On the 11th July 2020 at 5.00AM I left Marsh Farm in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex to see if I could run the entire Saltmarsh Trail in one go. The conditions were perfect for trail running, cool and still. I set off as we always do in good spirits looking forward to the coming run, as the sun rose. I soon got into a nice steady pace and the first 13 miles flew by, bringing me to Burnham. Most of the trail so far had been short grass or short sections of tarmac. The next 13 miles were going to be the most remote, as I headed out to St Peters Chapel. I wouldn't even pass a house for the nest 2.5 hrs. The closer I got to the Chapel the longer and more overgrown the seawall became. At time I was running through grass that was half way up my thighs and I'm over 6ft. This slowed me down quite a bit as well as making me work harder than I had anticipated. I arrived at the Chapel about 35 mins later than I had hope getting there in 5.35. Fortunately my friend was still there with more water and a bottle of coke. I quickly filled my soft flasks and trotted off drinking the coke. It gave my a lift having a chat, a little stop and knowing that I had completed the first marathon. The next landmark to pass was the Bradwell Nuclear power station, which I would be able to see for most of the next 10 hours. My pace stayed fairly even at about 12 min miles and I was soon running into Steeple. As I left Steeple I saw someone waving, I got nearer and realised they were waving at me. Finally I realised that one of my running club mates had been following my FB posts and decided to take it on herself to come and meet me. Not only did she come to give me some encouragement, but she bought a little flask of tea. It was like honey, was such a treat for a parched throat. No wanting to hold me up she said she would cycle along beside me as we chatted and in a blink of an eye 3 miles had gone by and she turned back for home. I carried on in a really happy place knowing that I was nearly at the end of my second marathon. I arrived in Maldon after 10.5 hours running. Still 30mins behind my hoped for time, but did't really mind, I felt good and that was the main thing. I had arranged to meet my wife and running friend Nic there. They supplied me with beans and sausages which were just what I wanted. More water and coke into my pack then back to running, just one more marathon to go. Nic was going to run this leg with me to keep me going. I struggled to get back into my running after the pit stop in Maldon, but pushed on thinking I would feel fine soon enough. As we left Goldhanger with 18 miles to go I hit a really low point. Suddenly it seemed really hot, I couldn't swollow my food and generally felt exhausted, I started to wonder if I could finish this run. We started a run walk, slowly stretching the runs. It wasn't pretty. I felt dead on my feet. We arrived at Tollsbury Marina, I had to have an ice cold drink, it had been a fantasy for 5 long miles. We sat down for about 5 mins savouring possibly the worlds best coke and ice. We poured our leftover ice into our bladders and set off for the final push. A little under 8 miles to the finish. We knew there were about 13 gates to pass through in this section so we thought we would walk 1, run 1. After the first run though I realised my running mojo was back. I wasn't eating but was drinking OK now and just wanted to get to the end. Mile by mile as the sun sunk we neared the finish. And then in the last of the light we reached the finger post that shows us we had reached the end. I had Made it. What a great day.