This is my fkt submission for a self-supported run of the South West Coast Path clockwise from Poole to Minehead.
I ran this as a fundraiser for the Devon and Cornwall Air Ambulances - both vital and non-government funded services that provide rapid, free-of-charge rescue to anyone in need in the remotest corners of Cornwall and Devon - including anyone hiking the SWCP. My father would not be alive today without the rapid response of the Devon Air Ambulance after he had a heart attack at Clovelly, so I've always wanted to do something really challenging to raise money for them. I could have easily walked the path in 18 days without any preparation or training but I really wanted to push my limits this time (after all, if it's a fundraiser - people want to see you suffer a bit, right?!).
I grew up and still live right by the path in North Cornwall, and have been running on it for most of my life, so it was inevitable I would end up doing this. Supported is not really my style, so I used my trail running and thru-hiking abilities combined to make this happen self-supported. Was really pleased to have finished in under 2 weeks and beaten two of the previous fkt’s who had full and dedicated support crews. I carried an ultralight bivvy bag, sleeping bag and torso length mat for the whole trip. I used a combination of wild camping (well maybe camping is too generous a word - more like just crashing for a few hours at the side of the trail in the middle of the night), hostels and camp sites. You are never far from civilisation on the SWCP so you have good flexibility on where to sleep depending on the weather and fatigue etc.
There were a whole host of diversions along the trail (around a firing range, coastal erosion, closed due to emergency rescues, trail maintenance) so I ended up running 38 miles further than the official 630 miles, and therefore my GPS tracks do not exactly match the official route, but this seems pretty standard looking at all of the previous fkt submissions.
Overall, it went incredibly well - obviously there were some tough moments and had some horrendous weather considering it was meant to be summer, but I enjoyed most of it and this is probably the thru-hiking / adventure running achievement I'm most proud of so far.
For food, I mailed ahead food packages at 45-mile intervals to campsites and pubs along the route which contained enough Tailwind and energy gels to last the day. I would also eat at the many cafes along the way during the day to supplement the running food if I could stomach it.
Water is easy to get hold of along the trail as there are many public toilets and taps you can fill up at, as well as at all the cafes. I carried 4 x 500ml soft flasks and these were more than enough to last me on the furthest stretches between villages.
I ran the whole way solo, but had many interesting and often emotional conversations along the way with people about how the Air Ambulance has touched their lives. In the end I raised over £5000 and broke the existing self-supported record by about 9 days, so I think I would call this project a success looking back.