On 30th July I attempted to beat the current FKT for the Arun way as a self supported run.
The Arun way is a gorgeous trail, with some truly stunning scenery, but there are large parts of the trail that isn't well used and is overgrown, if you do go off route don't rely on the locals as not one person I spoke to had ever heard of the trail.
There are 3 crossings of the railway lines that are for pedestrians only and do not have barriers, but instead gates that you yourself have to open and close behind you, so my advice is not to take headphones doing this route and there are a LOT of gates and sty's.
There is a section that goes through a marsh and I can imagine it being almost impossible to pass if there has been any heavy rainfall in the area or flooding, so that's worth taking into consideration if you are attempting this route and there are sections where you are running on a main road with no pavement, but they are generally very short sections, but all the same you will need to be vigilant.
I set off fairly slowly and was taking pictures, shooting video along the way, but I soon realized that the Arun way isn't signposted and that it was very easy to run past turnings or run off the route and so what looks on paper to be an easy to navigate route isn't always the case.
I made several navigation errors along the way meaning I was often having to double back on myself, my main error was running on the wrong side of the river Arun at Arundel for almost a mile, meaning I had to run back, cross the bridge and then run on the opposite side of the river.
I underestimated the strength of the sun as well and I got very hot, very quickly...the route is exposed to whatever the weather is doing and there is very little areas offering protection.
It is a very flat route, however, with only a few small inclines.
There is also a outdoor cafe along the route where you can grab a drink or a snack if you need it, despite carrying 1.3 litres of water with me in my hydration vest I still needed a bottle of water and a can of coke, which I brought there and drank, it was a real god send. Other than that I carried all my supplies with me.
I had some major issues with my IT Band which flared up at about half way and got progressively worse meaning I was in a LOT of pain by the end, but despite all of this, I did manage to complete the course in under 4 hours (JUST) beating the previous FKT set almost exactly one year ago.