Inspired by watching a bunch of FKT-style documentaries over lockdown I found this route that passess through where I live. This was my first attempt at anything longer marathon distance.
I travelled clockwise from White Wells in Ilkley. I used the track that is posted on FKT as a starting point but made some tweaks to more closely follow the route described in the original walk booklet - the main change was to the route over the moor from the Cow & Calf in Ilkley. I had recce'd the northern half of the route, but for the rest I was relying on trail markers, with GPS for back-up (and phone for back-up back-up). I ended up using the GPS a lot but still managed to get briefly lost a few times and there were two short stretches of trail I couldn't find so had to take a minor detour (which accounts for the extra distance).
I carried all my food and drink to get me to the Post Office shop in Eastburn - which was my only 'support' enroute. I had also earmarked the Garden Centre at Harden as a potential stop, but it was still closed as a passed through. Other than that I knew I would pass by some pubs if I needed them :)
The weather at the start was near perfect - cool and sunny - and there had been just enough rain the past few days to soften the ground up a little. The heat of the day was a bit hotter than expected, with some long sunny stretches, but I can't complain.