Starting two hours before sunrise in the pitch darkness at Stourhead, my longest ever run (by 30 miles!) started, following the Stour Valley Way with the flow of the river from the source to the sea. I opted to take the Northern options at both Wimborne and West Parley as personal preference. I was ably crewed by my partner and a local race director, offering me invaluable aid and support en route. I ran most of the route solo but was pleasantly surprised by the random appearance of a local runner at the top of Hod Hill and he kept me company for a few miles until Blandford and company for the final 10 miles was very much appreciated.
Before I started training for this route in March 2020 the furthest i’d run in one go was a half marathon, so hitting the milestones of: 30k, marathon & 50k on route recces made it special already, then on the FKT attempt I passed the 50mile milestone too and my longest ever run, the only goal was to finish and preferably in daylight! I won’t say it was easy, from mile 44 on I had a few personal issues, but ‘relentless forward movement’ got me to the wooden sign marking the finish line, and walking out from Mudeford spit (yes even though you’ve run all that way it’s pedestrian access only so be prepared for a mile outhike to the car park!) we were spoiled with a glorious sunset and certain crew members started talking of the ‘next fkt’! It’s a day and a special route that will certainly be remembered.