If you get there, go over it. The view was amazing, even in under the grey sky that threatened me with yet more rain. Apart from the view, going up a big hill always means running down the other side, and the descent was fun! Even running with a gnarly walking stick didn’t seem to matter, and then it was back down and along flat trails. The days that followed were all about getting from A to B. the A and the B didn’t really matter and I think I must have completely zoned out. I don’t actually remember where I went through at all. That is until one of those moments that make everything worthwhile…

I realised that regardless of how much I disliked the urban sections, they still provided some great views.

A hidden gem along that you won’t find unless you leave the Offa’s Dyke path and explore. Don’t expect to find footpath though, since no one uses them anymore.

The final trig on the Black Mountains. Didn’t have to bag this one, but I’m so glad I did.

View of the sky at Hay-On-Wye

A classic Offa’s Dyke path Style on route to Knighton.

Sometimes, you just have to take a nap. doesn’t matter where since there never seemed to be any people about!

One of these moments happened on the trail that meanders along Wenlock Edge. Lots of woodland trails and if you move quietly enough you might be lucky enough to walk or run along with deer. I was amazed at the way they moved up the hill like I wasn’t there and wish I hadn’t decided to try and take a picture. Before I did, I walked up the hill with them about 2m from me on a higher section of the path, side by side. All I can say is that if you see it in a film and think “stuff like that never happens”, it does. One of the best memories of the trip, even though it only lasted about 2-3minutes max. The next few days seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, I had crossed the river Severn, experienced the wonder that if the Offa’s Dyke path (especially leading from Chepstow to Monmouth), met up with some really old friends and I was in Yorkshire and heading towards the North and Scotland. The tendonitis had improved by managing the amount of walking and running I did. I forced myself to walk lots of sections, reminding myself of the agony of walking across Exmoor and towards Cheddar. Now, research the Pennine Way and you should make sure you pay attention to the word BOG! The first sections are glorious to run and walk, with good ground beneath your feet, lots of places to stop for food and drink and plenty of water sources. The section through the Somerset flats had little to no suitable drinking water. That were I realised that the 2l of water recommendation didn’t seem to be true for my body. The litre to litre and a half I drank per day didn’t leave me with that dehydration ache that you can get after or even during a race. I managed the swelling of my feet by wrapping each foot in a bike inner tube, moving the foot backwards and forwards for about a minute before repeating it with the other foot, and purposefully sleeping with my feet higher than my head. But again I’m off on a tangent, so back to the Pennine Way…

Sunrise at Abbots Bromley, with the next stop being Bakewell.

Meal curtsy of Bob at The Outdoor Stations and Backpackinglight.co.uk
The strategy was simply ‘eat when and where you can’

The Pennine Way, before I realised it was most BOG!

One of many pub stops, but this one was one near home and with my Uncle who has a tendency of erm… speaking his mind ;)

Hadrian’s Wall is such fun to run along but the boggy sections after are likely to wipe it from your short term memory. All I remember thinking to myself was, I will be in Scotland tomorrow and despite being tired, I plotted and followed my route through Bellingham and up on to the Cheviots. The views were great and it was good to jump over the gate that marked the boundary between English and Scottish soil. I headed down out of the hills and made my way to Jedburgh the first Scottish stopping point.

The last section of England up on the Cheviots.

Post Jedburgh sunset. A miscalculation of distance meant a night in a field next to the A9. It was just ever so slightly noisy.

The Forth Firth from the road. Luckily to have had this view, since after the earlier sections, the road would have been should destroying otherwise.

Amusingly, a person in the pub mistook me for someone who was homeless and told me that I should get my pint and make sure I don’t leave my bag behind as I leave the pub to drink outside! At the time I had no idea what he meant, and it’s only the sign on the back of my pack that let him know he was being a bit of a ‘prat’, which got quickly followed by the people he was drinking with ripping into him with little jibes. For some reason I decided to have a day off after Jedburgh. I’m not 100% sure that I needed the break, but something in my head convinced me that it was a good idea, and I spend the next day replanning my route. Why? Because my dear friend and constant source of common sense and information, Pete Ambrose nagged me until I did.

Extract of conversations with the home support guru…

Pete “Do you want me to see if there is a shorter straighter route? Is that the question?”

“I guess yeah” Aleks

Pete “Keld to John O’Groats via the Cicerone route is 580 miles…”

“on the road via google maps, 410 miles”

“Choices Choices.”

Pete “Look at this for a beautiful clean line

http://www.hockeylejog.co.uk/map.htm

http://www.hockeylejog.co.uk/journal6.htm

Route from Edinburgh to JOG

Thank the Rustons for this.”

“I’ll get the maps and start looking at some point. Struggling to move legs today.” Aleks

Pete “Are the legs stuck in a bog?”

“No, but probably aching because of the bog trotting. Slow day today” Aleks

Mr Ruston on holiday. It was great to see people I knew along the way, and I gladly waited for them if I was ahead of schedule. It made the trip worth while in some ways.

Why is bad weather good? Because it give you sunsets of incredible beauty!

I wanted to get back home a little earlier and actually spend a bit of time enjoying the experience, as opposed to getting back and going straight into work the next day. This is where I became more of a road runner, with the odd trail thrown in to stop me going insane. Still, the route I followed provided some amazing views and gave me the change to cut straight through the Cairngorms. The start of the Cairngorms was ok, the middle was dire (bogs, wind and rain that actually got me cold enough to find it difficult to move my arms) but then, the little stormy section of weather blew over and gave me some of the best views of the whole LeJog trip. This is where I stared to get a little flippant with the mileage. From Jedburgh to John O’Groats I averaged around 38-40 miles per day, finishing around 6-7pm each evening. With 4 days left, I decided to cut a 38 mile day down to 18!! Why? Laziness I guess.

The wooded section from Blair Athol on route to the Cairngorms. Have to say it was all pleasant, even with the freezing weather!

The storm that blew over as I reached the 912m peak of the route. It was more like winter than summer.

The joy of being off the bog and having glorious sunshine!

Scotland has to be the land of rainbows. I’ve never seem so many in so few days.

Barefoot running sometimes results in a hippy look! Flowers between toes is a barefooting hazard.

The thing is, our bodies and brains, once we let them know who is boss, will do what we want them to. Especially when we pay attention to what they are feeding back and understanding it. What did this look like in reality? It looked like 3 days that would normally be seen as this isn’t happening, time to rest and wait a day or two…

The 2nd to last day and the road was dull! Occasionally, the view was grand in its simplicity.

Sunday I managed to cover 38 miles along the A9. Not the nicest route, but there are no trails in Scotland that go north!! They all seem to go from East to West, so being on the East coast, this was my only option. Then I had ‘that’ conversation with my Uncle, who joined me to run some sections as the reason for my run was also close to his heart.

“So, when are we actually going home?” he asked

“You’ve seen the schedule haven’t you?” I replied

“Yes, but when are we actually going home? You’ve got over a hundred miles to cover.”

“I’m finishing this thing Wednesday.”

“No you’re not. When are you planning on finishing? I hate camping so when do I get to go home?”

I repeated my answer and he insisted that I’m wasn’t going to cover the distance in 3 days and finish a day earlier than my projected finish day. So, I guess it was time to prove a point…

Monday was a 36 mile day and a 6pm finish, followed by a Scotch egg and fish and chips supper. 12:30am however, the meal and scotch egg returned to haunt me. I managed to get food poisoning with only 2 days left. I had around 3 hours sleep that night and felt like a large sack of horse manure that had been repeatedly beaten with a large stick. Despite this, I packed everything up, mixed up the trusty Tailwind that had been my main source of calories and got moving. Around 10 miles later I reached Brora, found a cafe (which my Uncle and Stepfather had already found and where happily sat in drinking a warm drink) and managed to drink half a coffee, borrowed their car key, got in the car and slept for an hour and half. After this it was a case of picking somewhere to end for the night. Helmsdale got the thumbs up and I got my focus head on (assisted by a swig of Gaviscon, 1 pro-plus tablet and 2 ibuprofens) and headed out. I only managed 28 miles that day, but they felt like 38 with the stomach cramps and lack of sleep. That left 55 miles between me and John O’Groats and not surprisingly my Uncle repeated his question. I just replied, I’m finishing tomorrow, but I’m leaving early.

Little did I know that a delightful French fella in the hostel they booked me into was going to keep us up most of the night, with his constant wailing, wandering and generally making us think that he may be an axe wielding maniac, so with around 3-4 hours’ sleep I got out of bed, spend 3 hours waking my brain up with coffee and beans on toast and set of at 9am. It was the last day, I didn’t care whether I could repeat a long day the day after, and so I actually had the option of running with no consequences. Around 20 miles in I had a leisurely pit stop at a cafe, enjoying a scone and carrot cake with a pot of coffee, and I took my time over it. I was in there for an hour and a half smile J

The rest of the day was just determined footsteps. The wind was blowing in from the North and like the start it was raining, but after so many days it really didn’t matter. A quick 15 minutes of sleep at Watten and it was time to cover the last 19 miles. My Uncle joined me. He’d intended on running the last section and it was good to have him there. We reached the Northern coast with 4 miles between me and that fingerpost. The adrenaline must have been flowing because I picked up my pace and managed a spritely 6 minute mile on the final mile. It was done and the time for a celebratory whiskey or two had arrived. The nice thing was, that I started with two old friends and ended with two other old friends. My Uncle insisted that we drink all the whiskey (a bottle and a half) so we stayed up till around 3am, got into my trusty tent and went to sleep on the road for the last time, as part of the adventure.

The morning after with a coffee and some food. It was time to plan the next adventure or two.

Posing like a nit wit at the finger post.

I wouldn’t actually change a single bit of it, even the early injuries. They made the learning curve steep, switched on the important aspect to of my thinking, problem solving on the fly, and let me meet lots and lots of people.

I’ve just looked at the word count!!! I may owe some an apology if they’ve ready this far. I’ve not even looked at the screen as I’ve been typing so I apologise for the quality or lack of in the writing. I have to say that the conversations with Pete Ambrose along the way had a way of focusing the thoughts, so the tip for any adventure is to get yourself a sounding board. Someone that will tell you you are being a total tit, occassionaly enquire about your state of mind or health and generally make sure that your feet stay on the ground and your head out of the clouds.

If you’re wondering what the different parts were like, stay tuned for a later post where I publish some of the 500+ photo’s I’ve taken along the way.

Next up though, I’ll focus on the kit I took and luckily there wasn’t much of it.

Written by Aleks Kashefi - https://pursuingthevoid.wordpress.com

I finished at 10pm on the 2nd of September after a 53 mile day in 10 hours of running. This was the day after, having had a nice evening of celebrating with the traditional Scottish beverage.  There’s nothing like making fun of yourself with a proper wolly pose ;)

Sean Conway, having completed his JogLe posted an article called the 4 elements of trail running.  At the time, I was in the process of putting the final pieces of my LeJog in place, so I read with interest and even added an additional element.

Travelling for 38 days, carrying what you need to survive tends to provide you with lots of time to ponder ephemeral ideas like the nature of endurance or how we escape from that dark place we sometimes find ourselves as ultra runners.  The whole elements of trail running seemed to stick in my head and it seemed to me that there are actually 3 elements to focus on.  The 4 Sean Conway mentions are actually breakdowns of these 3 elements and having complete LeJog, barefooted and unsupported in 38 days, I think I can put my thoughts down (38 days is a long time to think!).

The first element, although they are all of equal importance is mechanics.  I’m referring to the understanding of how you move as a person and developing the efficiency of this movement.  I felt I was reasonably efficient when I ran or walked, but on the 5th day I found I was moving far better than day one.  Maybe it was getting used to the 8kg pack or even the breakfast I ate, but regardless, running along the Devon section of the South West Coast path felt more fluid that running ever had.  Later I was using what I knew about physiology (research in book like Anatomy for Runners and various podcasts and websites) and I would then treat the problem and alter my movement as consciously as I could to prevent the problem.  My hips would hurt near the end of the trip and so I dealt with them by working on my quads that were causing the problem.  The was one problem early on that could have ended the barefoot LeJog adventure after just 5 days.  I was thrown off my feet by the gales of day 2 and had a lovely bruised lump on the top of my left foot.  We compensate for injury, no matter how small and alter our mechanics, and mine caused severe tendentious at the join between my Achilles and my Soleous muscle.

This was hard to deal with and then leads to the second element, mentality.  We train our bodies when we take on long distance running (well, any length of running or exercise) but how often do we train our brains?  Day 6 was a difficult day.  I had nothing to do, I could barely walk around and the time seemed to be used by my brain to think about failure.  I realised a few days after that I wasn’t looking into that dark place but I had fallen in.  The people who had virtually joined in, donated money and spoken to me at races before LeJog became a whole host of people I was going to let down.  Then the phone buzzed and a friend sent me a message that threw my own words into my face…

“You either do something or you don’t.  There’s no trying to do something”

I’d like to thank Master Yoda for that pearl of wisdom, but it had a massive impact on me.  I genuinely believed those words when I spoke them and they seemed to trigger some kind of flow state.  The rest of the run was rescheduled so that I had several weeks of short days and I set my mind to getting as far as I could.  I think this is the part of our mentality as ultra runners that we need to celebrate and keep building.  We can enter these flow states and become problem solving machines, but it seems to take utter immersion in what we’re doing and slight changes to our environment to trigger them.  The other part of the mentality that is equally as important is acknowledging the suck!  We know when things are bad, but we don’t always acknowledge them.  I reached a point near the end of the trip where I would just admit I was tired, admit I needed to stop and once I did this, solving the problem seemed to be easier, whether it was related to physical or mental tiredness.  Mental tiredness tended to end in a quick snooze and the physical tiredness was in some cases completely removed by knowing what to eat.

Above Malham Cove. One of the best climbs of the trip with some awesome limestone slabs to bounce around on.

Now comes the third element which is metabolism.  By this I’m not just referring to what we eat, but how our bodies utilises water and the food we put in.  After 2 weeks, I was barely eating anything.  I would mix a bottle of tailwind up (2 scoops in 600ml) and this would last me for half a days worth of moving, followed by a refill and then an evening meal.  Admittedly I was staying aerobic for most of the time, but even on the occasions where the trail was tremendous and it would be a sin not to unleash for just a few miles, I didn’t seem to need the extra fuel that we are told we need.  I would go into shops after 20-30 miles and what I purchased was specific.  I even left a fair few shops with no extra food and just water, even though I knew the day after would be a long one without any form of food stops.  Now this is all diet based, but there is the side of metabolism that relates to what fuels we burn whilst moving and it really did seem to boil down to fat as fuel and glucose as a minor top up.  I must have been doing something right though since I lost 10lbs over all, which was 4% of body fat with a 2% muscle gain.  I was hoping to at least lose enough to get that coveted six pack!

Two days after I restarted (day 9) I was lucky enough to be given a bag of left over roast potatoes and a nice lunch they made too.

Now I’ve been really brief with these elements, since I have lots of thoughts on each one, in particular the mechanics and mentality elements.  They are what made the trip as successful and for the majority of time a joy to do.

What was or wasn’t on my feet aside, once I got my head around the mentality and mechanics elements the metabolism seemed to be second nature.  If something hurt, I would hunt for the source of that pain, whether it was poor movement, tight muscles or the distribution of weight in my pack.  Aches and pains that I was getting seemed to go, new ones developed until I found their source and they would be banished too.

It’s time to round this off as the first part.  These 3 elements deserve a little more time, so I’ll be working on my thoughts some more and posting about them as distinct ideas, but as far as the LeJog write up goes, this is part 1 of a possible 3.

Hope you found something useful or interesting in this post.

Written by Guy Mawson - https://guymawson.wordpress.com

Written by Owain Thomas - http://www.ultrarunningmatelot.co.uk

It's been 4 days since I finished this epic journey and as I still recover it's best to jot down some words whilst it is still fresh in the mind although I doubt I will ever forget each and every mile.

Last year whilst at work, I received the news from one of my best friends that he was diagnosed with Oesophaegal cancer and that they were going to operate on him. Not long afterward he had the op, however he then informed us of the worse news anyone can hear. It was terminal and continueing with the op wouldn't help. It hit home, he was at the time only 32 with a young wife and a 1 year old. Not too much difference to my self. Now he continues his fight and has passed the 12 months he was given and even has a little baby girl addition to the family. So if he is still pushing his limits it only meant that I should too.

Knowing I couldn't help him personally by curing him or find operating on him as I wasn't that talented, I decided to use the only skill I had and that was run. By running, I could raise awareness and some money so that maybe I could make a difference to others in the future. I chose a small charity as they always get over looked by the bigger ones such as Cancer Research. The charity was Ochre http://www.ochrecharity.org.uk/ which is a small Oesophaegal cancer charity.

So I sat down and thought what could I do? I thought about doing the JOGLE race, but I didn't have time with work and I also didn't want the chance of failure due to cut of times etc. So I looked at however far I could go in a day allowing me enough time for some recovery, eating etc. I always wanted to finish something at Land's End and being raised most of my life in Cornwall this was fitting for me. I worked out roughly 7 days of running and looked at a map. Phil, who this is all about moved from Cornwall where he grew up to the New Forest nr Southampton to set up his family home as he left the Army. So that was it I was basically running from Phil's new home to his old home. 14/15 months ago the event was created I was going to run from the New Forest to Land's End via Phil's childhood home on the last day.

Event 26 of 37 - #YOLO7dayUltra - New Forest (Southampton) to Land's End

We arrive at our hotel the night before the start of the event which was about 30 mins from my starting point. I couldn't get any closer due to the busy period of summer and every where cheap enough was booked out. I was accompanied by my support crew which was made up of my wife and 4 year old son and Les who will be the medic. My sports masseuse will be joining me later during the week. Also joining me is a good friend Luke Elliott, who recently won the Ham to Lyme 100k event. He has given up his time to support run the first and second day with me.

Pre Event beers with Luke

We gathered in the pub that evening, discussed the first day of runnings route and timings. I discussed what I wanted from my support crew, wife using her vehicle for the Check Point (CP) food and drink stations, and Les's truck for the kit. Having never done anything to this extent before none of us knew exactly what or how to do things. It was going to be a learning curve over the next few days. Each day was going to be an early start of 7am and I had a time of 12 hours planned to finish each day to allow for as much recovery time as possible. The earlier I can finish the better of course, but with out knowing how each day will be I didn't want to take too many chances. The aim was to run/walk/shuffle/crawl to each day's finish line if needs be!

Day 1 - New Forest (nr Fritham) to Dorchester 

We left the hotel early doors and made our way to the start line in the New Forest. We soon arrived, and I got my sorted to go. 7am Luke and myself checked the first part of where we were heading to and off we went. Both of being off road runners, tarmac didn't exactly excite us, however the first part of the tarmac took us through the beautiful scenic parts of the New Forest. If only the rest of the route was going to be like this. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, and we soon hit Ringwood area heading towards the A31. Having driven the A31 many times before I was in no doubt how busy the route will be for traffic. As we made in to the town we hit our first CP. Now I decided that I wanted each CP to be approximately every 5 miles. I could then treat them like laps of a 24 hour endurance race and tick them off. We quickly took on some snacks like pork pies and crisps check the next part of the route and said good bye to the support crew.

The very start with the support crew

We made our way through the town and soon after took the wrong turn and heading the wrong way. Luckily this mis direction took us down a trail much to Luke's delight and continued until we could hear the busy A31 traffic.

Goodbye Hampshire hello Dorset

As we hit the A31 it was as expected very busy. Unfortunately the first couple of days was going to have to be on the busy A31/35 as going off this route would add further miles and it wasn't something I could afford to do time wise. This was already the longest day out of all 7 and needed to make sure it was nailed. The route took me down duel carriageways which despite being busy weren't that bad due to having a fair bit of space on the side of the road to run on. When we got to the single lane roads of the A31 and ones with out pavements which was pretty much most of we ran with the flow of the traffic. Now we did try and run on the correct side of the road towards the on coming traffic but we found we almost got hit more times on the correct side than when we were going with the traffic. Despite some members of the public trying to tell us which side we should be on, we stuck to our guns and made our way to Dorchester.

At one point as we made it down the single lane A31 there was stand still traffic in the opposite direction. Luke being a much faster runner would run a head for a bit and stretch his legs out. Knowing I still had 6 more days to go I wouldn't be stretching my legs out that fast. Walking the hills and running as much of the rest as much as possible was my plan and it seemed to be going well enough.

Luke at one point spoke to one of the drivers who asked him what was going on casuing the traffic jam. As I caught up with said driver he soon started cheering me and beeping his horn which lead to a couple other cars starting beeping for me. Luke told them what I was up to and it was the kind of moral boost I needed.

It was a warm day on the roads I was definitely feeling the heat. We were making good time though and hitting the CP's and I was ticking each one off. It was during the first day that I had a great idea of having a Callipo ice lollipop. God, it was so refreshing it was like a cold cuddle that was definitely needed. Luke still by side, kept me going as we took the mick out of other and when I started to flag he helped pick smaller goals to run/walk to. Lamp posts, signs, trees whatever we could.

Eventually surviving the first day we made it to Dorchester where we would be staying the first night. We eventually made our way through Dorchester town to the car park where my first finish line was. 11 hrs 4 mins and 40.3 miles I crossed the the finish line of Day 1 of 7. (All times each day include the rest stops at CP's and injury treament times) I was pretty pleased with the time although not quick, it was within the 12 hrs I set and I still had 6 more days to go. Never done multi staged event  like this before I didn't want to risk pushing my self that would break myself too much. I was sore, but nothing unusal at the end of an ultra.

Day 1 Ultra 1 done!

 We stayed at the Thornycoombe Farm which gave us a really great deal on the accommodation. We went out for something to eat, and I came across my first problem. I wasn't able to eat properly, food was starting to unfriend me and not a good sign for the forth coming days.

Day 2 - Dorchester to Honiton

Well I got about 6 hours of sleep, I say sleep my eyes were closed but I was only lightly sleeping and for a heavy sleeper that's not great but it was better than nothing. Starting at 7am again we're all up early packing everything up and getting ready for what will be the toughest route out of all 7. Why is tough 1000 metres of climb in total but the climbs aren't stupidly steep they are very long. Again, I knew the route and I know the A35 very well driving it a lot because of work.

Day 2 Ultra 2 start

I eat some food, took a couple painkillers and then went in front of the car and threw everything up. Not a start I wanted, my body was starting to react badly to wanting to go again. I stretched a bit to try and ease up my legs and off we went. Again with Luke at my side we started off with a little walk to try and ease my legs in. The back of my right knee, became very painful. We broke into a run and I had to stop immediately. I called the support crew to pull over so I could get to them. I hobbled to the truck, and I could barely move my right leg. We taped up the back of my right leg to see if that would help at all. It seemed to help slightly as although in pain, it let me get a run/walk on.

We made our way out of Dorchester and on to the A35 heading towards Honiton. As we got about 2-3 miles down the road, I hear a friendly voice I recognise shout out of one of the support vehicle windows as they over took. That voice belonged to Duane Roberts of Team Buff UK. He had traveled down from the South East after visiting his daughter and the birth of his first grandchild to Bridport the night before slept in his van. Got up early ran to 16 miles to Dorchester to meet me. He stopped in the McDonalds for a coffee and missed us go passed. So my support crew found him and brought him to us. He then joined me and Luke for my run. This man is on form at the moment, acquiring quite a few podium places. Recently securing 2nd place at Thunder Run 24 smashing in 125 miles only just over a week before.

That was it now, there was 3 of us on our way heading to Honiton. The weather was close in temp but over cast, with a tiny bit rain to start with. This soon changed as we made our way to Bridport, and it became very warm and sunny once more. With Duane and Luke pushing me, I was starting to feel it. We were hitting the check points, but I was struggling to take anything but fluids in. Everything felt very dry even when mixing it with water I struggled.

As we approached Bridport, I thought Duane would be stopping but no he was going all the way to Honiton, morale levels up now but pain levels increasing. My feet were getting painful as they were swelling. I had bought shoes a size bigger in anticipation of this but they were growing a size and half bigger in width. With the pain behind my knees I was struggling not including the heat.

Goodbye Dorset hello Devon with Luke and Duane

 As we got to Bridport there was a fatality accident closing one of the roads, so traffic was at stand still however despite the good feeling of passing the cars and going faster than them, my support crew was stuck in it. I made the decision to not have the next check point and to just crack on as it meant I could be waiting a long time for the crew to arrive. Eventually they made it through and set up at 18 miles at the top of a really long climb.

The day seemed to get longer and longer as we made our way to Honiton, knowing the route didn't help as I knew when the hills were coming and they just never ended. Duane and Luke were pushing me as best they could and with the final hill climb completed it left with a down hill finish in Honiton. I crossed the line a very broken man mentally and physically. 11 hours and 53 mins to cover 36 miles. Short route than day 1 but 3 times tougher!

A mutual friend of Phil's called Brendan Hooper lent us a student house he owns in Exeter which isn't far from Honiton and Torquay (Day 3's finish) so we were setting up HQ there for the next two nights. The wife took Duane back to his van in Bridport, and Luke and Les took me back to the house. They set up an ice bath (which the ice was kindly provided by Brendan for me as well as other stuff) and boiled me up a ration pack meal I had. I managed to eat 1 and a bit of spag bol ration packs before getting my head down. Luke was taken to the train station as he had work to do for his Masters to get on with and I went to bed. Day 3 was going to be difficult as I knew I was going to be alone for most of the day and because of how I was feeling I was starting even earlier.

Day 3 - Honiton to Torquay

Welcome to hell! That's probably my best way to describe this day. So much so I've pretty much blanked the majority of the day from my memory. This section is going to be short because of that very reason, I don't want to relive it as much as possible.

Knowing I was going to be slow due to being by myself and in severe pain and with the weather turning to shit I took the decision to start at 5am not 7am.

Day 3 Ultra 3 start

I made a start again with a walk to try and get the first few bits to ease my legs off. However it turned ugly for me. With my feet in severe pain, the legs so stiff and my back of my right knee in a bad way I was struggling.

We only had one vehicle today as were returning to the same house and being by myself the medic jumped in the wife's car. This allowed him to jump out and walk with me for a bit. I got to 5k and my pace was so shocking I had to call a pit stop. 45 minute miles was happening! Physically and mentally I was broken. I sat on the boot of the car and went over everything in my head. I received a phone call from Duane who tried to pick me up. It was no good, I had to do something and quitting completely was the likely option.

I had a think and decided to get a couple hours sleep and see how I felt when I woke up. I woke up, smashed in some food and decided to crack on. I felt better for it. Weather was still poor, but I was making better head way than I was. The wife had been drumming up support via social media and seeing it all helped me mentally. I found out 3 runners were going to join me out side Torquay for the last 10K of the run. I had to get there.

Eventually I made it and they met up with me. A lady I met during Imrey's Trail Half marathon who I helped finish it, Mark Stockman and Steve Hookins who I met through the Hope24 event. Suddenly it was like a new lease of life! They got me to the finish line in Torquay and helped me end what was the lowest part of my life. The best way to describe how I felt during the 37 tough miles and 14 hours of hell was suicidal.

Day 3 Ultra 3 finish 2ith Mark, Steve and Chrissy

 A day I do not want to repeat ever again! My sports masseuse from Muscle Mechanic based in Hampshire was at the end to greet me. Despite being 8 months pregnant Amanda still came down and started right away as I tucked away into food (I had demolished a child's burger and chips) on my legs. She flossed my swollen joints which was my left ankle (an injury from Endure12/50 a couple of weekends prior) and my right knee. A painful procedure but worth the pain for the pain. When we got back to the house, she went to town my body. She was amazing!

We took the tape off my feet to try and let the feet breath a bit and to see damage caused it wasn't a pretty sight. With tape running out quickly, the crew rang MyRaceKit and spoke to friends Elisabet and Colin who swiftly dispatched more in time for our arrival in Plymouth. Those two have been a god send to me and I can't thank them enough.

Blisters on blisters

Nasty!

 Day 4 - Torquay to Devonport (Plymouth)

Starting at 7am again we were up early back into Torquay ready to go. Unexpectedly I was joined at the start by Brendan Hooper. The guy who lent me his house for two nights, had just finished a night shift and was now joining me for the start of the run. Amazing! He pledged to run for the first 4 hours so he still had time to get some sleep and get ready to go back for another night shift.

Day 4 Ultra 4 start

 Amanda had given a quick sort out prior to leaving the house, and although still stiff and sore I was able to go again. So because my feet suffered badly the day before I made alterations to my shoes I cut  into the side and this allowed the pressure to be released. My poor shoes, however a size bigger wasn't cutting it.


My feet felt so much better and I was making good picking small goals to run/walk through. I seemed to be getting stronger as the day went on as well making my way through South Hams district. Food was going down, I was doing well on crisps, Muller rice etc. Soon Brendan left me and I was on my own once more, but this time I felt better. I was in a positive place both mentally and physically.

I got CP3 where Amanda had her table out ready for me, she gave me another going over. Whilst there two elderly ladies asked what was going on. Soon they were off to their cars getting some money to donate. Both of them lost their fathers to Oesophaegal cancer. Another morale boost from this because strangers were donating!

I went on my way feeling good, sore, achy but good. Heading towards South Brent I could see the moors of Dartmoor in the distance. I was getting closer to where I live but more importantly the finish. I made my way towards Ivybridge, coming down a 20% incline wasn't good for my legs, but as at 1.5 miles outside of Ivybridge where the next CP was, I was joined by friend from my local running club the Plymouth Musketeers. He was going to run with me to the finish, the day was heating up and it was the morale boost once more I needed.

Gary kept me coming from Ivybridge

We made it through to Ivybridge and to the CP. I took on my snacks and liquid now consisting of Milk, Coconut water and flat coke as standard. We were given a Callipo and on my way to Plympton power station the next CP. Along the way my best mate Adam who had just finished work and caught me up for a bimble. I left him and off we ran on our route. This route had kept me off the A38 luckily and around the back roads. Although one part took us up a public footpath it was so muddy it had been recently used by 4x 4's for green laneing. I tried to keep out of it now, as by this point my feet had swelled in width and length a size and half and had now cut the toe box up to allow the ends of my toes more room. Last thing I needed was my feet to be wet and muddy.

With the next CP done and dusted I was no in Plympton where I was joined by another two Muskies, Stuart and Adrian and then making my way past my house I was joined by Amie who is a parkrunner at the parkrun I run direct at and a member of the Sweatshop Running community I go to. I now had 4 runners with me and still about 10 miles to go. As we approached Marsh Mills CP I was joined by more Muskies and Sweatshop Community runners (SRC) including Luke who took a couple hours of uni work. It was mad, I was now surrounded by runners and I felt like I was the PM out on a run. We made our way along the embankment towards the city centre where I was then joined by Pete Waumsley a Tamar Trotter and owner of Frank Elfords Sports shop. A good friend who has given me lots of support over the last year in my journey towards this event.

I made my way through Plymouth and I could feel the end was coming! I eventually came to the down hill to the ferry terminal finish line, I finished strongly and crossed the line with everyone behind me. It was so great to have my local running friends join me!

Day 4 Ultra 4 done!

 35.5 miles and in 11 hours 3 minutes I actually felt really positive about the last 3 days!

Day 5 - Devonport to Lanydrock House (nr Bodmin)

Today started with a final sort out by Amanda before she had to shoot off back home to Hampshire. I can't thank her enough really for the work she did! It was truly appreciated and definitely needed! Thank you Amanda! After a night in my own bed, it was very difficult to get out of bed and I did not want to leave my house, however I knew I had to.

Day 5 Ultra 5 start

I got to the Ferry terminal in time to catch the 0645 ferry across to Torpoint to start Day 5 and soon enough I was across the other side. As I made my way through Torpoint I was met by a lady runner called Carole, who found out about the event through her news feed. Having never met her before this was amazing, she wanted to keep me company until the first CP. It was great, totally unexpected but great. We chatted along until she finally had to leave me. I made 3 more miles up until once more I was joined by another runner called Jane. She is one of the Mud Crew Event directors. Mud Crew put on events such as the Dark, Scrooge, ultras such R.A.T Plague and Arc of Attrition 100. Amazing events organised by ultra runners who know what runners want. Jane was wonderful she was going to keep me company til the end!

Carole joined me for a few miles

The lovely Jane

 We made away along the route dodging a lot of the A38 around the back roads. With some steep short climbs this would be another tough day and with the weather getting better as we ran along it wouldn't be long before it was hot. As we made our way I was soon joined by Ross, my next door neighbour who is a rugby player not a runner. He came out to keep me company for a few miles and managed to knock out 6 miles. It was great and I felt so humbled by this!

Next door neighbour Ross did some miles too!

Ross soon left us and myself and Jane made our way, eventually having to run a small part of the A38 heading down in to Glyn Valley or as I call it death valley. Luckily it wasn't for long and we again went off into the back roads, through more places I have never run before. Very scenic areas and having Jane as company made even more pleasurable. The hills still kept coming but I was in my stride and made our way closer and closer to the finish.

With Lanyhdrock House in close proximity I picked up the pace, and powered my way over the finish line once more. Another 33.3 miles smashed out and this time in 10 hours and 58 minutes. Jane was an angel on my shoulder at all times and I was so pleased we finished ahead of time. Great not only by my support crew but a friend Tammy from the Subaru owners club I belong to. It was so nice to see her at the end.

Day 5 Ultra 5finish with Jane.

 We arrived at our hotel and for the first time, I managed to smash in a proper adult's size meal. It was very good!

Day 6 - Lanhydrock House to Blackwater

A late start today at 9am why? Well I decided I need to complete another event. Event 27 Lanhydrock parkrun. Jane once again met me as it was her local parkrun that she also run directs. Along with some fellow muskies who came down to support, this parkrun wasn't going to be easy deemed as the 2nd toughest in the UK due to it's elevation profile I was just going to continue in the same fashion I had for the last 5 days.

Event 27 of 37 start!

I soon made my way round the course to the finish line where I was greeted with cheers and claps from a lot of the other parkrunners. I didn't have time to hang around though I was back on event 26 and and making my way out of the House grounds and on towards Blackwater (nr Truro).

I was accompanied by Jon Anderson who is also a fellow Muskie and SRC runner like myself. His lovely wife let him keep me company all the way til the half way point at Indian Queens. Now during the time the temperature rose, it was in around 26 degrees and the route had very little shelter, being very open. I was catching the sun nicely and I was definitely feeling the heat. my thoughts then turned to all those I knew who completed the Marathon de Sables event. Thinking if they can endure hotter for 6 days I can endure this for today. At one point a random runner out on his training run, spotted us. He asked the crew what we were doing and then caught us up to wish us luck before going back on his way. Humbling!

Jon kept me company from the park run for a few hours

Making good time, again I was ahead of schedule. Jon soon left me at Indian Queens where I was met by another good friend of mine Craig. we started running together when we both looked at losing weight and I got a place in the London Marathon 2010. Since then he's go on to smashing out ultras and marathons with good ease. He also support crewed Hope24 for me back in May.

Off we left the CP at Indian Queens and away we went but not along after I was surprised by Tony and Natalie Wallbank who were down on holiday. Natalie jumped out of their motor home with one of their dogs and joined me for about 4/5 miles, whilst Tony drove on and took some lovely photo's. You often find these two taking pics at various sporting events around the globe like the World Triathlon series. Randomly whilst also truly amazing, a guy called Pete (didn't get his surname) heard about me at the parkrun and caught up with me at Indian Queens and donated some money. I'm not sure if he went out of his own way or was on his way home either way it was great.

I was in a good place and we carried on smashing out the miles in the heat. I said my byes to Natalie and Tony, and continued on my way with Craig. Soon I was on the A30 getting closer and closer and when I finally got to the last check point I was met by Craig's wife Zoe (who is currently in training for her first ultra). Zoe had already been on a run this morning and as both had too go away for the last day they decided to support me today.

Tony and Natalie Wallbank top friends!

It was great two of my good friends keeping me company, pushing me on to the finish! No sooner said than done, we got on the downhill finish to Blackwater and we crossed the line! I was greeted by Phil's mum, my mum and dad and a few friends such a nice feeling.

Day 6 Ultra 6 finish with Craig and Zoe

31.3 miles in 9.52.03 and a parkrun nailed!

However feeling very broken I asked a friend for a favour, she allowed me to disturb her BBQ with runners from Carn Runners to give me an emergency massage. Alison from West Cornwall Massage Therapy worked her magic at short notice and it helped me start the final day! She saved me!

My 1 size bigger Hoka Flops shame my feet grow 1.5 sizes bigger!

Day 7 - Blackwater to Land's End via St Day (Phil's childhood home)

So here it is the final day, a day which at one point I didn't think I'd get to event though I didn't have a choice it did feel it could've been over early.

One final time getting up at 5am to prep myself for a 7am start, getting the vehicles ready and today I knew I was being joined by some other friends of Phil's who pledged their support be it for a short run or the whole day. At the start I was joined by Adam my best mate who doesn't run, Luke Collins another friend who is a second row 19 stone rugby player, Donna who is a casual runner but likes to keep fit, her friend Sharon, Wedge who is Phil's best friends since they were children and a friend of mine. He used to be a runner and a good one. Also joining us for a bit was Kathryn from Carn Runners who wanted to show support for a few miles as well as David who found out about the even through a post on his page.

Day 7 ultra 7 start

All their fresh faces surrounded me at the start line where I was definitely showing signs of being broken over the last 6 days. After a few photo's we started just after 7am and made our way to St Day to Phil's childhood house to quickly see his mum. The road to St Day from Scorrier is a bit hairy so we jumped on the trail which was a lot safer than the road way especially with such a large group.

We arrived at Phil's mum house for a couple of photo's and again made our way on to the first CP in Redruth. Kathryn left us and we made our way then on to Camborne to CP2, everyone still in high spirits, with Wedge providing the entertainment of bad jokes and bashing into every lamp post and sign along the way (nope he never got bored of it and did it till the end, we did however got bored of it hehe!)

Phil's mum Gill

Kathryn departed after a few miles

The miles were ticking off nicely and Adam was still going. I expecting him only to do a few miles as he never runs, but there he was still going. We made it to CP2 and 10 miles nailed. Next up was Hayle and we went via the old A30 slightly tougher route but not so busy with traffic. With the support vehicles warning other road users of us on the roads, we made our way through Connor Downs where I was then joined by local ultra runner who works in At Your Pace running shop in Helston, Loyd Purvis. I met Loyd during Arc of Attrition this year and became friends since. He came out to support me and get some time on feet prior to running UTMB in a couple of weeks.

Local legend Loyd from At Your Pace trail team

Not sure what he was expecting by the runners that were with me but he was soon being entertained by Wedge. We made our way through Hayle, to CP3 next to Philps Pasties. I didn't have one though sadly. I went through my usual routine now, and the crew are all over it having it ready. It all seems to be working very well now. Adam however was starting to feel it now with his IT band starting to give him pain.Convincing him to go on, because it was for our friend Phil he did and we left hayle making our way to St Erth. Where I met Pete Drummond who was on holiday. Pete anotehr ultra runner and MDS finisher in 2014 I met through Hope24. He along with friend Danny Slay organise the event, and I know if Danny wasn't in New Zealand on a well earned holiday he'd also be running with us.

Hope24 legend Pete

Finally we made it to CP4 which was 21 miles in and I finally said good bye to Adam. He was broken and in quite a lot of pain with his knee. The man who never runs, smashed out 21 miles for Phil supporting me. I was in awe! The others who started with me were still going and big Luke was still going however he was starting to feel it as well as Donna and her friend Sharon who are doing well and into a distance they have never ever been before.

Best mate Adam!

 Through into Penzance we finally came across signs for Land's End and I knew it won't be long. I ignored the Cornish miles signs as being raised in Cornwall I know how much they lie. We powered up the hills and the soon the ladies were feeling it too. We got to the next check point and it went from me being looked after to Luke, Donna and Sharon being treated for blisters, and sore joints. Making sure they took in snacks as well once they were sorted we made our way where two more of Donna's friends from the gym joined with 7 miles to go.

It suddenly was me encouraging those not used to the distance but it was great, seeing them push their limits made me continue to push mine. With support from Loyd and Pete the miles to the last CP flew by and we soon was in and out and on our way to the finish. As we got closer I was joined by other friends Stuart, Ben, Jackie and Luke Elliott (he had to finish with me). Then as we came through Sennen I was joined by 3 more runners who I never met before but have been following me via social media before eventually by my big Sis Rowann who has only just started running and my eldest nephew Jago.

We came toward the finishing straight and there is was Land's End! I picked up the pace a little more and with 200 yrds to go I was joined by my son and wife until the finish line! I did it I crossed the finish line!

Finally Day 7 ultra 7 done!

Relief!!

 248.2 miles from New Forest to Land's End and after 87 hours and 14 minutes (including all CP stops and injury treatment and day 3's 2 hours rest) I did it! 7 ultra marathons in 7 days via a route no one has done before and understandably so!

A feat I would not have completed if it wasn't for my support crew and all the support runners that came out from start to finish.

Day 7 support runners!

People asked how I felt when I finished, I felt relieved I had no more tarmac. It wasn't until 3 days later I woke finally realising what I had achieved and I felt legendary.

What a lot of people don't realise is how much work, the support crew did. Setting up the CP's ready for me, treating me, feeding me, getting fluids in me, answering my beckon calls. Then on top dealing with the social media sides of things, trying to keep people updated of timings, drumming up support, fundraising and then keeping my 4 year old occupied and happy. My boy considering still thinks it was a holiday and was good as gold. He had his moments but then if it was you in the same situation as my boy you'd have your moments too lol

One of the blisters at the end

My thanks goes out to once more

X-Bionic and Sunwise for the kit they provided me and the continued support.
All the support runners (so many to list)
Thornycoombe farm, Brendan Hooper, My parents for helping me out with accommodation and reducing costs.
All the support via social media.
Amanda from Muscle Mechanic (Sports Massage therapy)
Alison Campbell from West Cornwall Massage Therapy
Elisabet & Colin Barnes from MyRaceKit 
L &E Designs - Thank you medals for any runner that supported me.
Les my Medic
My Wife and Son who made all the rest possible!

Sorry if I forgot anyone, or missing pictures there was a lot.

BIG THANK YOU TO THE CREATOR OF CALLIPO ICE POPS YOU WERE MY SAVIOUR!

During this time I reached and smashed my target for the whole year Just Giving Page reaching to date so far £2,255. I still have 10 events left to go so please don't stop following my journey.

Remember "You only reach your limits when you've tried something you can't do"

Thank you! A lot of lessons learnt but a lot achieved!
Owain

Written by Jennifer Bradley - http://runningandbaking.com

When the email arrived with dates for the UTMR training camp I was delighted – the same week as the Zermatt Ultramarathon so I’d be able to stay out in Switzerland for the week and do the race and the recce. Perfect (yes, this is how my ‘holiday’ planning goes).

The UTMR has been on my mind a while now – since I spotted it earlier this year. It’s organised by Lizzy Hawker on her Swiss training ground around the Monte Rosa – the second highest mountain in the Alps – going into both Switzerland and Italy. This year it’s ‘edition zero’ and the route will be 105km over three stages – in a horseshoe not quite circumventing the mountain. Next year it’s hoped to be one continuous 160km loop around the mountain with an all-in-one option and a 4-day stage race alongside.  The profile is just as you’d expect for a route loved by the 5-time winner of the UTMB; challenging, with a lot of climb.

We met in Grächen , 4 days after the Zermatt Ultramarathon for me – so I’d been doing some hiking in between and felt pretty recovered. I’d had a good run in Zermatt, finishing 11th woman and pleased with 5:41 for 45km of mountain up to 3080m at Gornergratt (including some climbs in between!). This was a chance to get some more mountain miles in my legs; not something you get much of in central London.  The group was seven strong – Martin and Mandy, a couple from Macclesfield who claimed to be walkers – but can certainly run, Marcus a good Swiss runner, David a fellow Brit, Mira Rai the Nepalese superstar (just after she won the Mont Blanc 80km and before her recent second place in the Tromso skyrace), and our guide Lizzy. We met and had dinner – all getting on well and excited about the 4 days of running ahead.

With all of our gear for the next 4 days on our backs (or in my case for the preceding 5 days as well…it was a two t-shirt week!) we set off from Grächen on the Wednesday Morning for the first stage, which isn’t going to form part of this year’s race, over to Zermatt. This stage was pretty rocky and set the scene for more to come; I had to quickly re-gain my mountain legs whilst clambering over some rocks on a pretty narrow ledge. A couple of hours in and I’d forgotten we were perched at the edge of a 2,000m+ drop to the valley floor. With the Matterhorn in sight most of the day and a visit to what is simply the most impressive ‘hut’ I’ve seen – Europahutte, with very good cake – it was a hard but rewarding day out. Some debate about how far it was – officially 36km but Garmins were saying anything up to 42km and we had a decent diversion thanks to a unpassable bridge. It was pretty late when we got to Hotel Bahnhof in Zermatt and after dinner we all got a good night’s sleep.

For the second stage we joined the route that makes up the race – passing above the race start at Cervinia and continuing to Staffal. Out of Zermatt we had a decent climb up to the Swiss border – and a fair amount of passable snow to cross into Italy. Lizzy had been there only a couple of weeks before in more snow so we were relieved it would be much less again by the time of the race. The actual route of the race (the first stage this year) is to travel up from Cervinia over Colle Superiore then Resy and Passo di Rothorn –with a fairly steep descent into Stafal.

Looking out across the Swiss-Italian border

We stayed in a super little hotel –  Nordernd – which has a good restaurant underneath (having found the only other restaurant in town didn’t have a chef we ended up back at the hotel to try it).

After an excellent breakfast we started up to Col d’Olen then stopped briefly in Alagna to pick up some supplies (lunch) and then we went up to a summer vacation spot where we saw more people than I ever imagined (turns out there’s a bus to the refuge). After leaving the hoards of Italian holidaymakers behind we started on the long climb to Colle del Turlo at 2738m – on a well made path that had been established in medieval times and military personnel had re-surfaced in the 1920s. The day’s run finished, as the second stage of the race does, in the lovely town of Macugnaga. I ran for much of the day with Mandy and Martin – with Mira and Markus ahead of us – Lizzy had told us to keep going until we got to the lake… from the top we could just about see the lake and it seemed to get no closer for a very long descent. The terrain for this section has ‘ankle-breaking’ potential in that there’s rocks and grass mixed up so you have to watch every step. On arriving at the valley floor there’s then a long stretch by the river to the lake – which we eventually reached. Mandy and I celebrated with gelato at the small cafe by the lake before setting off on the last couple of km to the hotel.

Our last day (and third stage of the race) continued, as had been the case all trip, to be hot and sunny. If the race conditions are the same it’ll be great for me – I love running in the heat – but if thunderstorms set in it could be a very tough course; some of the descents were steep and rocky. My Salomon speed cross trail shoes coped well so I’ll be running in those.  The last day from Macugnaga to the finish in Grächen went over Monte Moro Pass, down to a large reservoir and then up and over to Saas Fee. It’s a long, tough final stage. Whilst some of the path around the reservoir is very run-able the climb up to Mont Moro is hands-on-knees and there’s some steps and hand-holds to help get you over the top.

Coffee break

Quick stop at Gandegghutte to re-fuel

I had a wonderful week – especially those four days running, hiking and laughing with the group. It was an absolute privilege to spend time with the Lizzy and the amazing Mira Rai – trying to keep up with her down the descent into Zermatt on the first day nearly did me in! As Lizzy put it  – it’s a beautiful and brutal route; I’m really glad I know how tough it’s going to be but I’m looking forward to seeing those mountains again!

Lizzy heading up to the border with Monte Rosa looming large