Waking up at 3 am and looking outside on a cold foggy morning, the first through that popped into my head was “What have I the *beep* signed myself up for?!” For a brief moment, the prospect of completing a 100-mile run in under 30 hours made me want to jump back into the bed I’d just gotten out of and forget about it all completely. But there was no time for further contemplation, I had 30 minutes to get to the starting line, where my journey from Hunstanton to Market Harborough would begin.
After spending a couple of weeks on the route and speaking to others who had taken this adventure on bike, I had it all planned out; I’d run a picture-perfect route through the woods, along winding rivers and pass by beautiful houses.
But let’s be real, we can plan as much as we like, but reality has a hard time following. The route changed about 20 times during the run. But the goal stayed the same; get from Hunstanton to Harborough in under 30 hours.
I wasn’t sure I’d be either physically or mentally strong enough to push through and make it to the finish line as I had never run more than 40 miles and that was a challenge. But I’d trained hard for this, and I know that we can achieve the incredible when we really put our minds to it.
The snow turned to rain, and I was keen to get moving as soon as the fog lifted. The route out of Hunstanton was fairly easy and the roads were quiet as it was far too early on Saturday morning for most to be out and about. The run was well underway before I realised that I could no longer feel my fingers. My gloves were soaked, and offered little protection from the freezing rainwater soaking in.
Fortunately, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a sporting equipment shop, and made a detour to get an upgrade. The shop was filled with roller skates, scooters and bicycles. I had the fleeting thought that this trip would be 100 times easier with some wheels. Luckily, I’m never one to make life easy for myself and the idea left my head as soon as it entered.
The run, though difficult, was an amazing experience and a real eye-opener. Running makes me realise how lucky I really am to be here; most people rush around and don’t take a minute to stop and think about everything. But when you are on your own on a run, you have so much time to think about your goals and whatever else might be on your mind.
That’s what I love about running, your body is moving, and your mind is wandering, you can think about things and deal with them, you can reach a state of clarity that is often unattainable during day-to-day life. It might be like what people get from meditation, but I’m not sure – I can never stay still long enough for that!
I had a crew for this event and didn’t go with a big event for this run. The crew was Harborough CCTV member, Callum and his mate Rob. There were times during the run that I wanted to stop, I wanted to give up, I wanted to call it off – but I knew that I couldn’t let anybody down and I knew that I couldn’t let myself down.
Callum and Rob were there to keep me motivated, along with the fact that I had already raised £10,000 for the charity Mind. This was the main reason for doing the run. Mental health is a cause that’s close to my heart; I have already lost loved ones due to mental health struggles and wanted to help out and raise awareness for the cause in my own way.
When I made it to the finish line, I was absolutely over the moon. Not only was I able to go the full 100 miles but I managed it at 19 hours – Something I would never have dreamt possible this time last year. I’ve only been running for just over 10 months now and achieving this milestone while being relatively new to running, is a fantastic personal achievement, but it was for sure the hardest thing I have ever put myself through. After this experience, I think more than ever that you can do whatever you believe in, and you shouldn’t let anybody tell you otherwise.