1
00:00:21,460 --> 00:00:25,660
Hello and welcome to another 
episode of Run Till You're Done.

2
00:00:25,860 --> 00:00:30,780
This week we are joined by 
someone who has an amazing list 

3
00:00:30,780 --> 00:00:35,500
of running events under our 
belt, but most recently has came

4
00:00:35,500 --> 00:00:39,860
to our attention by just 
podiuming and the UK's toughest 

5
00:00:39,860 --> 00:00:43,100
race, the Spain. 
Thank you for joining us, Nicky 

6
00:00:43,100 --> 00:00:45,380
Arthur. 
Thanks for having me guys. 

7
00:00:45,380 --> 00:00:48,120
It's good to be here. 
It's great for you to join us. 

8
00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,880
We'll start by asking the 
question that we ask everybody. 

9
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:58,040
How did you get into running? 
So I, I initially was a boxer by

10
00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:03,440
trade really. 
So when I moved up to the Isle 

11
00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,200
of Lewis for a teacher job, I 
joined like a local Muay Thai 

12
00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,800
gym. 
And when I moved over to Isle of

13
00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,720
Man, I, I continued with that 
sort of martial art combat sport

14
00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,560
and for quite a long time. 
And, you know, a really big part

15
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,760
of martial arts and combat sport
is sort of running just to keep,

16
00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,480
you know, your stamina high and 
you're, you know, your weight 

17
00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,120
down basically as well. 
And yeah, when all the gyms shut

18
00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,440
in COVID and lockdown and things
like that, in around sort of 

19
00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,480
2020, I decided that I needed 
sort of something else. 

20
00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,280
And I was living on the Isle of 
Man at the time. 

21
00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,040
And, and myself and a couple of 
friends decided that we're going

22
00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,360
to task ourselves with running 
around the coastal footpath of 

23
00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,240
the Isle of Man, which was 100 
miles. 

24
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,000
And so, yeah, back in 2020 was 
the sort of like I guess when I 

25
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,240
got the ultra bug. 
And then I managed to achieve 

26
00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,960
that sort of goal of running, 
running around the Ale Man with 

27
00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,160
my friend Kevin. 
And then, yeah, ever since then 

28
00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,080
I've just just been enjoying 
ticking off big miles, really. 

29
00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,920
So yeah, I guess it was sort of 
a neat smudge when I was boxing,

30
00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,080
running, and now it's like, 
yeah, just my sort of soul sport

31
00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:12,040
now. 
I just love it. 

32
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,960
So you go into the running 
during cold weather, just same 

33
00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,760
with the lockdowns and 
everything when things I would 

34
00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,640
imagine starting to open back 
up. 

35
00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,280
Did you have your first race at 
that point or did you have a 

36
00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,480
race even before the running 
took a hold while you were doing

37
00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,080
the boxing? 
I didn't ever do an ultra race. 

38
00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,280
I'd done an Iron Man, which I 
guess is like obviously sort of 

39
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,000
ultra. 
I did that in 2016 for my 30th 

40
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,520
birthday, but I hadn't ever done
like an ultra race. 

41
00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:49,280
So my first one was the Scotland
100 mile that GB Ultras run and 

42
00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:50,920
it was one of the first times 
doing it. 

43
00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:54,600
And actually it got cancelled 
sort of mid race due to weather.

44
00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:56,960
So I only managed to get in 75 
miles. 

45
00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,240
But I was winning that race and 
I was coming forth overall. 

46
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,040
So I I was doing, I was doing 
well. 

47
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,400
I was absolutely devastated for 
the race to get like to get 

48
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,800
canned at the time. 
But it was, it was really, 

49
00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,520
really bad wind and, and, and it
was definitely the right 

50
00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,280
decision for for JB ultras to 
make. 

51
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,760
So yeah, that was like my sort 
of first experience of ultra 

52
00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,960
racing. 
And yeah, again, like really 

53
00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,160
enjoyed it. 
Felt like I had unfinished 

54
00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,320
business as well because the 
race had got cut short. 

55
00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,160
And, you know, I'd really hope 
to sort of improve on my time 

56
00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,040
from like my Isle of Man 
challenge. 

57
00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:35,520
And so I didn't have that. 
And yeah, so that was that was 

58
00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,600
the sort of first sort of 
dabbling in UK events, I guess. 

59
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,600
Your Isle of Man challenge, you 
tempted to put that on as a 

60
00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,200
race? 
We I do know I've talked about 

61
00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,520
it. 
It's it's it's definitely 

62
00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,960
something that we we have 
thought about. 

63
00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,760
It's just I'm not too sure the 
trails would take, you know, 

64
00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:59,920
high numbers, which is a shame. 
It's just it's it is a lot of it

65
00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:03,760
is sort of coastal eroded and 
things like that now, but 

66
00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,920
there's definitely scope for a 
really good ultra race on the 

67
00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:11,120
Isle of Man. 
So please watch this space, the 

68
00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,640
Isle of Man Kelly. 
Yeah, it's quite, it's quite 

69
00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:16,720
unduly and it doesn't have 
anything really high like the 

70
00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,079
highest points, like just over 
600 meters. 

71
00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,400
But we've got a we've got a 
ultra, like an ultra. 

72
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:24,480
It's called the mountain 
marathon. 

73
00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:25,960
It's not like a typical mountain
marathon. 

74
00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,400
It's not like a NAV one. 
But yeah, we it goes from north 

75
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,920
to South, like across the sort 
of tops of all the mountains. 

76
00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,200
And so that's normally in Easter
time. 

77
00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,640
So we have that, which is a 
great race, but yeah, it's it's 

78
00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,840
really treely and and fairly if 
you know, you mean it's just 

79
00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:45,480
it's not been mountainous, not 
like whales or the lakes or 

80
00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,120
anything like that, but loads of
good ways to train over here for

81
00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:51,200
sure. 
Yeah, well, you've been training

82
00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,760
over the tops of mountains on 
trails for your sky running, 

83
00:04:55,120 --> 00:05:00,000
which is something that you came
high up in the last year or the 

84
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,680
year before, and that got you 
nominated for Scottish 

85
00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,440
Sportswoman of the Year. 
Yeah. 

86
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:12,120
You want to talk about that? 
Yeah, so I like the sky running 

87
00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,680
had put out, you know, apply to 
go to the World Championships 

88
00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,680
and and myself, my partner and 
one of one of the boys from the 

89
00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,080
training group thought, oh, kind
of put her name in the hat and, 

90
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,920
you know, that'd be used to be 
selected for the team to go to 

91
00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,000
that. 
I really wasn't expecting sort 

92
00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,480
of to get selected at all. 
And then, yeah, so it came back 

93
00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:34,880
that I'd I was getting, you 
know, getting to go. 

94
00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,000
And so the World Championships 
were in Spain in September, just

95
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,600
just gone. 
And I had a great experience, 

96
00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,600
like really good team to go away
with. 

97
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,480
I was really, really nervous 
about going to that because I'd 

98
00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,080
had like I'd had quite a few 
wobbles on, you know, like Greg 

99
00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,640
Gock and you know, like a little
little wobble on Hillvale and 

100
00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,000
stuff like that. 
And I was like, Oh my God, what?

101
00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,400
I forget to Spain and I just 
freeze in the middle of this big

102
00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,360
massive mountain. 
But it, it didn't ever sort of 

103
00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:01,560
come to that. 
It was a really great route. 

104
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:06,160
And yeah, and it, yeah, it led 
to it led to a nomination for 

105
00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,840
the Scottish Women in Sport 
Sportswoman of the Year, which, 

106
00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,400
you know, I don't, I don't have 
really any ties to anything 

107
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,400
with, with Scottish athletics or
anything like that because 

108
00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:16,600
obviously I'm here and there, 
man. 

109
00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:18,840
It's, it's through Mike Spell 
Runners, which is England 

110
00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:21,600
Athletics. 
So to get recognition from 

111
00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,920
something in Scotland really 
meant like so, so much. 

112
00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:27,840
And then when I went to the 
awards ceremony, like there's 

113
00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:31,840
just like people talking about 
LA 2028 and, you know, all like 

114
00:06:31,840 --> 00:06:36,040
set up like whole national 
charities and just, it was just 

115
00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,240
brilliant. 
And like, the guest speaker was 

116
00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,000
it was Sammy the the pirate 
athlete talking about, you know,

117
00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,680
Tokyo 2020 in Paris. 
And I just come out of the hall 

118
00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,560
like proper shell shock, just 
like so amazing. 

119
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,040
Like, and you know, the two 
girls that I was in the category

120
00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:54,960
with the two cyclists as well. 
Like when I was looking at I'd 

121
00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:57,360
I'd heard of Mia, but I hadn't 
heard the other girl when I was 

122
00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,840
looking at their accolades, I 
was like, have you got the right

123
00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:02,240
Nikki here? 
Like, Oh my gosh, like I 

124
00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:07,280
couldn't, I couldn't believe it.
And yeah, so I, yeah, I was, 

125
00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,520
that was just really like, I was
really delighted at that. 

126
00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,640
And it's just nice to be sort of
known that I've been like 

127
00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,200
mentioned and you know, that 
sort of area in Scotland. 

128
00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,240
It's really nice to be 
recognized in that way. 

129
00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,200
And for ultra running as well, 
like for ultra running like, you

130
00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,200
know, it's not, it's not always 
up there, is it as well. 

131
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,480
And when they were showing the 
video of me like sort of 

132
00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,720
skipping across one of the tops 
in one of the sky races, 

133
00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,800
everybody's like, I was like, 
what is worse than I is, I 

134
00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,440
promise. 
So podcast Nikki, when's your 

135
00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,560
nomination? 
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

136
00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,960
You're next. 
Yeah, come on, Nikki, it's your.

137
00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,480
You're the second best Nikki on 
the podcast tonight. 

138
00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:57,000
Well, this is true. 
I'm trying. 

139
00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,800
I'm very inspired by all the 
female ultra. 

140
00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,680
Absolutely blows my mind. 
But as Mike saying, just for you

141
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:10,240
to be even nominated for Scott's
is it Scottish women? 

142
00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,440
It's that must have been 
something else when you got told

143
00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,840
that you were nominated. 
I was so shocked, like honestly 

144
00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,080
so shocked. 
And I was like, Are you sure? 

145
00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,680
Like like read an e-mail like 
this stuff like there's got to 

146
00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,760
be wrong. 
Like how does it even get wrong?

147
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,080
You know, just those sorts of 
things go through your head a 

148
00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,280
little bit like of imposter 
syndrome, I guess. 

149
00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,400
But you know, when you when you 
put it down on paper, like I 

150
00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,840
worked really hard last year. 
So it's just it's, it's lucky to

151
00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,240
get recognised and nominated 
and, you know, have it pay off 

152
00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,080
in that way. 
So that was really special. 

153
00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:46,720
So in that you mentioned Manx 
failed on us. 

154
00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,080
Is that the club that you're 
with? 

155
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,760
Yes, that is my local fail 
running club, the Manx Fail 

156
00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:52,520
Runners. 
Yeah. 

157
00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,960
And they put up with me or have 
put up with me for the last sort

158
00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,240
of four or five years. 
So, yeah, they're an ace, 

159
00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,400
really, really great community. 
And, you know, I sit on the 

160
00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,760
committee and sort of like help 
sort of drive the, the junior 

161
00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,880
section of the, of the Fail 
running club as well, just to, 

162
00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,720
you know, get in. 
It's such an amazing way to be 

163
00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,840
outdoors, I think fail running 
and trail running. 

164
00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,200
And yeah, it's great to have 
sort of the juniors on board 

165
00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,360
and, you know, sort of driving, 
driving that sort of side of 

166
00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:23,760
the, the, the club now. 
So that's been ace. 

167
00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,480
Yeah, you say put up with, but I
think with with your awards and 

168
00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,200
your your wins, I I think 
they'll be happy to have you. 

169
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:32,880
I. 
Hope so. 

170
00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:39,880
And Speaking of wins and you 
know your achievements, where 

171
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,640
leads us on to the next question
which you've just done Spain, 

172
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,640
but that wasn't your first Spain
event, was it the Yentl? 

173
00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,960
What other Spain events have you
done and can you talk about 

174
00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,680
those? 
Sure. 

175
00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:58,640
So I am back in 20. 
Well, I guess it would be 2023. 

176
00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:03,800
My partner did the spine for the
first time and I, I got hooked. 

177
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,160
I got inspired. 
I got the dot watching bug and 

178
00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,960
you know watching sort of the 
all the, the, the females out on

179
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,200
the route like inspired me to 
apply for the full spine for 

180
00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,040
2024. 
However, I didn't get through 

181
00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,520
the lottery. 
I got I was on the waiting list,

182
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,320
but then sort of nine weeks 
before the full spine sort of 

183
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,480
came about, I got an e-mail 
saying, oh, would you like to 

184
00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:31,320
enter the Challenger N, which is
starts in Hawes and then there's

185
00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,880
160 miles up to Kirk yet home in
Scotland. 

186
00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,000
And I decided even though I 
didn't have that much training 

187
00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,360
time, I had like a lot of, you 
know, stuff behind me from from 

188
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,400
that year. 
So I was like, yeah, I'm going 

189
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:48,680
to, I'm going to go for it and 
into the challenge N so that was

190
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:53,400
the longest that I'd done. 
I'd done 120 in the Kelly way in

191
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,480
the September. 
And so it was another like good 

192
00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,400
40 miles on top of what I'd I'd 
achieved before. 

193
00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,640
So and I knew it was going to be
my first sort of dabbling into 

194
00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,640
going into the second night and 
sort of experiencing a bit of 

195
00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:07,920
sleep deprivation and stuff like
that. 

196
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,920
And I figured that'd be a really
good sort of stepping stone to 

197
00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,320
hopefully get in into the full 
spine when I, when I did. 

198
00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,000
And so yeah, I, I, I sort of 
surprised myself on the 

199
00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,720
challenge in North as well. 
And you know, I, I ended up 

200
00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:25,040
finishing first female, but I 
finished third overall in the 

201
00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,600
race behind Joe Leary and Tom 
Hollands. 

202
00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:35,680
I hooked up with them, a bunch 
of great Irish athletes, SO2 

203
00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:38,120
lads. 
And then Laura Ojresco, a really

204
00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,320
established Irish ultra runner, 
unfortunately Laura had to DNF 

205
00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,320
with a hip injury and towards 
the end of the race. 

206
00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:49,640
But I am, yeah, sort of pulled 
away from them because I just, 

207
00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,440
you know, I, I tend to have a 
stronger second-half of the 

208
00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:54,000
race. 
If you know me, I'm a negative 

209
00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,720
split gal. 
I'm pretty conservative in the 

210
00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:58,480
first half and feel stronger in 
the 2nd. 

211
00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,920
And I always sort of use that 
energy to get to the finish 

212
00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,120
line. 
So pulled away from them and 

213
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,040
yeah, yeah, like, it's a great 
race. 

214
00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,960
I learned a lot. 
And like, say, you know, it was 

215
00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:10,840
the biggest distance I'd ever 
gone. 

216
00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,080
And yeah. 
And my actual partner Oren was 

217
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,960
out on the full spine at the 
time, so kept on thinking he was

218
00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:21,200
going to get me. 
I didn't want that. 

219
00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,880
So I really special when he came
in to the finish last year at 

220
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,760
yet home, he proposed on the 
finish line. 

221
00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:31,400
So that was that was super 
sweet. 

222
00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:36,040
So the spine is got so much 
emotional and physical memories 

223
00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,080
for us both. 
Then I asked what you said. 

224
00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:40,960
I said no, no, I'm going to ask 
it. 

225
00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,280
I actually didn't always doing. 
I thought it was a little bit 

226
00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:46,840
delirious. 
And I was like, Oh my God, like,

227
00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,120
come on, get in. 
Like get to the hotel, it's 

228
00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,040
freezing. 
And then he was just like, just 

229
00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:52,360
wait, I've got something in my 
bag. 

230
00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:53,640
And I was like, what is he 
doing? 

231
00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:59,720
Like I was proper confused. 
Yeah, he did. 

232
00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,920
He carried it the whole way 
because he thought he might meet

233
00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,840
me out on the trail. 
So he wanted to do it if he met 

234
00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,520
me. 
But I'd, I obviously like sort 

235
00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,200
of exceeded my expectations as 
to how I was going to run that 

236
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,400
race and then finish quite a bit
the forum. 

237
00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:18,080
So he never, he never met me. 
But yeah, it was in the little 

238
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:22,200
likes at the back of his bag the
whole way. 

239
00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:30,040
Well, leading on from that, this
year you ended up doing the full

240
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:36,200
spine yourself and just to go 
one up on them, you, you be his 

241
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:42,440
time finishing in 103 hours, 36 
minutes and 59 seconds. 

242
00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:43,160
That's. 
Right. 

243
00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:52,080
Yeah. 
So story starts mile 1. 

244
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:59,240
How do they progress? 
It was very much a roller 

245
00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,400
coaster and so I'd hadn't 
reckoned very much of the South 

246
00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,720
part of the spine. 
I'd only done maybe about 40-50 

247
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,600
miles of it. 
So I knew it was kind of going 

248
00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,960
into the unknown. 
But I had wreckage from out of 

249
00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:16,040
Edale and like, I knew I would 
feel all of a bit of a fluster 

250
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,200
because of the the sort of level
of the females that were in the 

251
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:20,600
race. 
I knew it was going to go off 

252
00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,480
like quite fast and I, I just 
can't get involved and stuff 

253
00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,400
like that because it's just not 
how I I run my races. 

254
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:33,120
Like I'm just, I have to be more
chill in the first half or I get

255
00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:37,160
all panicked and flustered. 
And we climbed all the way out. 

256
00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,960
Once we got up due to the 
bladder, it was like the most 

257
00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,040
beautiful inversion like I've 
ever seen. 

258
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:47,840
It was absolutely unbelievable. 
It was so gorgeous, but it was 

259
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,800
pretty short lived to be fair. 
Like the fog came in pretty 

260
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,400
pretty soon after that and it 
was just quite a lot of damp, 

261
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,160
greedy, like trudging through 
snow and slop and, you know, 

262
00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,960
just hard. 
There was just hard work that 

263
00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,440
that first day. 
I remember sort of thinking to 

264
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,160
myself like sort of about four 
or five o'clock. 

265
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,480
Like my legs are hurting. 
Like I would expect them to hurt

266
00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:13,720
on day three, never mind 7 hours
or 8 hours into it. 

267
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,080
Yeah. 
And then once I got to Hebden, I

268
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,080
definitely, I definitely didn't 
spend enough time there. 

269
00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,360
Like based on how tired I was, I
was all a bit of a like need to 

270
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:26,760
get in and get out, get in and 
get out. 

271
00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:31,080
And it's like a big slog to 
Check Point to and it's like 

272
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:37,080
60-70, nearly 70 miles really. 
So like, in hindsight, didn't 

273
00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:41,280
spend enough time there. 
I left with Lucy and had a good 

274
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,840
chat with her. 
You know, she was quite funny. 

275
00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,760
Like coming out of the 
checkpoint, she, she, she left 

276
00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:49,720
and conferringing back. 
And like, have I got one pole? 

277
00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,560
Like, oh, my pole. 
Did you just give me one pole 

278
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,160
and they were all in the 
flusters? 

279
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,080
She's like, oh, just need to get
my spares out the drop bag. 

280
00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:00,040
So I, I'd like left by this 
point and all just sat at the, 

281
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,040
the end of the stairs at the 
checkpoint because like I don't,

282
00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,640
the checkpoints are the most 
stressful thing in the whole 

283
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,880
spine, I swear. 
Like they're just a bit manic. 

284
00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,440
Everybody's a bit like getting 
sleep deprived and then you're 

285
00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,320
all ready to go And then you've 
got to kit check and they give 

286
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,760
you like they ask for five 
random items. 

287
00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,080
So you've got to undo all your 
kit bag again, but you're all 

288
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:25,400
dressed to go out in the -2 
temperatures and it's boiling 

289
00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,200
hot and that it's just, it's 
just such a stressful 

290
00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,440
environment. 
So I was just laughing with her 

291
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,280
about, you know, how stressed 
she was. 

292
00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,520
She was like, I'm such a 
disaster in the checkpoints. 

293
00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,560
I'm like, I think everyone is 
really like, I know some of the 

294
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,360
top guys are going in and out, 
but just the the really hard 

295
00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,800
work. 
So yeah, I definitely should 

296
00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,480
have sat down a little bit 
longer, had a bit more food in 

297
00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:52,480
Checkpoint 1. 
I think as the race goes on, do 

298
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,480
the checkpoints, I guess they 
get not so busy but you're 

299
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:57,600
getting more tired. 
How? 

300
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,000
Yeah, there's like so when I was
in Langdon Beck, it was nice and

301
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,079
quiet because I hadn't caught up
to the Challenger N guys yet. 

302
00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:09,760
And then I was I was relatively 
sort of like high up in the pack

303
00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,560
of the Fool spine. 
But then after sort of Langdon 

304
00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:16,720
Beck, like Austin and Bellingham
and all the sort of interme and 

305
00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:20,119
smaller transitionary 
checkpoints, we're all really be

306
00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,839
busy with full spiners and 
Challenger N So it makes it 

307
00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:29,400
really hard to, to navigate. 
Like Bellingham was manic when I

308
00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:33,080
was, was I was in there, you 
know, with like, didn't you, you

309
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,120
drop bags are massive, like 20K 
bags where you got 1 little like

310
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:39,480
tiny chair and you're trying to 
like manage all your stuff in 

311
00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,520
there. 
And yeah, and like you see 

312
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,560
everybody, everybody is like 
sleep deprived by then. 

313
00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,360
So it makes it even harder to 
sort of navigate. 

314
00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,760
But yeah, that Langbeth was 
probably the only sort of quiet 

315
00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:57,080
checkpoint that I, I was in. 
I tried to sleep there, but it 

316
00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,960
was during the day and I just, 
it was a bit like it was a bit 

317
00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:03,160
noisy and just really light and 
I just didn't, didn't manage to 

318
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:06,120
sleep there. 
I slept well at Haws. 

319
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,120
I was really tired by the time I
got to Haws. 

320
00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:11,560
I'd had a rough day on the 
Monday and really dizzy and like

321
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,400
headed and things like that. 
And when I started to eat in 

322
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,960
halls, I was like, this isn't 
this isn't going well for me 

323
00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:18,360
right now. 
So I'm going to I'm going to 

324
00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:19,960
have to go up and go to the 
toilet. 

325
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,280
But I didn't make it. 
So I fainted in front of 

326
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,800
everybody, which was great. 
Well, I just woke up with just 

327
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,120
like the people like shy medic, 
like sounds like something like 

328
00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,480
out of the body, something out 
of the water like and then, but 

329
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,920
it's happened to me before. 
So like it happens to be in 

330
00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:35,400
Greg's heart in the challenge 
and off. 

331
00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,680
Like I felt really woozy and I 
was already sat down, but I got 

332
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,320
kept in Greg's heart during the 
challenging offer a little bit 

333
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,680
longer than the normal just to 
sort sort myself out. 

334
00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:49,160
So once I'd had sleep in haws, I
got up and my body felt like a 

335
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,360
lot better, but I was still not 
feeling like right. 

336
00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:55,920
And I was just like just like 
constantly vomiting in the 

337
00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:59,480
toilet, phoning my partner and 
like, I can't stop being sick. 

338
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,400
Like I don't know what to do. 
And he's like, just get out the 

339
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,560
checkpoint. 
And I was like, right, OK, And 

340
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:07,840
that's what I did. 
Like I got at the checkpoint and

341
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,080
I and I just sort of bimbled 
along for a while, like sipping 

342
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:15,280
on high carb gels and, you know,
trying to eat little and often. 

343
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:20,160
And I knew I'd moved into sort 
of like, you know, sort of like 

344
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,000
a lower position. 
But I, I caught up with Sarah 

345
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,560
quite, quite quickly and then 
ran with her for a little bit 

346
00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,080
and she was struggling with 
sleep depth and we had a wee 

347
00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,640
chat and stuff like that. 
But you just, it's just amazing 

348
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,600
how you can rally. 
Like it's like just crazy. 

349
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,040
Like, you know, I really, really
thought when I was hugging that 

350
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,680
toilet like this is it like, I 
really thought that this was the

351
00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,920
end of my race. 
Like, and after all that I was 

352
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:51,040
just like, just I can, and I was
like, feel better when you get 

353
00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:52,640
in fresh air. 
And I was like, and I did. 

354
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,120
And like I say, I've been there 
before and but it happened to me

355
00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:58,600
in the West Island way, like I 
just couldn't stop being sick. 

356
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,960
And you know, the good thing 
about the West Island way is 

357
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:03,880
you've got support car nearby, 
haven't you? 

358
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,880
So like, you know, I pushed 
myself on the West End. 

359
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:08,840
We trying different things 
because I knew like if anything 

360
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,800
happened, my sport car's like, 
you know, you know, a couple of 

361
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,480
miles away. 
So it's no big issue. 

362
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,680
But because I've had that 
experience, I knew exactly what 

363
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,400
I needed to do really. 
And like I knew that if I sipped

364
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,840
on gels that eventually I'd 
start to be able to eat again. 

365
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,040
And then? 
By the time I got up to Tan 

366
00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,560
Hill, even though it was, the 
weather was wild and it was bog 

367
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,360
and rivers washes everywhere, it
was really, really hard going. 

368
00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,200
There's a picture of me in Tan 
Hill and I just look like, I 

369
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,160
don't know, being beat up by 
something like, but I managed to

370
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,000
eat like loads of soup and bread
and have a coffee and then like,

371
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,800
you know, again, sort of rallied
and I left with a couple of guys

372
00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:47,840
this time. 
And that's just nice being able 

373
00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:52,560
to chat to people and you know, 
get, you know, the time just 

374
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,400
passes quite quickly. 
And that sort of went into the 

375
00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,320
next day and then I got a big 
massive like wind the next day. 

376
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,880
It was like great, you know, I 
pushed heading towards sort of 

377
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,760
like Hadrian's Wall and caught 
up with loads of people and 

378
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,120
chatted with loads of people and
just was moving really well. 

379
00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:16,680
So that was good. 
And then there that night was, 

380
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,640
it's just the nights were really
hard, like the sleep 

381
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,040
deprivation, like loads of 
people talk about like mad 

382
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,840
hallucinations. 
And I really did have like crazy

383
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:27,720
hallucinations when I was on 
Crossville. 

384
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,320
But the majority of the sleep 
depth for me was just the 

385
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:35,560
turmoil of trying to stay awake.
Like it just your 

386
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,320
hallucinations. 
Let's let's talk about that. 

387
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,040
What were you so climbing up to 
Crossville? 

388
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,600
Because it's one of the sort of 
highest points, isn't it? 

389
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,280
So I was climbing up, I was on 
my own and the wind is picking 

390
00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,600
up and the rain was coming down 
starting to get foggy. 

391
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,000
But like I really, really 
couldn't keep my eyes open. 

392
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,120
Like, so I sat down. 
Like I literally just sat down 

393
00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,760
exactly where I was and like 
just put my, put my alarm on for

394
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:04,320
5 minutes just to give my, my 
head a bit of a break because I 

395
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,360
knew like I was going to be 
climbing and climbing and 

396
00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:08,960
climbing for a while. 
So I sat down and I was like, 

397
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,600
right, OK, you know, you don't 
feel refreshed, but your, your 

398
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:13,520
brain just feels like it can go 
again. 

399
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,760
So I'm climbing and as I'm 
getting higher and higher, the 

400
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,240
fog is getting worse and worse. 
So I took my head torch off and 

401
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:25,520
was carrying it in my hand and 
like got my like GPS on my, my 

402
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,920
watch and my GPS device in my 
pocket. 

403
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:31,080
And like literally just, that's 
all I could do. 

404
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,120
There was no path. 
It was just bog or ice or slush 

405
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,320
and the wind was like howling so
bad. 

406
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,480
And I just was like, I really, 
really felt like I was going 

407
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,680
into oblivion. 
And I knew I had like a few 

408
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,600
little peaks before I would get 
to Crossville, but those little 

409
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,240
peaks up there, instead of them 
being like white trig points, 

410
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,520
they're like rounded piles of 
rock, I guess. 

411
00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:57,560
Not, not, not for me. 
That night they weren't. 

412
00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,200
So I'd be getting closer and 
like the wind would, well, it 

413
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,960
was just the wind howling, but 
in my head it was like just 

414
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,720
people screaming. 
So there's just people screaming

415
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:08,280
in my ears. 
And then all of a sudden those 

416
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,400
little like mounds would like 
rise up with like big, massive, 

417
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,040
like black arms and they'd be 
like trying to pull me in, but I

418
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,760
was having to follow the line, 
which was taking me to the 

419
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,760
rocks. 
And then I'd be getting closer 

420
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:21,160
and closer. 
My heart be going like 

421
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,200
absolutely, like clap is like 
this is that I'm going to get 

422
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,960
sucked in by this big huge 
demon. 

423
00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,280
And then it would just turn to a
pile of rocks and I'd be like, 

424
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:30,880
here we go again. 
And then I'd do that and I'd do 

425
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:32,280
that. 
And I'd literally did that for 

426
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,000
what felt like hours until I got
on to Crossville, which is a big

427
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,440
massive, like like loads of flat
pile of rocks. 

428
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,160
And that just had all sorts 
coming out of it. 

429
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,280
And I was just so, so 
emotionally broken by the time I

430
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,520
got to Greg's heart. 
Like I'd felt like I was going 

431
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,560
to die like 3 or 4 times by 
getting sucked into these big 

432
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,000
massive black demons like that 
were up there, but it was just 

433
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,400
just piles of rock. 
Did you know you're listening? 

434
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,880
I did because every time I got 
to the rocks they'd change. 

435
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,440
I've been talking to like people
in my work a bit like maybe like

436
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,080
that was just my brains way of 
like keeping me alert. 

437
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:12,200
Like because I had adrenaline 
like 100%. 

438
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,320
Like I felt like I felt like I 
was going to get sucked in by 

439
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:17,960
those demons, like as I was 
getting closer, but I just kept 

440
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,880
like falling the line on my GPS.
And then I'd have a little like 

441
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,160
lucid moment and I'd be like, 
this is mental. 

442
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:26,720
I can't believe I'm doing this 
right now. 

443
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,280
Like how many people have done 
this? 

444
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,240
Like just by themselves, like in
the middle of the night in a 

445
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:36,240
storm, like just crazy, 
absolutely crazy. 

446
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,040
Like proper pride of myself 
right now. 

447
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,880
But I'm literally at my limit. 
I just want to ask as well, 

448
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,040
Nikki, going back to when you 
were saying about the sickness 

449
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,280
not feeling great and the 
fainting and everything, how is 

450
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,280
it that, you know, you talked 
about West Highland Way as well 

451
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,000
and you knew it happened before,
like the first time it did 

452
00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:59,320
happen to you on whatever event 
it was and you were being sick. 

453
00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,440
How do you know that it wasn't 
time to pull the plug on the 

454
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,240
race and it wasn't sickness and 
you could carry on? 

455
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,160
Did do you just put one foot in 
front of the other and keep 

456
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:14,160
going or how do you go? 
So I've had, I've had a really 

457
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,520
bad experience of pushing 
through something that I 

458
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,160
shouldn't have on an event on 
the Isle of Man called the 

459
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,840
Parish Walk, which is like an 85
mile walk around all the 

460
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,520
parishes on the Isle of Man that
you've got 24 hours to complete.

461
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:33,480
Now I've, I've done it the first
year and got 55 miles and then 

462
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,280
the second year I've done it and
finished it and being fine, had 

463
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,040
a great time. 
So I was going again for the, 

464
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:44,480
the, the third year and I 
stopped being able to take on 

465
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,440
sort of food or fluids quite 
early on, maybe just over 

466
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,360
halfway. 
And I just kept going because 

467
00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,640
because of the way like my head 
was at the time and you know, I 

468
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,920
just putting I guess 1 foot in 
front of the other. 

469
00:25:56,360 --> 00:26:00,160
But like how I was feeling and 
the pains that I was getting 

470
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:04,560
were like another level. 
But like I say, it wasn't in a 

471
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,000
very great place myself 
personally. 

472
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,680
So I just pushed on and I 
definitely shouldn't. 

473
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:15,600
So I got to mile 83, so I only 
had two miles to go and I 

474
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,160
collapsed and got taken to 
hospital and I basically given 

475
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,520
myself rhabdomyolysis. 
So that's like when basically 

476
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,760
your body's like breaking down 
your muscles and it releases 

477
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,080
loads of like really big 
proteins and basically blocks 

478
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,480
your kidneys and, you know, 
makes you really poorly. 

479
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,680
So I was in hostile sort of four
or five days after that. 

480
00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:39,960
And it took me like over a year 
to recover properly from that 

481
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,120
and sort of get back to like it 
was boxing at the time and, you 

482
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:44,920
know, get back to sort of my 
sport. 

483
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:49,960
And I've just always just said 
to myself, like, I'd never do 

484
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,080
that again. 
Like I know the like the pains 

485
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,120
in my legs that I would get in 
more like, like nothing I've 

486
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:58,640
ever experienced. 
And I don't really know why I 

487
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,000
thought it was a good idea to 
sort of push through them. 

488
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,040
And my breathing went off funny.
And that's probably when I 

489
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,920
collapsed, to be fair, because I
was like hyperventilating quite 

490
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,920
badly. 
And and so I'd never let myself 

491
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,320
get to that point when I was 
being sick on the West Ham. 

492
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,800
We had got to the sort of 
halfway point and I was going to

493
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:19,320
can it. 
I was going to pull the plug 

494
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,480
because I wanted to run it. 
I wanted to race. 

495
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:25,200
And I was just sort of walking, 
power walking. 

496
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:26,920
And I was like, well, what's the
point? 

497
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,360
So my partner and I sort of had 
a chat and he was just like, 

498
00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:34,960
well, you know, let's try the 
gels, like let's just try 

499
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,680
stepping on a gel like don't 
neck it like him 1. 

500
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,880
He was like, just step on it and
like the next checkpoint on the 

501
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,360
West Ham, we was only 10 miles, 
but it's right next to the main 

502
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:47,760
road. 
And so if anything really bad 

503
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:53,120
had happened, my, my support car
was really close by and I said, 

504
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,640
OK, if I can't run over the next
sort of 10 miles or I don't pick

505
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,400
up the pace of the next 10 
miles, like I'll call it Bridge 

506
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,680
of Orkie, which was the next 
like checkpoint. 

507
00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:05,280
And I did, I started to feel 
energized again. 

508
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:09,120
My legs started going again and 
I started to be able to take on 

509
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,200
full gels. 
And then by the time I got to 

510
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,120
the next checkpoint, I started 
to be able to take on fruit and 

511
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:17,360
crisps. 
And then that was it. 

512
00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:19,920
Then I had a really good 
second-half of the race and I 

513
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,640
managed to finish second, which 
was, which was good because I 

514
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,440
was back in fifth by that sort 
of halfway point. 

515
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:30,280
And so because I'd had that 
experience and also the 

516
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:34,080
experience of it really going 
wrong, I think I I'm in quite a 

517
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,160
good position to know when I 
need to stop and when I know I 

518
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,280
can sort of push through. 
If it got to a point where I was

519
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:43,680
sipping on the gels and I still 
not keeping them down and it 

520
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,240
didn't get to the point where I 
could eat, it's time for me to 

521
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,400
call it. 
But thankfully since I've done 

522
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,960
that back, it was 2018, I got 
wrapped on analysis. 

523
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,640
That's never happened and I have
managed to rally. 

524
00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,480
So yeah, it's only because I 
know myself that I would take 

525
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,880
that risk. 
I guess I wouldn't suggest that 

526
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,720
for anybody unless they've been 
through sort of similar 

527
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,080
themselves. 
Like you only you know when it's

528
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,520
right to to call it. 
I guess that you you said 

529
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,160
earlier about the support car, 
it made you able to push it 

530
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:16,320
because you knew they were 
there. 

531
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,280
But for a lot of people, they 
would quit because they knew 

532
00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:20,280
they were there. 
So. 

533
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:25,760
That's the opposite way around. 
Yeah, maybe, maybe on on the 

534
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:27,840
spine. 
Is that what happened then after

535
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:29,560
the faint? 
And did you just step on the 

536
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,400
gels and that was your go to and
then that's you. 

537
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,960
You can go again and refuel and 
carry on. 

538
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,480
Yeah, Yeah. 
For for like all of the sort of 

539
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,960
second-half of the spine. 
Like I probably for the first 

540
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,360
time ever on a race, like I was 
starving, like I was hungry all 

541
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,280
the time. 
And I was like, this is great. 

542
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,720
Like I was going into the 
checkpoints and having like full

543
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:52,960
meals. 
Like I've never been able to do 

544
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,840
that on a race. 
So like that was a nice sort of 

545
00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:58,760
take away from from the spine as
well. 

546
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,920
Like, you know, that I can 
actually feel fuel properly. 

547
00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,040
And you know, I've I very 
recently started trying the sort

548
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:07,760
of high carb gels from precision
fuel. 

549
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,920
They're like 90 grams and 
they're great. 

550
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,360
They've got a little screw top, 
which is good because I was just

551
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,040
taking a bit of that, putting it
in my pocket. 

552
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:16,840
And then 10 minutes later I take
a bit more. 

553
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,320
And then by that point I was 
then able to eat like I have 

554
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,760
knots and chocolate and Turkish 
delay and things like that. 

555
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,040
So then it was like I could have
an actual Turkish delay. 

556
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,720
Then it was a handful of knots, 
then it was a big block of 

557
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,400
chocolate, and then it was soup 
and bread by the time I got to 

558
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,280
Tan Hill. 
So yeah, that that was that was 

559
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,240
good. 
And on the topic of food, how 

560
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,160
many portions of Alston Lasagna 
did you have? 

561
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,640
I had two portions of the 
lasagna, but that was because as

562
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,040
soon as I got in there, I was a 
little bit broken when I got to 

563
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,240
Alston because that was like 
post Crossville. 

564
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,840
And then you come off to a place
called Gargrel, but then you've 

565
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:57,640
got 7 K of just like really 
tough paths and pavement and 

566
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,520
it's just a little bit undulate.
And then every time I saw a head

567
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,280
torch, I thought it was the the 
checkpoint and it just wasn't 

568
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,880
like there's still people like 
randomly out of hiking and like,

569
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,520
it's like midnight, like what 
are you doing? 

570
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:10,400
Go home. 
Like you're not on display. 

571
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,400
And I keep thinking you're 
people with the checkpoint and 

572
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:15,680
they're not. 
And that seven K really dragged 

573
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:17,120
on. 
I was having a pain in like my 

574
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,480
right foot as well that I had 
to. 

575
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,280
Well, I took off my shoe any 
time I was on a road and was 

576
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,520
just walking in my sock. 
And then when I was on the 

577
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,120
trails, I'd like pushed down the
back of the shoe and was just 

578
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,880
kind of using it as like a bit 
of a flip flop or a slipper. 

579
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,520
And so, yeah, I was just really 
suffering when I got to Austin. 

580
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:36,800
So as soon as I got in there, I 
was like, I just want a bed. 

581
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:38,880
And he was like, there's not a 
bed at the moment, but he's 

582
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,480
like, I'll give you food. 
And I was like, OK, give me some

583
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:45,680
lasagna, please. 
And then I had another bit and 

584
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,720
then I must have fallen asleep 
at the table because the next 

585
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,680
thing was like, my volunteer was
waking me up to be like, got 

586
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:53,440
your bed. 
And so yeah. 

587
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,040
And then I went and we planned 
to sleep for an hour half. 

588
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,160
But when my alarm went off after
an hour, half I like 100% was 

589
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,080
not fit to go. 
So I had another 20 minutes. 

590
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,600
And then I guess like started to
wake up a bit because it was 

591
00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:07,200
sort of seven or 8:00 in the 
morning. 

592
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,880
And I guess your circadian 
rhythm started to like kick in a

593
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,680
little bit. 
And you know, I was ready to go 

594
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,080
out into the the day then. 
So yeah. 

595
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,560
And like, say I was well fuelled
because I had more toast when I 

596
00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:20,400
got up as well. 
So it was like 2 lasagna 

597
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,160
portions, 2, nearly two hours of
sleep and then about half a loaf

598
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,920
of bread worth of toast before I
left. 

599
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,280
So that was good. 
I'm not sure how far through 

600
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,480
your journey where you seem to 
be jumping about. 

601
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,880
We might be on in the right 
place, but I just I was going to

602
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:43,280
say I'm jealous because I've run
for the longest I've been a week

603
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,760
is 67 hours and I've never 
hallucinated. 

604
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,880
So I'm jealous, yeah. 
Wow, people have like create 

605
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,360
like Oren when he did his like 
so there's you'll know if you've

606
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,440
ran the pen anyway. 
There's loads of big slabs. 

607
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,840
So even the tedious and then 
looking at the slabs, thinking 

608
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,800
they were like, really, really 
elaborate neon paintings, like 

609
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,760
every single slab. 
And he'd be like, can't believe 

610
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,080
somebody's come up and done all 
this like painting up here. 

611
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,560
And they'd be like, no. 
And then he looked back down and

612
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,400
he was like, Yep, they're still 
there just like crazy. 

613
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,480
Or like Adam recommends she 
talks about hers like being like

614
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,640
really like vivid crazy things. 
Like I've never seen. 

615
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:22,080
Like I saw the demons, but they 
were very plain. 

616
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,400
They were just very like black 
and shaped. 

617
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:29,000
And then on the Challenger, NI 
kept seeing people like really 

618
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,840
vivid, remember, like really 
vividly seeing like a person in 

619
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,520
a green jacket with a really 
long camera and then that it 

620
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:38,160
just wasn't a person. 
Or I remember seeing a couple 

621
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,960
sitting in the snow, like having
lunch and having like, what are 

622
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,160
they doing out here? 
Like with us, like this isn't it

623
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,720
wasn't people. 
But I've never had like vivid 

624
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,680
things that some people see, 
like dinosaurs, don't they? 

625
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,800
And you know all sorts, but I 
can't believe you've been awake 

626
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,480
for 67 hours and nothing. 
I can't wait to find out if I 

627
00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:00,320
hallucinate because I've ever 
ran in that case, 42 miles. 

628
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,800
So you got. 
The closest I've been is running

629
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,720
along and sort of seeing 
something out of the corner of 

630
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:12,679
my eye looking over and Oh no, I
just, I didn't see it properly. 

631
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,800
And when I actually look at it, 
it's not that. 

632
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:17,080
So I don't see. 
I don't count that as 

633
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,400
hallucination because it's just 
you not paying attention 

634
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:19,880
properly. 
Yeah. 

635
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,560
Yeah. 
That's that's a long, that's a 

636
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:25,560
long time to go. 
Asleep. 

637
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:27,040
Yeah. 
Crazy. 

638
00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:29,639
Yeah. 
Where? 

639
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,480
Where, How far up the country 
were we in your story? 

640
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:41,320
So, yeah, we we're at Austin, 
which is checkpoint 344. 

641
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:42,199
Checkpoint four. 
Yeah. 

642
00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:44,560
So there's only one more 
checkpoint, which is Bellingham 

643
00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:47,080
or Bellingham. 
And I'm not too sure people 

644
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:51,159
pronounce it different. 
So that the bit from Austin, I 

645
00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:53,880
left it was like sort of eight, 
9:00 in the morning. 

646
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:56,840
And it's just a bit of a, it's a
bit of a slog. 

647
00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,600
I find that section, it's just, 
you know, loads of fields and 

648
00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:03,720
running along the canal and a 
train line and things like that 

649
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,960
just a bit, a bit see me and a 
bit boring. 

650
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:12,120
And I was by myself again. 
And so Oren just gave me a call 

651
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,560
and he was just just chatting 
about, you know, this person's 

652
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,040
just behind you or this person 
in front of you or this 

653
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,080
challenging off person here. 
Or like I'd run with a guy 

654
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:23,680
called Harry for a bit like he's
only 2K in front of you or these

655
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:25,360
sorts of things. 
And it just sort of gave me a 

656
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:26,960
bit of a boost to like, do you 
know what? 

657
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,440
I just really want some company.
So just sort of turned the gas 

658
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,120
on a little bit to try and catch
up with just anybody. 

659
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,640
But once I sort of got into 
that, flow started to run really

660
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:39,840
well. 
And I ran really well to Green 

661
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:42,640
Hairs, which then takes you on 
to Hadrian's Wall. 

662
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,880
And as I got to Hadrian's Wall, 
like Damien Hall and Ally Bailey

663
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,320
were there. 
And Ally gave me like a quick 

664
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:51,400
interview. 
And, you know, I had some 

665
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,000
Pringles from the safety team 
and again have another sort of 

666
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,920
waste of life. 
I knew the Hadrian's Wall was 

667
00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,920
tough from having done it in the
challenging off last year. 

668
00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:03,360
But I didn't see that many 
people last year on Hadrian's 

669
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:04,960
Wall. 
It was really snowy and there 

670
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:06,400
wasn't that many people in front
of me. 

671
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,840
Whereas this year there was 
lots, lots of people like it 

672
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,280
because it's a nice day and 
there was lots of challenging 

673
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:14,640
off people. 
And, and that was when I, I 

674
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:17,440
caught up with Simon and Chris, 
who I ran with for quite, quite 

675
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,160
a while. 
And, and they initially let me 

676
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:23,440
pass and then they were like, 
actually, we're going to come 

677
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:24,920
with you. 
And I was like, they're fine. 

678
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,480
Like come, come. 
Like I'm happy with the company.

679
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:31,080
And yeah, I stuck with them for 
like really long time, like all 

680
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:35,200
the way to sort of bayonets. 
Like we were all sort of tuning 

681
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:39,200
and froing together. 
And I left bayonets with Chris, 

682
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,160
which is the, the transitionary 
checkpoint before the TV. 

683
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:43,680
It's where you get men some 
ties. 

684
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:48,000
It's a great little checkpoint, 
but you only left half an hour 

685
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,960
there. 
So I slept for probably about 20

686
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,440
minutes of that half an hour and
and used the other sort of 10 

687
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:59,000
minutes to sort of fill my water
and have my food and stuff and 

688
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:03,720
then set off into the Cheviots. 
Bellingham was a bit of a 

689
00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:06,080
disaster. 
I tried to sleep there, but like

690
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,240
I was saying earlier, it's it's 
so busy. 

691
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,840
It's just a bit chaotic. 
There's there's not much room in

692
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,880
the the area with the drop bags 
and then the room where you 

693
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,200
sleep. 
It's just a big empty sort of 

694
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:22,320
cold hall. 
And I tried to sleep, but I was 

695
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,400
just sort of tossing and turning
cold and not that comfortable. 

696
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,600
And I just ended up like, I 
didn't even, I don't think I 

697
00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:31,080
fell asleep because I got up 
before my alarm and stuff like 

698
00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:33,920
that and just was like, I need 
to get out here type thing. 

699
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,000
And I'd said to myself, like, 
I'll sleep at Baroness if 

700
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:41,440
Baroness if I need to, wish I 
did because I really don't need 

701
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:45,000
to. 
That was a long, like a long 

702
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,440
slog, even though it's not that 
far in distance. 

703
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,640
It just felt like it was really 
hard work. 

704
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,360
The church. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

705
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:58,000
So you can, you can sleep in the
actual little checkpoint, but 

706
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,360
then you can just the church is 
just behind it where you can 

707
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:02,360
sleep. 
You know, people bunk in there 

708
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:08,880
as long as you let race HQ know.
But like I say, when I left by 

709
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:13,280
an S, like it literally was like
7 seven in the morning. 5 past 7

710
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:16,760
was when we left and the sun was
just coming up and I really did 

711
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,040
feel like my circadian rhythm 
kick in. 

712
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,440
And as I started to make that 
sort of climb. 

713
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:24,720
So you go along the road a 
little bit and then you go off 

714
00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:27,800
into start to make the climb up 
into the TV. 

715
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,480
It's like I pulled away from 
Chris and I was just like, this 

716
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,600
is it like here we go like I'm 
going to the end now. 

717
00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:37,760
And I got up on the top right as
the sort of sun was I guess just

718
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:42,440
cresting and it was just a 
really special like moment. 

719
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:44,680
And that is when I started to 
cry. 

720
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:48,040
And I pretty much cried for the 
whole of the next 20 miles. 

721
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:53,000
Like, just, I don't know. 
It was like I knew it was going 

722
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:54,720
to finish. 
And I wasn't. 

723
00:38:54,720 --> 00:38:57,000
I wasn't saying. 
I just, I just couldn't stop. 

724
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,560
Like, it's just you're so tired.
And I just couldn't stop. 

725
00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,200
Or him phoned me about lunchtime
and then pretty much just hung 

726
00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:06,920
up because he was like, I can't 
understand the word you're 

727
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,440
saying. 
And I was like, OK, all the 

728
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:12,800
time. 
It's not coming out my nose and 

729
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,720
crying everywhere. 
And just, yeah, I had a bit of a

730
00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:18,880
break at hot 1 and they made me 
a coffee and hot chocolate and 

731
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:21,640
had a wee chat with them in 
there and that was good. 

732
00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,600
I felt sort of re energized 
again to head to hot 2. 

733
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,600
It seems like that daft because 
it's only so it's 9 miles to hot

734
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:32,080
1 and then it's 9 miles to hot 2
and then it's about just under 7

735
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:36,520
miles to the finish. 
But those 9 miles just seem so 

736
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:39,360
long. 
They just like, they feel like 

737
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,520
they don't, they're never 
ending. 

738
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:43,720
It's quite seamy up in the 
Cheviots as well. 

739
00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:46,440
And it kind of feels a little 
bit like you're going the same 

740
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:48,880
direction or the same way all 
the time. 

741
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,040
And I did quite a lot of the 
Cheeviots in the dark last year.

742
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,200
And I remember just thinking to 
myself holding my phone like 

743
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,880
race each here going to call me 
because I'm going backwards on 

744
00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:00,040
the route or I'm all going off 
route like I wasn't. 

745
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:01,840
It just like just feels that 
way. 

746
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,240
Because it's quite seamy up 
there. 

747
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:08,200
But it was really windy and it 
was quite cold, but really 

748
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:10,000
gorgeous, like beautiful sunny 
day. 

749
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,880
So that that was nice. 
Not that I took any advantage of

750
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:14,840
it because it's snotting and 
sobbing the whole time. 

751
00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:21,040
But when you get to hot too, and
you know that that's the last 

752
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:22,720
point. 
Because when you don't watch on 

753
00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:26,240
the map, it looks. 
In fact, when I went down to the

754
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:30,560
finish line last week just for a
nosey, I actually considered but

755
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,200
how far it is hot too. 
And it's like 6-7 miles as you 

756
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:34,080
say. 
And I think, you know, I 

757
00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,880
wondered if I could run that or 
go along getting that and I 

758
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:40,720
thought, no, I'll just, yeah. 
What's that like when you've 

759
00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:45,960
done that much mileage? 
Like does it feel like really 

760
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:48,240
close or does it still feel so 
far away? 

761
00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:52,080
Like when you get see that last 
very last section? 

762
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:55,520
Yeah. 
What's that like once you get to

763
00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:58,560
hot too, you've still got quite 
a big climb to go called the 

764
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:03,480
shell. 
And that seems to take forever 

765
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:05,840
because you are knackered and 
it's quite a climb. 

766
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,360
It's quite steep. 
It's, you know, it's quite, it's

767
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:09,800
quite high. 
It was really windy. 

768
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,800
And when I got to the top I'd 
had been having, like I was 

769
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:16,400
saying, I have a problem with my
shoulder and like just my, my 

770
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,320
bag and the sort of tracker 
banging against the bone in my 

771
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,200
shoulder. 
So I was carrying my bag sort of

772
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,880
down on my, my arm like that. 
So but when I got over the shell

773
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:29,600
and I started to to descend, my 
bag popped open on the right 

774
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:32,840
hand side. 
I was like, Oh my God, like it's

775
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:36,120
7 miles to go and now my bag is 
like popped and I was like, it's

776
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:39,080
only 7 miles but like I can't 
run with like the bungee. 

777
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:41,840
It was like it was flapping 
about all over the place. 

778
00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,760
And I was like, just wanted to 
get home, but I had to like, 

779
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,840
stop and take it off and like 
tie all the bungee back 

780
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,640
together. 
And that just felt like, you 

781
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:53,920
know, the sort of a big slap in 
the face like before I 

782
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:58,640
descended. 
But once I started descending, I

783
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:01,800
just, I let sort of gravity do 
its work. 

784
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:04,800
Like my feet were hurting, but 
my legs were in good condition 

785
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:06,560
really considering how far I'd 
come. 

786
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:11,480
And I, I moved really quickly on
from hot 2 to the finish faster 

787
00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:13,640
than what I did on the 
Challenger North as well, which 

788
00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:16,560
is interesting. 
It took me like just under 2 

789
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:20,000
hours to get to the finish from 
hot 2, which it took me two 

790
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,880
hours and like 10 minutes or 
something on the Challenger N. 

791
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:27,680
So I really did put a bit of put
a little Duracell battery and 

792
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:32,000
when I sorted my bag out and 
just wanted it to be over, like 

793
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,720
I'm just going to let gravity do
the work here and pull me down 

794
00:42:34,720 --> 00:42:39,280
the hill. 
So it does it, I think between 

795
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:42,720
hot 1 and hot 2 feels the 
longest though, like those 9 

796
00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:47,760
miles are rather rough and but 
then all of a sudden you see hot

797
00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:51,480
2, but it's at the top of a top 
of a hill, which is annoying as 

798
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:53,240
well. 
So you got to go up and then you

799
00:42:53,240 --> 00:42:55,880
descend down, then you go back 
up to hot 2, then you go down a 

800
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:57,440
little bit and then you go up to
the shell. 

801
00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:00,840
So it's quite a lot of like that
on the last bit as well, which 

802
00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,680
is which is hard. 
Yeah, sure. 

803
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:05,920
When I was watching the tracker 
it was about four hours or 

804
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,080
something for that 9 miles 
between the two huts. 

805
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:14,120
Yeah, it's it is hard work. 
So how how slow? 

806
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:20,360
Like are you barely walking or 
how slow is it at that point? 

807
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:25,520
So between sort of the Bionessen
Hot one, I was trying my very 

808
00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:30,120
best to hold 3 miles an hour. 
And I was just like, like 

809
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:33,480
breaking it down in my head to 
that was like 3 hours, then 

810
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:36,680
three hours, and then sort of 2 
1/2 or another three hours. 

811
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:38,520
I'm like, I can do it. 
That's a whole day. 

812
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:41,240
Like because I'd left in the 
morning, I was like gonna be 

813
00:43:41,240 --> 00:43:43,800
home before tea time. 
And I just kept that in my head.

814
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:48,160
You're definitely, I'm not 
running any of the hills at any 

815
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:50,880
point on the spine, to be 
honest, like I'm, I'm hiking all

816
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:52,800
of them. 
But I was doing my very best to 

817
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,480
just like sort of shuffle sort 
of 1918 minute miles. 

818
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:59,200
And that's pretty good going at 
that sort of stage. 

819
00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:03,640
And yeah, and I, and I did, I 
did maintain that I was way 

820
00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:06,880
faster, like I said on that 
those those 7 miles towards the 

821
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:09,480
end than what I had been between
the, the huts. 

822
00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:14,440
But I definitely just really was
on survival by that point. 

823
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:17,280
Like just want to get in. 
Like I just want to be on that 

824
00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:19,440
finish line. 
I've visualized it so much now, 

825
00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:21,800
like I just want to be, I just 
want to get home. 

826
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:26,240
So when my bag burst, I honestly
was like I was absolutely 

827
00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:30,720
devastated that the the world 
had done that to me at that 

828
00:44:30,720 --> 00:44:35,160
point and only had like 4 miles 
by that point because you you've

829
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:38,720
done a little bit of this sudden
by then I was human. 

830
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,800
But yeah, like. 
When we get to the finish, yeah,

831
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:45,160
I'll ask an unconventional 
question. 

832
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:48,240
You said you you are crying for 
the last 20 miles. 

833
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:51,200
How much salt do you think you 
lost? 

834
00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:53,880
More salt during that than 
normally running? 

835
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:57,880
100% like I dried out like all 
that bit in my skin as well. 

836
00:44:57,880 --> 00:44:59,960
Like you should've seen the 
state me when I come in. 

837
00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:01,520
Like all my lips were really 
dry. 

838
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:04,320
My nose was like, you know, like
if you'd had the cold or the flu

839
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:06,560
for like a week. 
That is what my nose was like. 

840
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:08,240
I'm like so attractive right 
now. 

841
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:14,680
And so yeah, I definitely, 
definitely was super dehydrated.

842
00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:19,440
Like it's funny because I don't 
know if you saw like Hannah, 

843
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,920
Hannah Rickman and put out a 
really, really good blog about 

844
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:26,920
her DNF, but she talked in it 
about like cold and juice, like 

845
00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:28,680
diuresis. 
And I was like, oh, Hon. 

846
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:31,920
Like I get like I literally on 
that last day, it was peeing 

847
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:35,080
like every two seconds as well. 
I was just like, if I've got any

848
00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:37,840
fluid left in my body when I get
to this finish line, it's going 

849
00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:39,960
to be a miracle. 
Yeah. 

850
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:41,800
So it's funny. 
Yeah, it is funny. 

851
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,600
I had proper dried out my skin 
with my own tears. 

852
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:48,320
And then you're finishing the 
course. 

853
00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:50,560
You're coming down that last 
little hill. 

854
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:54,040
You turn the trees in the corner
and then you see the finish line

855
00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:57,000
and the hotel and what's that 
like? 

856
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:02,080
I just, I was just like so happy
to, I could hear, like I could 

857
00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:03,560
hear the sort of hustle and 
bustle. 

858
00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:06,360
And then, you know, my mom's 
very well known for being 

859
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:10,160
extremely loud at finish lines. 
So I knew she like spied me in 

860
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:11,680
the horizon that I'd be able to 
hear it. 

861
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:13,480
But there's quite a lot of 
people in the hill as well. 

862
00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:17,000
And and then there was a 
photographer had come up and I 

863
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:20,240
was just like, just, I'll just 
jump in his car and like get a 

864
00:46:20,240 --> 00:46:22,200
lift to the finish. 
And I was like, so I just think 

865
00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:24,480
that to myself, like, why did I 
think that? 

866
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:27,800
Like after all that, I'll just 
get a lift smell like what the 

867
00:46:27,800 --> 00:46:32,480
hell? 
And so, yeah, just so, so tired.

868
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:35,760
But just like so elated to like 
becoming in a kid. 

869
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:38,640
Like when you can see the 
Montagne like things that's just

870
00:46:38,640 --> 00:46:41,040
like, so excited. 
And I I stopped. 

871
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,480
You'd think that would be the 
point at which I did actually 

872
00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:45,920
cry, but I didn't. 
I was just dead happy by that 

873
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:47,640
point. 
Like I was more excited to 

874
00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:51,400
finish and I was a little bit 
like TD on the finish line, but 

875
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:53,560
not like what I was going on and
phoned me at lunchtime. 

876
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:55,560
Anyway, is that? 
Because you didn't have any 

877
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:57,240
fluids left, so you. 
Can't, yeah, probably 

878
00:46:57,720 --> 00:46:59,880
completely. 
There's nothing to go, nothing 

879
00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:01,720
left. 
I feel quite bad because there's

880
00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:03,800
two guys coming in from the 
challenge and north like 

881
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,920
literally just in front of me. 
But I was like sorry, I'm not 

882
00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:10,680
stopping for anyone. 
I just overtook them like right 

883
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:14,120
before the the tunnels. 
But yeah, it's just like, I 

884
00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:17,960
just, I just want to finish now.
And yeah, it was nice because 

885
00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:22,480
Lucy had run with a guy called 
Tim, so she had come out to see 

886
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:24,000
for quite a long bit of the 
race. 

887
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,520
So she'd come out to see Tim and
then had waited to see me coming

888
00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:28,280
in as well and had chat with 
her. 

889
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:32,560
And yeah, there's just like, 
yeah, there's just loads of 

890
00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:34,520
people there all just being 
really nice. 

891
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:37,720
And like Autumn was there and 
his two girls were there and my 

892
00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:39,840
mum was there. 
It was just, it was just ace. 

893
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:44,080
And then quite a lot of the guys
that I'd sort of ran to and from

894
00:47:44,080 --> 00:47:46,160
from were all inside the hotel 
as well. 

895
00:47:46,160 --> 00:47:49,000
So it's nice to catch up with 
them and, you know, see them 

896
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:51,760
all, you know, happy that 
they've got the finish and 

897
00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:56,080
everybody's heart of explaining 
war, war stories and looking at 

898
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:59,080
each other's feet and how 
disastrous they all look. 

899
00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:02,600
And, you know, I've got a 
picture of me and you, Hahu, who

900
00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:05,440
ran for quite a bit together. 
And Oh, my God, we look like 

901
00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:09,080
we've been stung by bees, Like a
face of that, like, swollen. 

902
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,760
Yeah. 
But yeah, it's that touching 

903
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:16,480
that wall is just, you think 
about it so much in the race, 

904
00:48:16,480 --> 00:48:18,240
like, you feel like it'll never 
come. 

905
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:20,840
Particularly on that last day. 
It really feels like it will 

906
00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:22,480
never come. 
So when you actually get to do 

907
00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:27,400
it, it's just elation but also 
relief that it's over. 

908
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:32,080
But you didn't just finish, you 
grabbed the podium place as 

909
00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:33,600
well. 
Yes, yeah. 

910
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:36,920
And that really was like, I, 
I've had aspirational goals of 

911
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:40,000
hopefully finishing within the 
top five just just because of 

912
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:42,640
the level of the other girls in 
the race. 

913
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:47,840
And you know, like, that's 
Hannah, like Sarah Perry, Robin,

914
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:50,880
like obviously Lucy and Hannah 
have experience in the spine. 

915
00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:54,280
And then Robin's just an 
absolutely incredible athlete 

916
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:56,440
and knew she would start really,
really strong. 

917
00:48:57,040 --> 00:49:00,760
Sarah obviously being a backyard
like champion, she used to sleep

918
00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:03,600
depth and, you know, going for 
long periods of time and really 

919
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:06,400
big mileages. 
And she's got a lot of FTS as 

920
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:08,000
well. 
And then there was Elaine Bison 

921
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:10,720
was in the race too, and she's 
very established on the penalty.

922
00:49:10,720 --> 00:49:14,400
Like to get in the top five 
would have been like, like I 

923
00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:17,640
say, was an aspirational goal 
other than like the main goal, 

924
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:20,640
which was just to get the finish
because nothing were given in 

925
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:23,560
these races. 
Like, you know, like anything 

926
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:25,920
can happen. 
Like one sort of really bad roll

927
00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:29,200
of your ankle and you're done. 
Really. 

928
00:49:29,200 --> 00:49:31,760
Like you can't, you know, if 
it's a bad sort of injury, you 

929
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:36,400
can't plod on for 268 miles 
because you you put yourself out

930
00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:39,080
for the whole year, which is not
something I'd want for myself. 

931
00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:44,120
So to finish in the top three, 
like as like absolutely 

932
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:45,840
delighted. 
Now I was a good few. 

933
00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:48,760
I definitely like plenty hours 
behind Lucy and I was still a 

934
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:52,120
good few hours behind Robin. 
But when I consider how you sort

935
00:49:52,120 --> 00:49:55,840
of rough my first two days where
like, you know, I'm I'm lucky 

936
00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:58,680
that I did podium. 
And you know, it's such a shame 

937
00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:01,760
that Hannah did have to DNF when
she did. 

938
00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:05,320
But like to say nothing's a 
given in these races and, you 

939
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:07,280
know, you just never know what's
going to happen. 

940
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:08,880
I guess that's part of the draw 
of them. 

941
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:11,400
That's why we go back and it's 
the problem solving and the 

942
00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:14,440
challenges and it's the, you 
know, overcoming the adversity. 

943
00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:17,800
So, yeah, snatching a little 
podium place. 

944
00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:19,920
Like I say, it was absolutely 
amazing. 

945
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:24,760
And and you know, I I just 
couldn't, I couldn't believe it 

946
00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:26,040
really. 
I knew it was going to finish in

947
00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:28,080
3rd. 
But when I realized that that 

948
00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:30,560
was going to happen, I was like,
I can't believe I'm going to be 

949
00:50:30,560 --> 00:50:33,960
on the podium with like, go see.
And that's mad. 

950
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:38,720
Well, when you do start and 
finish, I'm just wondering, out 

951
00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:42,600
of curiosity, do you have to 
have any sort of medical checks 

952
00:50:42,600 --> 00:50:46,120
and things like that? 
Do they weigh you at all or no? 

953
00:50:46,120 --> 00:50:49,120
They don't do anything like that
sort of pre or post race, 

954
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:51,880
obviously. 
Like when I fainted, they took 

955
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:55,720
my blood sugar, they took my 
blood pressure, they did my 

956
00:50:55,720 --> 00:50:59,480
heart rate and what else did 
they do? 

957
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:03,960
They did something else and then
they did it again when I left as

958
00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:05,440
well. 
So they wouldn't have like my 

959
00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:08,000
blood pressure was too low or my
blood sugar was too low, but 

960
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:10,600
everything was sort of back to 
normal, even even though I was 

961
00:51:10,600 --> 00:51:12,800
still vomiting in the toilet 
like constantly. 

962
00:51:13,720 --> 00:51:16,640
But all of all of that was like 
sort of fine. 

963
00:51:16,640 --> 00:51:20,640
And that is another like, I 
guess another reason why it was 

964
00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:24,800
OK to sort of push on when I did
because like, I I had sort of 

965
00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:27,400
like a good idea that my body 
was all right. 

966
00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:29,520
There was just something not 
quite sitting right, obviously 

967
00:51:29,520 --> 00:51:32,840
in my stomach, you know, done 
108 miles, really tough 

968
00:51:32,840 --> 00:51:37,400
conditions, you know, not used 
to sort of sleep depth like that

969
00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:40,720
before. 
And yeah, it just, yeah, that 

970
00:51:40,720 --> 00:51:43,840
was another reason, like really 
trusted the medics and the medic

971
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:48,000
that treated me at was had also 
treated me last year during the 

972
00:51:48,040 --> 00:51:50,040
calms run off. 
And he was like, I remember you 

973
00:51:50,040 --> 00:51:52,040
like you chopped your bowl of 
pasta at these. 

974
00:51:52,040 --> 00:51:55,440
You were like Keeling over like,
all right, OK, sorry for me, 

975
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,880
everybody. 
But that was good because he 

976
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:00,080
knew that obviously that had 
happened last year. 

977
00:52:00,080 --> 00:52:02,200
And I've said still went on to 
do well in the race. 

978
00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:04,280
So that that gets helped as 
well. 

979
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:06,080
They're really they're really 
great. 

980
00:52:06,080 --> 00:52:08,160
The sort of medical team that 
are in all this sort of 

981
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:10,200
checkpoints. 
They, you know, you, you trust 

982
00:52:10,200 --> 00:52:12,680
them. 
And, you know, it was, it was 

983
00:52:12,680 --> 00:52:15,560
sort of good to be able to be 
like, yeah, I'm going to go and 

984
00:52:15,560 --> 00:52:18,520
just see how I get on. 
That sounds really, really 

985
00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:20,680
organized. 
And I suppose that's where a lot

986
00:52:20,680 --> 00:52:25,280
of the event entry goes, you 
know, because it is such a big 

987
00:52:25,280 --> 00:52:26,440
race. 
Yeah. 

988
00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:30,280
And even when I looked into it 
just for moan research and what 

989
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:33,600
have you, you've got to have 
quite a lot of experience to 

990
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:36,160
enter the full one anyway, 
haven't you? 

991
00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:39,960
Yeah, IA 100%. 
Like it needs to be vetted. 

992
00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:43,400
Like it's too, too tough not to 
be like it really. 

993
00:52:43,480 --> 00:52:46,520
Like obviously people do it in, 
in the summer and it's a little 

994
00:52:46,520 --> 00:52:48,920
bit of a different race, but 
conditions of the food can still

995
00:52:48,920 --> 00:52:52,400
be really tough. 
But just the, the weather like 

996
00:52:53,120 --> 00:52:56,120
it's, it's another level. 
And obviously you've really got 

997
00:52:56,120 --> 00:53:00,560
way less light and in the winter
as well. 

998
00:53:00,560 --> 00:53:05,400
So you're spending the majority 
of it and in the dark. 

999
00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:08,120
So that's different to running 
it in the summer. 

1000
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:11,120
It's not. 
I'm really like, I'd obviously 

1001
00:53:11,120 --> 00:53:15,520
applied in 2024 to get into the 
Fool, but I'm so glad that I had

1002
00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:18,240
had the challenging off behind 
me before doing the Fool. 

1003
00:53:18,400 --> 00:53:22,640
Like I was really naive to what 
the actual Fools thing was. 

1004
00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:24,680
Like I'm like, yeah, or you can 
do, I can do it. 

1005
00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:28,040
Yeah, no, absolutely not like 
having that. 

1006
00:53:28,720 --> 00:53:32,040
I guess I did do quite like a 
relatively gradual build up like

1007
00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:35,640
I'd done on 100 mile and then 
I'd done 120 mile and then I did

1008
00:53:35,640 --> 00:53:39,640
160 mile and now obviously I've 
done like plus 200 mile. 

1009
00:53:39,680 --> 00:53:45,120
So like it was a big, big jump 
from the Challenger N to the the

1010
00:53:45,120 --> 00:53:48,280
sort of fuel. 
But like I'd done quite a nice 

1011
00:53:48,280 --> 00:53:53,760
gradual build up to the 160. 
So what's another couple of 100 

1012
00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:55,960
miles? 
So would that be your best 

1013
00:53:55,960 --> 00:53:57,720
advice? 
So I'm just thinking for an 

1014
00:53:57,720 --> 00:54:01,800
absolute Novus like myself 
sitting and all watching you 

1015
00:54:01,800 --> 00:54:04,360
guys and Oh my goodness, you 
know the full spy. 

1016
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,320
I've said for myself personally,
something like that I don't 

1017
00:54:08,320 --> 00:54:11,840
think I can ever envisage myself
doing while my kids are still 

1018
00:54:11,840 --> 00:54:15,960
young because it's a lot of time
to take away from the fat. 

1019
00:54:15,960 --> 00:54:19,600
Even anyone without kids, that 
is a long time to take away from

1020
00:54:19,600 --> 00:54:23,800
life and being in that bubble. 
Would you advise just you keep 

1021
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:26,760
on building the distances and 
just keep at it? 

1022
00:54:27,480 --> 00:54:29,480
Yeah, I think like, you know, 
everybody's different, 

1023
00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:32,920
everybody's circumstances are 
different, but like you have to 

1024
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:35,840
invest the time. 
It's not just money and kit and 

1025
00:54:35,840 --> 00:54:38,240
things like that. 
It is like, you know, big goals 

1026
00:54:38,240 --> 00:54:42,040
require big commitments and you 
know, big, big time commitments 

1027
00:54:42,040 --> 00:54:47,400
is is one of the main things. 
And for me, like can like a few 

1028
00:54:47,400 --> 00:54:50,960
years of consistent training of 
building up my mileage, like 

1029
00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:54,480
really sort of the main thing I 
think it's helped has been my 

1030
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:57,760
recovery. 
Do you mean like, you know, I, I

1031
00:54:57,760 --> 00:55:01,720
bounced back like pretty well. 
And you know, you can jump to 

1032
00:55:01,720 --> 00:55:04,400
these big mileage, but I feel 
that your body would suffer for 

1033
00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:06,640
longer periods of time. 
Whereas if you've got 

1034
00:55:06,640 --> 00:55:10,200
consistent, like long periods of
time of consistent mileage and 

1035
00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:13,000
gradually building it up to 
like, you know, big mileage per 

1036
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:16,080
week, then you know, you're, 
you're, you're standing on the 

1037
00:55:16,080 --> 00:55:18,280
start line knowing that you've 
done everything that you can. 

1038
00:55:19,520 --> 00:55:21,800
I don't think so. 
If anything, I don't think any 

1039
00:55:21,800 --> 00:55:23,560
distance is out of people's 
reaches. 

1040
00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:26,400
It's, it's just, it's the 
circumstance that they find 

1041
00:55:26,400 --> 00:55:29,440
themselves in at the time and 
what they can advance invest in.

1042
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:33,640
But with these big races, it's, 
you know, people keep on saying,

1043
00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:35,360
you know, is it physical or 
mental? 

1044
00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:38,040
And I'm like, it is both, But it
is mostly mental. 

1045
00:55:38,040 --> 00:55:41,960
Like your body can do what your 
brain tells it to like 100%. 

1046
00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:44,200
That's how I managed to put 
myself in the hospital for five 

1047
00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:47,080
days because I kept telling 
myself to keep going, you know, 

1048
00:55:47,080 --> 00:55:50,280
like that my body was doing 
everything to get me to stop. 

1049
00:55:50,280 --> 00:55:53,000
And that's why that's why I 
collapsed in the end. 

1050
00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:56,040
You know, it was like that sort 
of survival mechanism, you know.

1051
00:55:56,040 --> 00:56:00,160
So like, if you've got strong 
minds, you know, as long as 

1052
00:56:00,160 --> 00:56:02,800
you're making the cut offs in 
these races, which the people at

1053
00:56:02,800 --> 00:56:04,800
the back of the race like 
chasing them cut offs. 

1054
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,400
There's something else as well. 
Like, you know, when we're 

1055
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:10,280
finishing on Thursday and I was 
like one of one of my friend's 

1056
00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:12,040
friends was still out on the 
race. 

1057
00:56:12,040 --> 00:56:14,200
C JS name was and he's still 
out. 

1058
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:17,000
I was just like, Oh God, I feel 
sick of the thought of like 

1059
00:56:17,200 --> 00:56:18,800
people still being out on the 
route. 

1060
00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:21,720
Like it just, and then if you 
think of like Kim, who's 

1061
00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:25,080
finishing like lunchtime on 
Wednesday as well, like people, 

1062
00:56:25,120 --> 00:56:28,120
he people have done double the 
time on the route is what he 

1063
00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:30,360
has. 
And oh, it's just crazy, 

1064
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:33,080
absolutely crazy. 
But like I say, I don't think 

1065
00:56:33,080 --> 00:56:34,480
it's out of anyone's reach 
really. 

1066
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:38,200
But it's just like you say, it's
a, it is a big commitment and a 

1067
00:56:38,200 --> 00:56:42,160
big time investment. 
But if it's in your head like 

1068
00:56:42,360 --> 00:56:45,080
it's, you're halfway there 
really, in my opinion. 

1069
00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:49,600
Well, one of the things that 
you've got that a lot of people 

1070
00:56:49,600 --> 00:56:54,600
won't is a previous experience 
of a different sport, boxing, 

1071
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:58,400
and like, how does the pain 
compare? 

1072
00:56:58,760 --> 00:57:00,680
How does the mental training 
compare? 

1073
00:57:01,280 --> 00:57:02,600
Do you think that actually 
helped you? 

1074
00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:07,840
I, I do think boxing has helped 
me a lot with regards to sort of

1075
00:57:07,960 --> 00:57:11,520
mental toughness. 
And you know, I think the good 

1076
00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:13,920
thing about ultra running is 
it's sort of you against the 

1077
00:57:13,920 --> 00:57:15,520
race. 
You know, there's a way there's 

1078
00:57:15,520 --> 00:57:19,080
like the difference with boxing 
is like not everything is under 

1079
00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:21,560
your control really where 
because you've got an opponent 

1080
00:57:21,560 --> 00:57:24,880
in front of you and you've got 
no idea like where they're at at

1081
00:57:24,880 --> 00:57:26,720
that point in time. 
Whereas if you control 

1082
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:30,840
everything in the run up to a 
race, yes, things can happen. 

1083
00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:34,560
But like a lot of the time it's 
just you getting for me to be. 

1084
00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:36,920
Whereas from boxing, you know, 
there's quite a lot of 

1085
00:57:36,920 --> 00:57:43,880
uncontrollables there And but 
the pain, it's very different 

1086
00:57:43,920 --> 00:57:47,080
because I mean, like the longest
I did was 3 * 3 minute rounds 

1087
00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:51,400
when I was a lead. 
But then 3 minutes feels like 30

1088
00:57:51,400 --> 00:57:55,440
miles on an option because 
you're at 100 miles an hour. 

1089
00:57:55,440 --> 00:57:58,240
Like, you know, I'm trying to 
keep out of the way of other 

1090
00:57:58,240 --> 00:58:02,600
people's punches as well. 
So I absolutely loved fighting 

1091
00:58:02,640 --> 00:58:08,080
like it was I loved the sort of 
I just loved fighting. 

1092
00:58:08,080 --> 00:58:10,240
That was like sort of my sort of
favorite part. 

1093
00:58:10,240 --> 00:58:13,520
I loved the training and I loved
going away to sort of box. 

1094
00:58:13,560 --> 00:58:17,120
And the community is different. 
It's not as friendly as I'm sure

1095
00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:19,600
you can imagine until the bell 
rings at the end. 

1096
00:58:19,600 --> 00:58:22,080
And then you're like best pals 
with the person in the ring as 

1097
00:58:22,080 --> 00:58:23,680
well. 
And, you know, I still speak to 

1098
00:58:23,680 --> 00:58:27,240
a lot of the girls that I did 
box with and a lot of the sort 

1099
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:30,000
of things I overcame in boxing 
have, you know, sort of 

1100
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:33,240
transpired into being able to 
push through things and ultra 

1101
00:58:33,240 --> 00:58:35,400
running. 
You know, like my very second 

1102
00:58:35,400 --> 00:58:40,640
fight, I I got absolutely 
battered and concussion, burst 

1103
00:58:40,640 --> 00:58:43,880
eardrums, all the things that, 
you know, you don't want to 

1104
00:58:43,880 --> 00:58:45,400
happen on your second ever 
fight. 

1105
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:49,160
But again, it was having that 
sort of really rough experience 

1106
00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:53,600
quite early on that meant that 
nothing else kind of phased me. 

1107
00:58:53,600 --> 00:58:55,840
I'm like, well, if I can stay 
standing when I'm getting all 

1108
00:58:55,840 --> 00:58:58,440
that sort of flung at me. 
And then I, we ended up getting 

1109
00:58:58,440 --> 00:59:01,880
bout of the night because she 
sort of gasped a little bit and 

1110
00:59:01,880 --> 00:59:05,120
I came back and then we just 
absolutely went toe to toe for 

1111
00:59:05,120 --> 00:59:08,000
three rounds. 
Like, you know, it's just, it 

1112
00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:11,680
does give you sort of, I guess 
just confidence and in your 

1113
00:59:11,680 --> 00:59:15,240
ability. 
And but I've definitely got 

1114
00:59:15,240 --> 00:59:17,760
muscle memory still for boxing. 
But if I went into the boxing 

1115
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:20,640
session tomorrow, I'd be dying 
for the next like four or five 

1116
00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:23,240
days with like DOMS in my arms 
and things like that. 

1117
00:59:23,240 --> 00:59:27,280
So, but I'm still involved in 
boxing, but purely sort of admin

1118
00:59:27,280 --> 00:59:29,280
based now. 
Like I'm secretary for the Isle 

1119
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:33,400
Man Boxing Association and you 
know, yeah, just on the 

1120
00:59:33,400 --> 00:59:36,120
Commonwealth Games, like I'm 
team manager for boxing as well,

1121
00:59:36,120 --> 00:59:39,240
which is, which is great to be 
able to sort of be in and around

1122
00:59:39,240 --> 00:59:43,280
the sport whilst trying to avoid
having black eyes and bus noses.

1123
00:59:44,160 --> 00:59:45,880
That was going to be my next 
question. 

1124
00:59:45,880 --> 00:59:51,000
Do you still box at all? 
But no, no, just just an admin 

1125
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:55,800
role now. 
You get you get sports getting 

1126
00:59:55,800 --> 01:00:00,800
mixed up together, like running 
in golf or chess in boxing. 

1127
01:00:01,080 --> 01:00:04,840
How about running in boxing? 
Do you think that you could go 

1128
01:00:04,920 --> 01:00:07,360
one round after running the 
spine? 

1129
01:00:09,360 --> 01:00:16,280
Yeah I do. 
I don't know if many boxes can 

1130
01:00:16,280 --> 01:00:19,320
run the spine, but I definitely 
think I could box post running 

1131
01:00:19,320 --> 01:00:22,280
the spine. 
Is that just because you can't? 

1132
01:00:22,320 --> 01:00:25,120
You've gone past the pain 
barrier, you can't feel anything

1133
01:00:25,120 --> 01:00:25,760
anymore? 
Yeah. 

1134
01:00:26,400 --> 01:00:29,080
Totally numb now your boxing 
gloves are just going to slide 

1135
01:00:29,160 --> 01:00:30,880
up all the snot on my face 
anyways. 

1136
01:00:34,880 --> 01:00:38,400
So when you're running training 
events, things like that, do you

1137
01:00:38,400 --> 01:00:43,040
listen to music at all or do you
just run without and just think 

1138
01:00:43,080 --> 01:00:44,680
of whatever comes into the 
heads? 

1139
01:00:45,600 --> 01:00:48,400
I do that both, particularly 
when I'm sort of training for a 

1140
01:00:48,400 --> 01:00:51,960
big event, just because I know 
on a big event, like I like to 

1141
01:00:51,960 --> 01:00:54,200
be switched on quite a lot of 
the time and you know, running 

1142
01:00:54,200 --> 01:00:56,960
through the night, I tend not to
listen to anything because I'm 

1143
01:00:56,960 --> 01:00:59,640
worried that people will show 
that I'm going the wrong way for

1144
01:00:59,640 --> 01:01:02,320
that. 
And but me personally, I don't 

1145
01:01:02,320 --> 01:01:04,600
get bored of music. 
Like I know some people can only

1146
01:01:04,600 --> 01:01:07,280
listen to it for a certain 
period of time, but like if I 

1147
01:01:07,280 --> 01:01:10,480
was going out for an 8 or 10 
sort of our training run, like I

1148
01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:13,200
could listen to music like the 
whole time, like it, I just 

1149
01:01:13,200 --> 01:01:16,520
don't get bored of it. 
I absolutely adore music and I 

1150
01:01:16,520 --> 01:01:19,600
get a lot from it as well. 
Like it really sort of drives me

1151
01:01:19,600 --> 01:01:23,120
when I need it. 
And I had it on nearly all of 

1152
01:01:23,120 --> 01:01:25,040
the sort of last day through the
Cheviots. 

1153
01:01:25,080 --> 01:01:28,680
And like I'd seen a video, I 
can't remember when. 

1154
01:01:28,680 --> 01:01:31,600
It must have been like a couple 
of years before I'd I'd met Oren

1155
01:01:31,600 --> 01:01:34,640
and I watched a girl talk about 
how she'd asked her friends for 

1156
01:01:34,640 --> 01:01:38,720
like a spine playlist and then 
so that she could listen to it 

1157
01:01:38,720 --> 01:01:40,960
in times of need on on the 
spine. 

1158
01:01:41,600 --> 01:01:44,080
So I did that this year and 
that's the playlist that I 

1159
01:01:44,080 --> 01:01:47,720
played on the last day. 
And it just, there's so many 

1160
01:01:48,040 --> 01:01:51,360
like just good memories and 
people that like it reminded me 

1161
01:01:51,360 --> 01:01:54,880
of and like just, it was really 
a really sort of nice sort of 

1162
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:59,560
motivator and just good vibes. 
Really like even though I was 

1163
01:01:59,640 --> 01:02:03,000
crying and sobbing my heart out,
like it just like, it was just 

1164
01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:06,600
like a bit of a comfort really. 
And it was a really nice way to 

1165
01:02:06,600 --> 01:02:08,720
sort of drive myself into the 
finish as well. 

1166
01:02:09,960 --> 01:02:13,480
But yeah, so I'm very much the 
sort of music person. 

1167
01:02:13,840 --> 01:02:17,360
If I can listen to music on a 
race, I will, particularly if 

1168
01:02:17,360 --> 01:02:19,600
it's, if it's not a big ultra 
and I'm not running through the 

1169
01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:22,320
night, like I'll, I'll have my 
tunes in for sure. 

1170
01:02:23,440 --> 01:02:27,240
But like I, I do use it, it is 
sort of time, time off like as 

1171
01:02:27,240 --> 01:02:29,760
well. 
Like I try not to think too much

1172
01:02:29,760 --> 01:02:33,880
about about too much because 
it's switch off time and, and, 

1173
01:02:33,880 --> 01:02:36,520
and my sort of book, you know, 
some people use it to go and 

1174
01:02:36,600 --> 01:02:39,000
sort of clear their head. 
Like I'm, I'm just using it to 

1175
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:42,880
sort of go and think of nothing 
other than breathing and where 

1176
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:45,800
I'm putting my feet. 
So yeah, yeah. 

1177
01:02:45,800 --> 01:02:48,000
But I do love my music. 
Yeah. 

1178
01:02:48,280 --> 01:02:51,800
People ask me, what do you think
about when when you're running, 

1179
01:02:51,800 --> 01:02:53,680
you're not listening to me? 
I don't know. 

1180
01:02:53,680 --> 01:02:57,600
Yeah. 
Nothing I also think about. 

1181
01:02:57,600 --> 01:03:00,240
Something it's gone. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

1182
01:03:00,240 --> 01:03:03,400
I'm like that as well. 
Like I don't, it's just it's 

1183
01:03:03,400 --> 01:03:05,560
great solitude. 
Like I love running with people 

1184
01:03:05,560 --> 01:03:08,920
like don't get me wrong, but 
like I'm quite happy to go out 

1185
01:03:08,920 --> 01:03:11,160
for hours and hours and hours by
myself as well. 

1186
01:03:11,280 --> 01:03:14,280
And yeah, which is probably one 
of the reasons why I've got into

1187
01:03:14,280 --> 01:03:18,160
ultra running too. 
So yeah, you see, Mike, about 

1188
01:03:18,160 --> 01:03:19,600
what you think about when 
running. 

1189
01:03:19,600 --> 01:03:23,160
When Nikki was saying about a 
partner proposing at the end of 

1190
01:03:23,160 --> 01:03:26,880
the spine, I think he was 
thinking about, is that still in

1191
01:03:26,880 --> 01:03:29,880
my back? 
I know. 

1192
01:03:29,880 --> 01:03:33,120
I think it's so bold, isn't it? 
Like, imagine I couldn't deal 

1193
01:03:33,160 --> 01:03:35,600
with the absolute trauma of 
worrying and I'd be checking it 

1194
01:03:35,600 --> 01:03:36,720
in two seconds. 
Can I feel it? 

1195
01:03:36,720 --> 01:03:37,920
Can I feel it? 
Can I feel it? 

1196
01:03:38,680 --> 01:03:41,160
Would you have a kitchen? 
Can we even put it in a pocket 

1197
01:03:41,200 --> 01:03:43,120
though? 
Because you'd fly out somewhere,

1198
01:03:43,160 --> 01:03:46,080
wouldn't it? 
Like, Oh no, yeah, that's very 

1199
01:03:46,080 --> 01:03:50,880
brave doing that. 
Mike, you were saying about a 

1200
01:03:50,880 --> 01:03:56,200
cat Check there the. 
The ring, like he's got a list 

1201
01:03:56,200 --> 01:03:58,280
of things. 
You've got this, this and this, 

1202
01:03:58,400 --> 01:04:02,840
and you have to have the ring. 
Engagement ring, definitely. 

1203
01:04:03,480 --> 01:04:07,440
So now you've done the Spain and
you've done some Pig events 

1204
01:04:07,440 --> 01:04:10,920
already, have you got anything? 
I would imagine you've got quite

1205
01:04:10,920 --> 01:04:13,360
a lot that you still want to 
tick off on your list, be it 

1206
01:04:13,360 --> 01:04:17,080
bigger or smaller. 
Yeah, that, I mean, as I like 

1207
01:04:17,080 --> 01:04:20,320
sort of dream races like I'd 
love, I've applied to get into 

1208
01:04:20,320 --> 01:04:23,040
Western states for a few years 
now and still not getting in the

1209
01:04:23,040 --> 01:04:25,400
lottery again. 
That was sort of one of the, you

1210
01:04:25,400 --> 01:04:28,280
know, I read about it in a bit 
before I sort of got into ultra 

1211
01:04:28,280 --> 01:04:30,720
running and sort of really, 
really drawn to the race. 

1212
01:04:30,720 --> 01:04:35,080
So I'd love to get into Western 
states, but UTMB was one of like

1213
01:04:35,080 --> 01:04:39,000
my sort of pinnacles of wanting 
to get into to get into and I 

1214
01:04:39,160 --> 01:04:42,520
managed to qualify last year 
when I, when I came third in 

1215
01:04:42,560 --> 01:04:45,240
UTS. 
So I'm going to UTNB this 

1216
01:04:45,240 --> 01:04:46,760
August, which is really 
exciting. 

1217
01:04:46,800 --> 01:04:50,360
I'm absolutely buzzing to be 
able to be on the start line for

1218
01:04:50,360 --> 01:04:54,120
that race and such an iconic 
sort of trail race. 

1219
01:04:54,120 --> 01:04:57,760
And you know, UT people have, 
there's fans of UTNB and people 

1220
01:04:57,760 --> 01:05:00,440
who don't like UTNB. 
But like that route is just so 

1221
01:05:00,440 --> 01:05:04,960
iconic in trail running that I 
just, I just, I'm really excited

1222
01:05:04,960 --> 01:05:08,720
to go. 
So I've got that sort of on the 

1223
01:05:08,720 --> 01:05:10,920
cards. 
I'd love to do, I'd love to do 

1224
01:05:10,920 --> 01:05:14,960
something long again like that, 
you know, but possibly not the 

1225
01:05:14,960 --> 01:05:18,360
spine more maybe sort of 
thinking something in 

1226
01:05:18,360 --> 01:05:22,040
Switzerland or to Du Jontz or, 
you know, something along those 

1227
01:05:22,040 --> 01:05:24,600
lines. 
You know, somewhere where it's a

1228
01:05:24,600 --> 01:05:29,480
bit more of a adventurous route 
with lots more nice things to 

1229
01:05:29,480 --> 01:05:33,120
look at rather than lots of farm
fields and canals and chains and

1230
01:05:33,120 --> 01:05:36,520
things like that. 
So yeah, they're, they're sort 

1231
01:05:36,520 --> 01:05:39,560
of all in the cards. 
Like hopefully I'd love, like to

1232
01:05:39,560 --> 01:05:41,800
like I say to get to get into 
Western states. 

1233
01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:44,400
And then if I got into Tour de 
John, it's like I could then get

1234
01:05:44,400 --> 01:05:47,720
into Hard Rock and start playing
the lottery for that and things.

1235
01:05:47,720 --> 01:05:50,200
So there's loads. 
There's loads. 

1236
01:05:50,400 --> 01:05:52,680
Yeah. 
Like I could, you know, there's 

1237
01:05:52,680 --> 01:05:54,840
loads I'd like to do. 
I'd love to do a race before. 

1238
01:05:54,840 --> 01:05:57,120
And so we've chatted about, you 
know, doing the race course 

1239
01:05:57,120 --> 01:06:00,000
Switzerland, which you can do is
like a mixed pair. 

1240
01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:03,400
And so I'm 40 next year. 
So that's sort of like maybe a 

1241
01:06:03,400 --> 01:06:05,960
little bit of a, you know, 40th 
birthday goal. 

1242
01:06:05,960 --> 01:06:09,680
So, but haven't done any of the 
rounds yet either. 

1243
01:06:09,680 --> 01:06:11,920
So like, I'd love to do the 
Ramsey round, obviously being 

1244
01:06:11,920 --> 01:06:15,480
Scottish, but you know that like
Bob Graham and Patti Buckley is 

1245
01:06:15,480 --> 01:06:18,840
online sort of radar as well. 
And this is the new round of 

1246
01:06:18,840 --> 01:06:22,000
Scotland, the Martin Moran 
Foundation round, which looks 

1247
01:06:22,000 --> 01:06:24,200
really good all around. 
Torridon. 

1248
01:06:24,760 --> 01:06:28,760
Yeah, this is, I mean, if I 
packed in my job tomorrow, I 

1249
01:06:28,760 --> 01:06:32,320
definitely would not be like 
sitting about doing nothing, 

1250
01:06:32,320 --> 01:06:37,280
that's for sure. 
But yeah, I think this year the 

1251
01:06:37,280 --> 01:06:40,680
big ones, sort of like I've 
ticked off one of my big A races

1252
01:06:40,680 --> 01:06:43,720
already, which is great. 
So the next one's UTMB in 

1253
01:06:43,720 --> 01:06:48,160
August, but I'm hoping to do 
some of the Sky Running series 

1254
01:06:48,160 --> 01:06:50,280
as well. 
I'm going to go to do the 14 

1255
01:06:50,280 --> 01:06:53,600
Peaks in Wales in June. 
And yeah, and then just yeah, 

1256
01:06:53,800 --> 01:06:58,560
sort of some local races and 
yeah, sort of build to being 

1257
01:06:58,560 --> 01:07:02,200
ready to run about the Alps. 
Sounds amazing. 

1258
01:07:02,400 --> 01:07:05,160
What amazing races you've got 
coming up. 

1259
01:07:05,760 --> 01:07:08,480
Yeah, I'm, I'm really lucky. 
I'm in a really great position. 

1260
01:07:09,880 --> 01:07:13,760
That probably leads on to a. 
A later question was what is 

1261
01:07:13,760 --> 01:07:15,000
next? 
Yeah. 

1262
01:07:16,320 --> 01:07:18,960
You've got, is it UTMB? 
Is that your next one? 

1263
01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:22,520
So my next one will be the 
mountain marathon that I I 

1264
01:07:22,520 --> 01:07:25,720
mentioned earlier. 
So that's like the local sort of

1265
01:07:25,720 --> 01:07:27,600
ultra race that goes from north 
to South. 

1266
01:07:27,600 --> 01:07:32,240
So that's Easter weekend and so 
that gives me a nice amount of 

1267
01:07:32,240 --> 01:07:33,960
time to sort of recover 
properly. 

1268
01:07:33,960 --> 01:07:36,600
Like it really did take me quite
a while to recover from the 

1269
01:07:36,600 --> 01:07:40,960
Challenger North and was like 
physically I was sort of ready 

1270
01:07:40,960 --> 01:07:45,040
to get back to it, but mentally 
I wasn't sort of ready to tackle

1271
01:07:45,040 --> 01:07:47,560
really hard training or big 
mileage yet. 

1272
01:07:47,840 --> 01:07:50,880
So I've, I've sort of given 
myself enough time to just build

1273
01:07:50,880 --> 01:07:54,280
nice and slowly and you know, 
the race isn't until April. 

1274
01:07:54,280 --> 01:07:57,120
So that sort of gives me quite a
lot of February to just take my 

1275
01:07:57,120 --> 01:08:00,120
time and then sort of switch it 
on maybe 6 to 8 weeks before the

1276
01:08:00,120 --> 01:08:03,400
race, which is nice. 
And then that sort of leads 

1277
01:08:03,400 --> 01:08:08,480
quite nicely into the race in 
June, which is part of the Sky 

1278
01:08:08,480 --> 01:08:11,240
running race. 
And then that leads quite nicely

1279
01:08:11,240 --> 01:08:16,359
into to UCMB in August. 
But I've got so you know, idea 

1280
01:08:16,359 --> 01:08:18,200
I'd quite like to do a backyard 
ultra. 

1281
01:08:18,560 --> 01:08:23,319
I'm quite drawn to that sort of 
event as well, but I'm not sure 

1282
01:08:23,319 --> 01:08:26,960
when that might slot in. 
You know, UTMB again, it's, it's

1283
01:08:26,960 --> 01:08:28,920
a big time investment. 
It's actually quite, quite a 

1284
01:08:28,920 --> 01:08:31,920
costly event to go to and, and, 
and actually enter. 

1285
01:08:31,920 --> 01:08:35,279
So that's got to get a lot of my
focus. 

1286
01:08:35,279 --> 01:08:37,479
So I wouldn't want to go and do 
a backyard just before heading 

1287
01:08:37,479 --> 01:08:40,680
to UTMB, but maybe maybe a bit 
later in the year. 

1288
01:08:40,680 --> 01:08:43,479
There's some backyards that are 
quite late on in the year that 

1289
01:08:43,680 --> 01:08:46,760
might might find real self 
starting. 

1290
01:08:47,319 --> 01:08:49,720
If you just got me interested, 
you're talking about the spine 

1291
01:08:49,720 --> 01:08:51,880
and all that, but now that 
you're talking about backyards, 

1292
01:08:51,920 --> 01:08:53,960
I've, I've done 10 of them. 
No way. 

1293
01:08:54,800 --> 01:08:57,520
Wow, which? 
So which ones have you done? 

1294
01:09:00,359 --> 01:09:03,439
Which ones have I not done? 
I did Russell Bock last. 

1295
01:09:03,760 --> 01:09:08,439
Year. 42 hours and that, so I 
won that. 

1296
01:09:08,600 --> 01:09:11,319
But no, I'll talk to you about 
it after. 

1297
01:09:11,319 --> 01:09:13,399
The. 
Because this is not about me, 

1298
01:09:13,399 --> 01:09:14,680
this is about you. 
So. 

1299
01:09:16,359 --> 01:09:18,240
I get excited about these things
as well. 

1300
01:09:18,520 --> 01:09:21,160
Yeah, no, we've got a lot to 
talk about, so. 

1301
01:09:21,800 --> 01:09:24,080
Something just popped into my 
head there that we've not 

1302
01:09:24,080 --> 01:09:26,880
actually really properly said 
post spine. 

1303
01:09:27,120 --> 01:09:29,520
How is recovery going like? 
Have you? 

1304
01:09:30,080 --> 01:09:32,960
This is an insane question to 
ask from myself. 

1305
01:09:33,479 --> 01:09:36,000
Have you been out for a run 
since at all? 

1306
01:09:36,479 --> 01:09:41,040
I did go today for my first one,
which is like a full week of 

1307
01:09:41,240 --> 01:09:43,920
like nothing. 
I went on a little just dead 

1308
01:09:43,920 --> 01:09:47,880
easy sort of lunch 1 today. 
Just just more, probably more 

1309
01:09:47,880 --> 01:09:50,439
for my head rather than 
everything rather than anything 

1310
01:09:50,439 --> 01:09:54,880
else, you know? 
I I found like myself in the 

1311
01:09:54,880 --> 01:09:59,000
afternoons in particular. 
I'm feeling really tired, so 

1312
01:09:59,000 --> 01:10:03,360
having a little run lunch today 
helped with sort of motivation 

1313
01:10:03,360 --> 01:10:06,240
this afternoon. 
And I'm just going to run every 

1314
01:10:06,240 --> 01:10:08,880
other day for now. 
And I'm not going to do anything

1315
01:10:08,880 --> 01:10:10,880
if I don't feel like it. 
Like I said, I'm not going to 

1316
01:10:10,880 --> 01:10:17,360
rush, rush back, you know, like 
I just going to take it easy and

1317
01:10:17,360 --> 01:10:22,320
just wait until I sort of switch
back my focus to hard training 

1318
01:10:22,320 --> 01:10:25,840
again. 
Other than that, like recovery's

1319
01:10:26,080 --> 01:10:28,040
been pretty good. 
Like I didn't, I had a pretty 

1320
01:10:28,040 --> 01:10:31,720
bad cough when I finished and so
my my first night's sleep was 

1321
01:10:31,720 --> 01:10:35,480
really disturbed and I was 
freezing cold, but I was in a 

1322
01:10:35,480 --> 01:10:39,520
terrible like night fever and 
that wasn't a fun night. 

1323
01:10:39,800 --> 01:10:42,920
I slept better on the Friday 
night and then, you know, the 

1324
01:10:42,920 --> 01:10:44,720
night sweats seem to keep 
coming. 

1325
01:10:44,720 --> 01:10:48,400
But other than that, like I had,
like I told you about the pain 

1326
01:10:48,400 --> 01:10:50,760
in my foot that I had to take my
shoe off or like the still a 

1327
01:10:50,760 --> 01:10:53,680
little bit swelling there, you 
know, when I wake up in the 

1328
01:10:53,680 --> 01:10:55,800
morning putting my trainer on, 
it's pretty painful. 

1329
01:10:56,480 --> 01:10:59,120
But it settles. 
It's, it's just, it's just 

1330
01:10:59,120 --> 01:11:01,720
little niggles. 
You know, it's done nearly 270 

1331
01:11:01,720 --> 01:11:03,680
miles, haven't you? 
Like, your body's been through 

1332
01:11:04,320 --> 01:11:06,720
through a lot and slows, slows 
my brain. 

1333
01:11:06,720 --> 01:11:11,200
So, yeah, I, I, I'm pretty 
pleased with how well I have 

1334
01:11:11,200 --> 01:11:13,640
recovered, to be honest. 
Like, and I guess that's just 

1335
01:11:13,920 --> 01:11:16,320
like I've seen earlier. 
It's testament to, you know, 

1336
01:11:16,320 --> 01:11:19,280
consistent training and good 
physical prep and, you know, 

1337
01:11:19,280 --> 01:11:20,520
that sort of stuff. 
So. 

1338
01:11:20,920 --> 01:11:24,480
Yeah. 
Right. 

1339
01:11:24,480 --> 01:11:28,800
What are the last questions? 
What I'll probably ask you is, 

1340
01:11:28,800 --> 01:11:35,440
do you have anybody fictional 
alive, not with us anymore that 

1341
01:11:35,440 --> 01:11:38,800
you would love to have a run 
with? 

1342
01:11:39,840 --> 01:11:41,920
And I was like, you know, when 
you sent those questions, you're

1343
01:11:41,920 --> 01:11:45,040
like, that's a great question 
because I initially was a little

1344
01:11:45,040 --> 01:11:47,680
bit like, I don't know. 
But then when I thought about it

1345
01:11:47,680 --> 01:11:50,480
properly, there was like tons of
people that are supposed to go 

1346
01:11:50,480 --> 01:11:53,480
for a run with. 
And I think like, I know it 

1347
01:11:53,480 --> 01:11:55,800
sounds a little bit cliche, but 
like a lot of the girls that I 

1348
01:11:55,800 --> 01:11:58,400
met on the spine, like I'd love 
to actually have a proper, like 

1349
01:11:58,400 --> 01:12:00,880
run in a chat with. 
You know, I only very briefly 

1350
01:12:00,880 --> 01:12:03,240
talked to Lucy. 
I only briefly talked to Sarah. 

1351
01:12:03,640 --> 01:12:06,560
And, you know, I talked to Ally 
Bailey like a couple of times, 

1352
01:12:06,560 --> 01:12:09,840
but it was sort of fleeting, you
know, sort of interviews and you

1353
01:12:09,840 --> 01:12:13,840
know, I, I talked to Hannah 
briefly in the checkpoint, but I

1354
01:12:13,840 --> 01:12:17,680
was a bit out of it and, and she
had just DNF D and we've 

1355
01:12:17,680 --> 01:12:20,840
messaged since, same with Mel. 
And but I'd love to go like with

1356
01:12:20,840 --> 01:12:23,360
that little like crew of girls 
and just have like a big chat 

1357
01:12:23,720 --> 01:12:28,120
And English Mccolgan is another 
like Scottish runner who I I 

1358
01:12:28,120 --> 01:12:30,000
sort of like inspires me all the
time. 

1359
01:12:30,000 --> 01:12:33,160
Like that, that race where she's
like coming and you know, in the

1360
01:12:33,160 --> 01:12:35,520
Commonwealth Games where she's 
coming into the finish and just 

1361
01:12:35,520 --> 01:12:38,560
like giving absolutely 
everything like that's so much 

1362
01:12:38,560 --> 01:12:40,960
grit. 
Like I always think about that 

1363
01:12:40,960 --> 01:12:44,040
in my speed sessions to like get
me to the through the 3rd, the 

1364
01:12:44,120 --> 01:12:47,200
final episode. 
I'd love to meet her and the big

1365
01:12:47,200 --> 01:12:49,280
sort of American girls as well 
would be great. 

1366
01:12:49,280 --> 01:12:53,000
Like Courtney Dwalter, you know,
Katie Scheid, like, you know, 

1367
01:12:53,240 --> 01:12:56,880
there's loads of people like 
that I'd love to run with. 

1368
01:12:57,200 --> 01:13:00,120
But I did have a really good 
chat with Kim Collision and 

1369
01:13:00,120 --> 01:13:04,080
Ketchik, and he was really nice 
and he'd be a great person to 

1370
01:13:04,080 --> 01:13:07,520
have a run with Jack Scott, Tom 
Evans, Damon Hall. 

1371
01:13:07,520 --> 01:13:10,040
And I'm free for a run with 
everybody, Anyone anyway, feel 

1372
01:13:10,360 --> 01:13:15,240
free. 
So yeah, just like, yeah, 

1373
01:13:15,840 --> 01:13:18,800
there's so many people. 
I think it's quite hard to sort 

1374
01:13:18,800 --> 01:13:23,160
of pinpoint, but the spine girls
would be a nice like a nice one 

1375
01:13:23,160 --> 01:13:26,040
to to do or Hailish if she took 
her around in the hill man. 

1376
01:13:26,040 --> 01:13:31,000
I'm sure you'll get to run with 
them at some stage because I was

1377
01:13:31,000 --> 01:13:35,320
like that last year with quite a
few people and I've been lucky 

1378
01:13:35,320 --> 01:13:37,320
enough now that I've ran with 
quite a few. 

1379
01:13:37,720 --> 01:13:40,880
It's a bit surreal when you do 
actually get to, it's quite 

1380
01:13:40,880 --> 01:13:43,400
cool. 
I felt like that when I first 

1381
01:13:43,400 --> 01:13:47,080
chatted with Sarah Perry and I 
said, my God, Sarah Perry, you 

1382
01:13:47,080 --> 01:13:49,520
know, I've followed like I've 
done, followed so many of like 

1383
01:13:49,520 --> 01:13:51,600
our fastest known times and our 
backyards. 

1384
01:13:51,600 --> 01:13:54,040
And like, you know, she's 
obviously again, she'll go to 

1385
01:13:54,040 --> 01:13:56,680
begs now and she's been the UK 
like champion. 

1386
01:13:57,200 --> 01:14:00,040
Like she just, she's a teacher 
as well, which was like my 

1387
01:14:00,040 --> 01:14:01,800
background. 
And I was just like, you know, 

1388
01:14:01,800 --> 01:14:04,400
I, I don't know, I just felt 
like before I met her, I felt 

1389
01:14:04,400 --> 01:14:05,920
like I knew her well, even 
though I didn't. 

1390
01:14:05,920 --> 01:14:10,240
But she was so nice when I 
chatted with her on the trail as

1391
01:14:10,240 --> 01:14:11,920
well. 
And it was just like, really. 

1392
01:14:12,080 --> 01:14:14,360
Yeah. 
She just is like, I think she's 

1393
01:14:14,360 --> 01:14:19,920
like a crazy strong woman, which
was which was nice. 

1394
01:14:20,320 --> 01:14:25,880
And Lucy was just just so much 
fun and just full of energy and 

1395
01:14:25,880 --> 01:14:29,120
just like, hilarious as well. 
And I did like, I didn't get a 

1396
01:14:29,120 --> 01:14:31,600
chance to chat with Robin. 
But again, we've messaged, you 

1397
01:14:31,600 --> 01:14:34,440
know, just tell, you know, 
giving each other sort of well 

1398
01:14:34,440 --> 01:14:36,480
done and you know, hope to see 
you soon type thing. 

1399
01:14:37,440 --> 01:14:40,760
But yeah, like a free for 
anyways. 

1400
01:14:43,200 --> 01:14:47,000
Well, one, one last question for
me, Nikki and I have some more, 

1401
01:14:47,280 --> 01:14:52,400
but was there any one piece of 
kit that you said you think was 

1402
01:14:52,400 --> 01:14:57,120
essential or saved your race in 
this year's spine? 

1403
01:14:58,040 --> 01:15:01,760
For me, it was those 90 car 
jails. 

1404
01:15:03,160 --> 01:15:04,320
Good to know you grand car of 
gels. 

1405
01:15:04,640 --> 01:15:09,440
And I also had a really, really 
good waterproof and insulated 

1406
01:15:09,440 --> 01:15:11,000
jacket. 
I had a mountain Equipment 

1407
01:15:11,000 --> 01:15:14,640
waterproof, a Firefox or 
something, it's called, which 

1408
01:15:15,160 --> 01:15:19,520
was just spot on. 
And my Columbia insulated jacket

1409
01:15:19,560 --> 01:15:22,680
was super lightweight, packed 
really well into my kit. 

1410
01:15:22,680 --> 01:15:26,440
But when I was freezing, like I 
say, I was boiling within sort 

1411
01:15:26,440 --> 01:15:29,280
of 10 minutes. 
And you know, I'd been so wobbly

1412
01:15:29,280 --> 01:15:31,880
that that body heat was like 
something that I really needed 

1413
01:15:31,880 --> 01:15:35,640
at the time. 
But yeah, those precision fuel 

1414
01:15:35,640 --> 01:15:42,640
gels were were great. 
And my Turkish delight, yeah. 

1415
01:15:42,640 --> 01:15:48,240
But I definitely would advise 
like, you know, investing in a 

1416
01:15:48,240 --> 01:15:52,120
really good waterproof jacket. 
I had an innovate jacket last 

1417
01:15:52,120 --> 01:15:55,880
year, which was great, but it's 
sort of done after the spine, if

1418
01:15:55,880 --> 01:15:58,400
you know what I mean, because it
was it was quite snowy and wet 

1419
01:15:58,400 --> 01:16:00,640
and wild. 
Like it's some of the some of 

1420
01:16:00,640 --> 01:16:04,280
the race last year, whereas some
amount of equipment, rain jacket

1421
01:16:04,280 --> 01:16:07,200
is, you know, looks good as new 
and it's ready to go. 

1422
01:16:07,400 --> 01:16:09,080
We're ready to go again for the 
Alps. 

1423
01:16:10,920 --> 01:16:13,280
Good. 
Well, we're going to wrap it up 

1424
01:16:13,280 --> 01:16:15,600
there. 
You stay on the line and we'll 

1425
01:16:15,600 --> 01:16:17,320
talk about backyard ultras in a 
minute. 

1426
01:16:17,560 --> 01:16:18,200
Yeah, that's. 
Great. 

1427
01:16:18,960 --> 01:16:22,880
Thank you for joining us and 
thank you for podcasting Nikki, 

1428
01:16:22,880 --> 01:16:26,040
for being Nikki. 
And that wraps up from me. 

1429
01:16:27,200 --> 01:16:30,080
Thank you for joining us. 
No problem. 

1430
01:16:30,080 --> 01:16:32,160
No problem. 
Thank you.