Gearing up to break some records

A second attempt at an FKT looms. Despite the lack of prep, we're ready to give it a go

Colum and me, in our Sanctuary Runners T-shirts for Saturday’s Global Solidarity Run.

We’ve been keeping it on the low down, but this Saturday Colum and I are going to attempt to break an FKT - an actual real-life record listed on fastestknowntime.com. It’s an FKT I’ve attempted before, back in 2020, when I had no clue about how to navigate and I’d never heard of a GPX file, and I got totally lost, reaching what should have been the 20-mile point in over five hours, having run over 26 miles by that point.

The John Musgrave Trail is a 36-mile (58km) trail that winds its way around Torbay and the South Hams in south Devon, along little-used back lanes, before finishing up in Brixham harbour. About six months ago, I mentioned to Colum that I’d once attempted it, and he suggested we try again.

Studying the FKT rules, we can call it a ‘self-supported’ record even if we do it together, as long as we run the whole thing together. If one us us drops the other near the end, however, it becomes a ‘supported’ run (with the dropped runner effectively being the supporter). This is a crucial distinction because at the moment there is no ‘self-supported’ record, so as long as we finish, and finish together, we’re guaranteed to set a new FKT.

However, our ‘A’ goal is to beat the outright record, the ‘supported’ record.

(Are you keeping up at the back?)

A ‘supported’ runner can have people running with him for sections, carrying his bag, handing him food and drink along the way. ‘Self-supported’ runners can’t do any of that, although they can use facilities along the trail such as shops and public taps etc to refill water bottles etc.

When I first attempted this FKT, the record was just under seven hours, which felt tough but within reach. However it has since been lowered to 5hrs 53mins. That’s an average pace - including stops - of 9:48 minutes per mile (6.06 mins per km). Considering the route includes a ferry crossing - and possibly a wait for the ferry - and has a total elevation of 5,962ft (1,817m), it’s going to be very tough to set the outright record.

Then add in the fact that I’ve spent the last six months focussing on my 5K time, running barely 20 miles a week on average.

Colum, regular readers may remember, is the novice runner who ran a 16:50 5K straight off the bat with almost zero training. So he’s fast. But he has only completed a run of over 20 miles once in his life, when we crossed Dartmoor together in May, and that day he was definitely flagging by the end.

So the odds are stacked against us. But hey-ho, we’ll give it a go. We’re going in to it with a very relaxed attitude: that the fun is in the trying, in the effort. The result will be what it is. My only question is what do we do if we’re within striking distance and the record is on a knife-edge, and one of us is flagging? Should the other one drop the hammer and claim the outright record, or do we go at the slower person’s pace and settle for the ‘self-supported’ record?

This Saturday we ran a similarly hilly 16 miles together at 9.20 mins per mile pace (so only slightly quicker) and we both felt spent by the end. And that was without carrying bags. Or a ferry crossing. But also without water, and only one gel each. We were fairly evenly spent, at least. So let’s see what happens. I’ll let you know next week.