After two failed attempts in early 2025 – one where I gave up and caught the train home from Cromer, and another that was far too slow and involved a freezing nap in a wet boat – I decided to give the Norfolk Coast Path another shot in September 2026. Having run a full recce in July to map out church taps and (free) toilets where I could top up on water, I opted for an unsupported attempt this time. No one had logged an unsupported time yet so I’d get the FKT just by finishing, which felt like a nice safety net! I packed way too much food and set off from Hunstanton Pier just after midnight.
The run itself was a bit of a mixed bag. GI issues kicked in early on, and I managed to roll both ankles at 3am while looking up at the sky for a dawn that was still hours away. I ended up turning off my watch’s pacing plan after falling behind, choosing to just keep moving at whatever pace my stomach would allow. There were plenty of great moments to balance it out, though – like bats swooping past my headtorch to catch moths in Holkham woods, and getting incredibly lucky with a low tide at Weybourne that saved me from 7km of energy-sapping shingle.
The final stretch through Great Yarmouth and Gorleston was mostly a battle against nausea, force-feeding my last remaining gels and trying to keep moving. I eventually reached the finish post in Hopton in 17 hours, 56 minutes, and 40 seconds, managing to beat the existing self-supported record by 16 minutes along the way. I was feeling far too sick at the finish to be happy about that, but I was genuinely relieved to finally get it done!
If you’d like to read the full write-up – including a detailed table of free public water refill points along the trail – please feel free to check out my blog! Thanks and happy running 🙏