North Downs Way Southern Route FKT attempt

Where it all began, I'm very new to running, only actually started in January 2019. I used to do Obstacle course racing previous to this, only ever for fun, so if it's fun there's no need to train right? I had dappled with the Fan Dance race 24km in Wales, up and over the Pen Y Fan taking on the SAS selection route, and i came across Blade Runner it's a 50km Ultra marathon they put on, and I thought it sounded like fun, so typical me, jumped in head first signed up, turned up, winged it and came away in a world of pain. This would be enough to put most off, but no, not me. A 70km race popped up Brecon to Cardiff, automatically excepted that I could do this so signed up, turned up winged it and came home in a world of pain. Then came a 55km Ultra across Lulworth this one was the worst hands down out of the 3 I had done and I made the decision that if I was to carry on with Ultra Running then I had to start training. So April 2019 I got myself a running coach Liz Weeks, and I've honestly gone from strength to strength, it's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of structure. My weekend long runs then became trail runs, I was at this point introduced to the North Downs, what a place, it's stunning. The more I trained on there, the more I wanted to see. That's when I thought about running the length of it, I wasn't that stupid to jump instantly into an attempt to do the whole thing. Over the next few months and years, I started to explore the North Downs more and more, I had tried everywhere west of Hollingbourne. I then heard of someone taking on an FKT attempt, don't worry I had to Google it as well to start, but it's the fastest known time, basically there's loads of routes on there and you can pick one and try to beat the time to become the record holder. This is when I spotted the North Downs way on there. So after speaking with my Coach we decided to give it an attempt in June, I was already training hard as I had my first 100 mile race booked in for May 1st, the furthest I had done at this point was 65 miles in one go, and that was last year and I didn't feel great after it if I'm honest. Anyway due to Covid, my 100 miler got cancelled, so I suggested to my coach about bringing forward my FKT attempt. So the date was set May 1st at 6am, I would start the North Downs way Southern Route Farnham in Surrey to Dover in Kent 126 miles and 4300m of Elevation. The current time was 41 hours and 52 minutes. With the weeks leading up to the FKT I was out on the Downs learning the route off by heart, running long back to back runs and within a couple of weekends I had covered the length of it. So I'd do it again, and again, just ironing out all the little sections that you could possibly get lost on. I was confident with the route, so now it was time to plot my checkpoints. I didn't want massive sections so tried to keep them small with the average section being about 6 miles, gave me a chance to fuel up more often without having to carry loads of kit, plus I could rotate my runners quicker and easier as well. Once this was planned I then worked on my strategy system, what time I wanted, what time I'd be happy with and what time I'd except. So I did a traffic light system, green was sub 31 hours, amber was sub 35 hours and red was sub 38 hours. Obviously I wanted green, in fact in my head I wanted better than green I wanted sub 30 hours, but I kept this tight to my chest with only a couple of people knowing. The build up to the day was horrible, all I wanted to do was get started but I had lists and lists of things to get sorted. Like I said earlier, I had never ran more than 65 miles in one go, so I was trying to pack for every single eventuality that could happen. Our 7 seater Volvo was now packed up with everything taking up 5 seat spaces, maybe an overkill but I'd always prefer to have more than not enough. May 1st 2021 Farnham Surrey 5.30am

We were there at the start line, this was actually happening, I'd gone from being a big excited kid, to shits getting real, I'd already had 3 nervous poos by this point and was hoping that was the last of it. A few photos at the beginning with my pit crew, and Steve and Paul who were running with me and the 5 second countdown begun. 5,4,3,2,1 Goooooo!!!!! We were off the first leg was 11 miles, over to Shalford park, we took it easy, had a laugh, listened to some music and just had general chit chat while enjoying the amazing views on route. We came into the first CP in 1 hour 50, going off the traffic light system for green which we had allocated 2 hours 42, we were up already, had we gone off too fast? I had always planned to go a little faster on the first 3 sections to Boxhill because it then starts to get a bit naughty and the Elevation starts coming at you fast, and I thought we might slip off the pace. Shalford park to Shere woodlands 5 miles This is a nice quick little section, only 5 miles, but I chose this point because there's always a burger van in there so I knew if we needed supplies we could always top up here, but there was no chance of that, we already had Tesco's in the back of Car 🤣 I had originally planned just to run this section on my own, was only 5 miles and was still very early on, but on arrival at Shalford park, Dan was all kitted up ready to go. Now if you know Dan, he's an absolute speed demon, his easy pace is 4 minute Kms so I was a little worried that he might push the pace a bit. But we got chatting and fell into a nice comfortable pace, faster than we probably should of been going but it felt nice and my heart rate was low, so we just went with it, and came in well under our green light target. I wasn't interested in how long each section was taking us, it was just my job to run. I had given my pit crew the instructions to have a white board ready each time I came in, all this said on it was the name of the next CP, the distance to it and the allocated time allowed to keep up us on track for the green sub 31 hours. I was just given the nod to tell me I was under target, that's all I needed. Shere woodlands to Boxhill steps 8 miles This is another great section, some tight technical trails, ins and outs, steps and a few hills, but this section was only 8 miles and a good chunk of it down hill so I knew I could open up the pace of I wanted to. Had Kristy running with me on this leg, she was also part of my pit crew. Kristy is a talker, and when I say talker, I mean she doesn't stop, she could talk for England, which is great. The conversation never dries up and it completely takes your mind off everything. This section was brilliant, felt really good throughout this one and even got a few shout outs. The North Downs Ridge 50km race was on, so we had lots of runners coming at us for pretty much the whole route. I'd put some bits on Social media before hand saying I was attempting the FKT, so when we ran past someone and they said "you're Matt, you're doing the FKT" it felt pretty good, and then to get another one about 10 minutes later, it made me feel like a little celebrity 🤣🤣 we saw loads of runners and they all seemed to be in great spirit, it's been so long since races happened that it was great to see. Every hill we approached they all seemed to be hanging out coming up, as we upped the pace speeding down. I felt a little bad, but I knew there was going to be lots of points that I would definitely be feeling like them. Through the vine yards and past denbies and out on to the main road to see the CP crew, to then have to run 800m up the road, under the subway and another 800m back down the over side. Box hill steps, we made it. 24 miles done 🙌 Boxhill steps to Reigate hill 6.5 miles

This isn't particularly a great section, it lulls you in to false sense of security. It's pretty magical, a stream with 10 or so stepping stones and looks beautiful to then 50 metres later to be greeted with Box Hill steps, these are a calf burner and pretty tough, I knew this section had lots of hills, so I grabbed my poles, the cheat sticks, whatever you want to call them. But the ground was so hard they just kept slipping, so these were soon decided against, which now meant I just had to carry them. I somehow pulled out a Strava pb on the steps as well, don't ask me how 🤣 This section I was running with Emma, she likes crazy stuff like this as well. She's currently training for a Bob Graham attempt in June which she was telling me all about and it sounds epic, so I wish her all the best and can't wait to hear all about it when shes done. This section seemed to fly by, yet again we were keeping a great pace going, but it just felt right, so I told myself to just keep going as you are. From the off it was always, walk the hills and run the flats and downs. The hills I went with minimal effort, the pace was literally a Sunday chill, as if I was walking with the kids, just tried to put as little pressure as I could through the quads and hamstrings and it worked. A biggish climb up Colley hill to the top of the downs, some stunning views up on top there, before we started dropping back down again into Reigate hill, you know you're getting close, coz you start getting groups of people carrying coffee cups and eating bacon sandwiches. The Pit crew had obviously been making themselves at home and spreading the word at Reigate hill, as when we ran down the final section everyone seemed to know who I was, celebrity feel number 2 🤣🤣 Was quite a welcome into Reigate hill. 😍😍 Reigate Hill to Botley Hill 13 miles

Lots of cheers and a round of applause coming into Reigate hill gave me a good boast. Steve from the Tailwind Trailblazers was there to meet me, it's the first time we had met and was great to meet him. At this point we were about 3 and a half hours under our 31 hour green target, we were smashing it. The original plan was to have a 45 minute rest at Reigate hill, to get some proper food in me etc, but Nutrition up to this point had been good. A bottle or 2 of tailwind depending on the size of the leg and my favourite, cheese tuck sandwiches and a chunk of the wife's triple chocolate brownies. 🤤 These brownies are amazing, we had never even thought about the amount of calories in them before and you can easily eat 2 or 3 chunks when watching a film. But because we wanted nutrition to be spot on we worked it out on this occasion, 5400 calories it the whole thing, so that meant about 600 calories a slice, plus it has caffeine in as well 🤯🤯 So instead of a 45 minute rest stop, I had a 15 walk and eat, Steve walked with us carrying my bits while I rammed it all in ahead of the section that I was worried about, it's a bit of a killer and could have easily swung things in the other direction. This section has a random school that you pass through, road sections, lovely trails, naughty hills, loads of wild garlic and fields of beauty, the bluebells were out in force and looked stunning. Dan jumped in for another leg here, and I still had Emma as well, we said bye to Steve and off we went. This was the first section that I thought we wouldn't come in on green, but I was wrong, another really solid section and I felt great, no aches and pains yet at this point and I still just wanted to keep going. It was going too well, I even started to question the distance as we were nearly at the end of the section but it didn't feel like we had been going that long, but before we knew it we were on the final climb up Botley hill, this one feels like it goes on forever, which is why I chose for the CP at the top. Another section done and 43 miles in 👊👊 Botley hill to Otford 11 miles Botley hill we had another warm welcome and Marie had joined us and it was another welcomed smile to see. We sat down here, had a top change and a armpit spray, was starting to smell pretty rough at this point. The last few miles I had started to get a really tight neck and a pain in the top of my head, at first I thought it was the cap, so I changed it to a buff to try and take the pressure off, but I soon realised it had nothing to do with the cap. Where I had been head down staring at the floor concentrating on not tripping over I had put some tension through the neck causing it all to hurt a bit. But it was time to get it back on, we said goodbye to Emma, she had done 30km with me at this point, and this is what I love about Ultra runners, she just said I'm going to turn round and run back and off she went 🤣🤣 So me and Dan headed off for the next 11 miles heading for Otford, this section is pretty flat, if anything it's a bit boring, lots of farmers fields, into one, around the outside of it, into the next. The conversation between me and Dan had dried up, and this was the first point I had my first wobble, and maybe the realisation of what I was actually trying to achieve was sinking in. I was 45 miles in at this point, everything had gone better than planned, we were still a good few hours up on our time, and up in till this point I hadn't questioned anything. We ran in silence for maybe the next 20 minutes, maybe it wasn't even that long, but it felt like hours. I just needed a pep talk, I got into my crouching position and just told myself to sort it out, maybe called myself a few unpleasant names, but it worked. We started chatting again, the pace picked up and we ticked off the next few miles to hit 50 miles in 9 hours 14. Actually even did a little dance for this one, I'm sure it was the famous Chandler from friends dance! 🙌🙌 Another 3 miles done, and we were tearing up Otford high street to meet the crew, the support crew had grown and there was loads of smiley faces, even a smile on mine. I'd survived my first little wobble, I knew there was more to come but that's part of the fun, the battle of the mind. Otford to Wrotham 6 miles So to keep on track of the green pacing we should of arrived at Otford in 13 hours and 4 minutes, but we actually arrived in 9 hours 50, we were way ahead of time. So we got the massage gun out to try and take some of that tension out of my neck. Donna who lives local had come over to see me in, and Linda and Mark had travelled down to see me, and Linda was about to run the next 3 sections with me through to Ranscombe. We were so far ahead at this point that even our Pacers didn't really know what was going on, so everyone was paying extra special attention to the tracker. So we set off from Otford, it's not the nicest of starts, it's a steady climb out of the high street up past the train station and then there's a little opening between houses, with a flashing neon sign saying welcome to hell 😈😈 it's the hill that just keeps on giving, I was already warm, but it can't of been very nice for Linda, straight into Otford hill. The Chat flowed throughout, and we spoke about a time a couple of years ago where once again Linda dragged my arse around a route. The Nuts Challenge obstacle course race 🤣🤣 Linda is an experienced Ultra runner herself so knew exactly what she was doing, knowing I had to eat and drink consistently throughout, the trouble was at this point, I just didn't want to eat anymore. I felt sick, I'd drunk enough Tailwind to sink a ship and my belly was very wishy-washy. My teeth on one side had also gone very sensitive. But we carried on regardless, just ticking the miles off, each leg was just about how many miles to the next CP I didn't care about the end, I wasn't even thinking about that yet. Wrotham to Holly hill 6 miles Linda maybe drew the short straw as this section is a bit crap as well, quite a bit of road of this one, which started to give my knees a bit of a battering, the whole of the North Downs was very dry. I had been in a bit of a dilemma leading up to the event, what shoes shall I wear. But you know the good old saying, stick to what you know. So I stuck with my Inov8 Terra Ultras, I've got the G270s and the G260s and to be honest these are the best trainers I've ever ran in. I ordered a new pair of Terra Ultras G270s in bright orange, got them broke in with 200km in them, but I still decided on an older pair, it was actually the G260s I went with, the toe box on these had stretched so much over time that I knew I'd have no problems at all with them, I took another set as well for Justin, but these weren't needed, but unfortunately it is now time to lay the G260s to rest, you served me well 🙌🙌🙌 Anyway, after hitting the rollercoaster road, it was time to head up towards Vigo, this hill is mega crap seems to just go on forever. Maybe I'd just had enough of hills by now I don't know 🤣 we then dropped down in to trosley, it's normally lovely along here, people out walking dogs, but I don't think we actually saw anyone. I stopped for a wee which was good, because I had been weeing regularly so I knew hydration was good. But on re-jigging my shorts and boxers, I felt a little uncomfortable patch on my 🍒 my boxers had rose up and just sat naturally within my groin crease and had started to rub. So to try and stop it from getting any worse it was time to lose the pants. So shorts off, pants off, just stood there in my t-shirt, trainers and a waist band, to be fair if I could of ran like that for the rest of it I probably would of. But I may have got some strange looks, but here came the hard bit, about 65 miles in balancing on one leg trying to get my shorts back on with the trainers getting caught in the liner 🙈 We were off again, Linda had offered to let me put my pants in her pack, but there was no way I was going to allow that, that just wasn't fair on her or her pack so they went into the bin, which to be fair isn't even fair on the bin men who have to empty it 🤣🤣 The final climb of the section, Holly hill, a climb, into steps into more climb, a tough one this as it just doesn't allow you to get into any sort of rhythm. A few 100m down the road, and the crew were there at the horse jump. Holly Hill to Ranscombe 5 miles

We were now 67 miles, and the next stop was Ranscombe only 5 miles away and this was the first 45 minute forced stop. So we just did a smash and grab and we were off again. I do the Ranscombe to the horse jump quite a bit, usually if I have a 90 minute run, steady pace 45 out and 45 back, got a couple of naughty hills, not mega steep but long slow burners, both right at the end. All enclosed trails with a couple of fields but it all just flows so nicely and is a great section, a proper trail run. So when we came down into Ranscombe in 53 minutes, we most definitely had fallen into a nice pace. This was my 2nd favourite Checkpoint. I was greeted by all my crew, plus Liz my running coach was there. Daisy, Tommy and Betsy were there to cheer me in, even Bruno our Bulldog was there. I entered the checkpoint feeling mega happy, but it's funny how that can all change. Ranscombe to Bluebell hill 5.5 miles So after the cuddles from the kids, it was back to what lay ahead, I sat down, got wrapped in Dryrobes, given food, asked about 50 million questions everyone seemed to be in my face, and I just snapped "just leave me alone". I just wanted everyone to shut up and just leave me for 5 minutes while I composed myself. I knew I needed to make the most of this stop, the girls had heated me up a tin of beans and sausage, but I just couldn't bring myself to eat it, I was feeling really sick at this point, I was starting to get really cold as well, so after about 15/20 minutes I was up, changed my top half, threw a bit of vaseline on the 👑🍒. Sorted the last few bits, head torches etc as we would be finishing the next section in the dark, the next 3 sections were all a bit crap now, that was firmly stuck in my head, I felt sick and I was cold, really cold. So off we went, me and Liz my running coach.Me and Liz talk everyday via messenger normally me suggesting a crazy challenge or moaning about a speed session she's put in my plan 🤣🤣 but we had never been together for this amount of time and had never really proper talked face to face so didn't know how it would turn out. But I knew she'd know exactly how I was feeling and know how to pull me through the dark times as she's experienced it herself. This section now, starts with a good km run over the M2 motorway bridge, it's crap at any point of a run but 73 miles in seemed really crap. Lots of doubts starting to enter the head, I was still cold and i still felt sick and I still had my runners trying to get me to eat and drink but that was the last thing I wanted. After the bridge it's literally just a 5km climb up hill to Bluebell hill. After about 1km it was time to adopt the squat crouch position again, this was maybe more of a feeling sorry for myself rather than a questioning if I could it, I knew I could it and I knew at this point that unless things went really wrong I was on for sub 30 hours. The sun was starting to go down and I certainly felt like my get up and go was going down with it. I just wanted to be sick, and when the dry wretching started I thought it was coming but it didn't. Another little chat with myself and a pep talk from Liz and we were off again, and still somehow managed to come in under target.

Bluebell hill to Detling 5.5 miles This was the first Dark one, head torches on, and it was the first time I got to try out the petzl nao+. We had Ben and Adam join me and Liz so had a proper little crew. Was nice to have Ben run a couple of legs with me, he actually introduced me to the North Downs 2.5 years ago. We have ran numerous times together there and even had an epic 55 mile adventure from Farnham to westerham back in 2019 but it ended up with one of crying on a rock at Tatsfield, but I'm not going to go into that. But on a separate note, I've never cried on the Downs 🤣 Still really struggling with the eating and the tailwind it turned into a handheld water bottle full of orange squash, this section started off pretty slow, just trying to keep moving, down bluebell hill past kits coty and there was a slow walk up towards a hill that could put up a good argument with Otford hill for being the worst. Maybe that's why I was slow, I knew it was coming. The Runners may say different, but from what I remember I didn't do too bad getting up it. This may have been the turning point then, I felt good again, we started having a laugh and then out of nowhere in the pitch black a head torch appeared and we just heard " Matttttttt " it was the one and only Dan Fernandes. He was going to be running a leg with me but got injured on his MTB so we thought he couldn't, so to see him just appear was a great boost. We ticked off the rest of the miles at a good pace even stopped for me to recreate a photo Liz did a few months ago so we were back in good spirits, then the decent into Detling, this was the first hill that my legs starting telling me they weren't all that impressed with what I was doing. It goes on a fair way as well, it's one of those hills that fresh legs you can proper fly down it, but that wasn't going to happen. Over Jade's crossing into Detling and to the Cock horse pub, another section done.

Detling to Hollingbourne 5.5 miles This section is actually my favourite section of the North Downs, it gives you a bit of everything, hills, steps, views and lovely runnable trails. This is my go to route for a training run. On arriving at Detling my mate Tom was there to meet me, I didn't know he was going to be there so it was really a nice surprise to see him there. As much as I could of chilled there with Tom, I had an FKT time to break, so off we went, me, Liz, Ben, Adam and Dan, I felt like this was a great section, I started to feel good again,the orange squash had picked me up, my belly had settled and I was back in the game even managed a final charge down the final hill leading into Hollingbourne. Hollingbourne to Charing 8 miles From here on out it starts to go a little fuzzy, it was Dark now, we said goodbye to everyone at the the dirty habit pub in Hollingbourne and me, Vanessa and Dan set off. This was Dan's 4th leg and in-between he was helping the girls run the Checkpoints. I don't know if it was because I was tired and everything felt a struggle or it was just a hard section, but in my head I always remembered this being one of the easier sections. There isn't much to see along the route, it just hugs the A20, through Harrietsham, Lenham and then into Charing. The only thing to do is get a photo with the sleeping monk, everytime I go past he's sleeping, but I always have a photo with him 🤣

All of the sections were starting to slow, I'd have a good km then walk for a few hundred metres, and that's how it went right the way through to Charing. The entertainment for this section was brought to us by Vanessa, everytime we ran under a tree, we had a flock of birds all take off in shock, emptying there guts, Vanessa screaming and then us all playing a game of dodge the bird poo as it erupted everywhere. Charing to Boughton lees 5 miles This one was a bit of a random checkpoint, not really anywhere to stop, but didn't want a CP longer than 8 miles at this stage of the game. So we didn't know 100% where the point would be, but it was there, signalled by Rick running around with some weird flashing glowstick finger gloves 🤣🤣 he was meant to be meeting us at the next check point but came out earlier as I'd already ruined his beauty sleep by being so far ahead of time, think his times changed from 7am, to 4.30am to him turning up about 1am 😬 So me, Rick and Vanessa headed off towards Boughton lees, this section is alright, but in the dark there wasn't much to see at all. Just more of Vanessa getting scared of the birds 🤣 We climbed up through Eastwell manor along the top field struggling to see the path that leads us down to Boughton lees. We hit the bottom of the green at Boughton lees and it was time for another Chandler dance, I had just completed my first ever 100 miler in a time of 21 hours and 22 minutes so I was happy with that. All that was left was a marathon. We were on the home stretch. 🙌 Boughton lees to Wye 2.5 miles This was deliberately a quick one as we wanted to have our next and final forced stop at the church in Wye. A quick 2.5 miles, No! A painful very draining 2.5 miles, where I'd been struggling to eat the last few stations it was starting to catch up. Both sides of my teeth were now proper sensitive, so all I had was 4 teeth to eat with, the top and bottom middle ones. We dropped down into Wye, over the train line and the bridge and on to the high street, the high street seemed like the longest high street I've ever been on in my life, just went on forever. Things were starting to fall apart. Wye to Farthing Common 8 miles Our Forced rest stop, I just slumped in the chair, Dryrobes put around me, and Carly just feeding me custard like I was baby. It actually tasted good, I think it was just the speed she was ramming it in, don't even think I got the chance to swallow in-between mouthfuls 🤣

My teeth at this point we're a no go, no solid food was going to be able to enter my mouth now, so it was back to the tailwind, a 3 scoop Colorado cola to take with me, and I hobbled off through the grave yard ready to start the climb up on to the Wye downs. We got the music on, but Rick's Spotify playlist wasn't all that great, we started the climb and I could feel myself falling back into the black hole, Rick was doing his best just chatting away, but nothing was going to stop this, there was even a fire in the field we were walking through, not sure if it was a car or what but I was gone. I carried on the climb but then I saw a bench, I just sat on the bench, talking to myself out loud, not much of a motivational speech, more of a stop being such a melt, and just get on with it. Probably had 5 minutes on the bench, then jumped to my feet, Rick changed the tunes and we were off again. Rick kept hitting me with the tailwind and before we knew it, I'd perked up and we were off, a nice comfy pace across to Stowting passing through the sheep fields with back to back stys to climb and never ending gates to open, then the beautiful climb at 110 miles in 😬 but I took it really easy, reached the top and still felt good. Along this route there's lots of loose sharp stones, every stone sticking into the bottom of your trainers so my feet were definitely starting to feel a bit sore at this point. We just pushed through and across the fields and over to Farthing common, and only 16 miles from the end.

Farthing common to white horse Cheriton hill 6 miles Only 16 miles left how hard can it be? My stomach was upside down again, I didn't want Tailwind, orange squash or even water, I just wanted to get it done. In the last 16 miles we clocked up a good 800m of elevation as well, which really wasn't appreciated 🤣🤣 The sun was coming up, and I really thought that would lift spirits and maybe for the last mile or 2 it did. We climbed to the top of Etching hill and I could just feel waves of emotions pouring into me, I actually thought I might cry. I don't do emotions or crying, I haven't cried since 2008 when our Daisy was born, so having this feeling coming on like this I didn't know what to do with it. A quick change in thought process and it disappeared, but about a mile in it came back with a vengeance and I felt like it was all just about to come pouring out, when Rick made a poo joke about a log with a hole in it and it just instantly disappeared. It was then time for Pork pie hill, we named it this because on our recce Rick nearly choked on a pork pie going up it 🤣🤣 this one is tough and 115 miles in it was very tough.

The sun was fully up now, we had survived a full 24 hrs. We were so nearly there, sub 30 hours was definitely happening, and doing the maths I thought I could get a sub 27.30 so that was my new focus. Cheriton hill to Valiant Sailor 4 miles

Only 10 miles left 🙌 This next 4 miles though we're the hardest miles throughout the whole thing. This section seemed to be just fields full of cows 🤣🤣 Thank god Rick was there, otherwise I might of called it. I'd had a change of clothes at Cheriton hill, ditching all my warm gear from the night shift. Sunglasses on, a new cap, armpit spray and a new top as well. It wasn't particularly sunny, but the sunglasses hid the pain in my eyes and might conceal tears if any of that started up again. The final climb up to the Valiant sailor pub, the final checkpoint, but I was in the hurt locker here, I'd told Rick I didn't even care about the new plan of sub 27.30 and anything under sub 30 is fine, I just wanted to get it done. We came across the final field, to our smiley pit crew, these guys had been amazing all night. Very little sleep having to deal with my diva demands and still smiling, I can be a miserable idiot at the best of times so hate to think what I was like. 🙈 But we had pretty much made it, the last check point only 6 miles to go. Valiant sailor to Dover 6 miles I just automatically thought that I would find something and the last 6 miles would be alright, we ticked off the first one hugging the cliff edge, running past the spitfire in the museum, the sea, and the Disney cruise ship was in site so I knew we were close.

Rather than getting excited though my mind decided to give me one more chance to quit, more mind games. Rick had picked up his Go pro at the last CP so was concentrating on getting some footage, so this kind of stopped the conversation between us. I had to at one point just tell Rick to talk to me, I don't care about what, just keep taking to me. All I had going through my head were the bits we still had left to do, and I couldn't understand how all these sections would fit into only the 4 miles we had left at this point, but we kept just moving, one foot in front the other, then bits I couldn't even remember appeared, then I couldn't even remember the way at all. I remember coming down the final set of stairs, going to Rick, which way is it, I got no answer, Rick, which way is it, still got no answer, then I bit and got the answer. I didn't think about it at the time but this was only the 2nd time Rick had ever done this distance and had never been on his feet running that long so was probably having some mental battles of his own. But I looked at the watch, 27.25.59 I said to Rick we can get sub 27.30, and I was off. First rule of running always save something for the end. I cranked the pace right up down into Dover town, working my way towards the seafront, I didn't even know if Rick was still with me at this point. Through the subway, up the stairs, I was jumping these 2 at a time, then across the road I could hear them, my Crew, my Team, my Family all cheering me on, the end was there. I ran across the road and crossed the finish line in a time of 27.28.44.

I had done it, not only beat my traffic light system, but my sub 30 hour and even the last minute sub 27.30 hours. Crouching down up against the North Downs Pillars filled me with all sorts of emotions. To have completed this challenge which took me a couple of months to plan was done and apart from a couple of issues which were actually inside my belly, everything went to plan, in fact better than plan. I'm still waiting for the official title from Fastest known time, but I've beaten the current record by over 14 hours. Yes it's me doing the running, but there's no way I could have done this without my team, you're all amazing and friends for life! If you have a crazy idea, all you need is a few crazy people to believe in you and you can make it happen!