Tom and I set off on Saturday morning around 8am in light drizzle. I carried 1.5 litres of water 8 (90g carbs) gels, a small sandwich and some jelly babies. We made some good progress in the hillier earlier stages of the route on fresh legs, enjoying the expansive views across the Severn Vale. After the biggest climb of the day, we soon reached Broadway Tower a little ahead of our schedule and stopped for a quick picture. A few faster km’s later we reached Chipping Camden to re supply our water, pick up some Vaseline for Tom and bought a very nice sausage roll from Toke’s Food and Drink. Spirits were high as we pressed on towards Moreton-in-the-Marsh and approaching halfway. We stopped at a bakery called Otis and Belle in Moreton-in-the-marsh on Tom’s recommendation of the cinnamon Buns (which did not disappoint) and also restocked our water. The next section was a littler tougher despite the flatter and more even, runnable trails - Tom’s hips were causing him slight discomfort and my stomach didn’t take too kindly to devouring a large cinnamon bun in one sitting. Luckily we stumbled Across some public toilets shortly after in Stow-on-the-wold. After a toilet stop and a bit of a break from fuelling, my stomach started to feel a bit better. The next little section saw us running through the quintessential and very popular Cotswold village of Lower slaughter, with Bourton-on-the-water just in sight. We took another short break in Bourton for some water and bought a can of much needed coke from A’moore coffee house. My stomach was feeling much better now and we headed off on the Windrush Way towards Naunton and Guiting Power. This section was by far the quietist of the whole route and the scenery sublime. Within an hour or so of leaving Bourton, we arrived in Guiting Power to say a quick hello to our families who were spending some time in the park at the edge of the village. We had our last little pit stop at the Cotswold Guy for a top up of water and a final can of coke. The last 9 miles were very runnable, but quite exposed and had to deal with some strong headwinds, which made it quite challenging. Soon the masts on Cleeve Hill came into sight and the finish didn’t feel too far away. We were soon at Bella’s Knap, legs tired with one last downhill to go. We wanted to get under 10 hours so didn’t ease off the pace. Finally we emerged out onto the main road running through Winchcombe and a short Dash back to the White Hart for a well earned Shandy and packet of crisps!