Isle of Wight Ultra Challenge
Congratulations to Kris Williams, our Group Quality Manager, on completing the immensely grueling 106km (1,800m climb) Isle of Wight Ultra Challenge last weekend.
Kris was back at work this week but he took the time to provide us with an account of his epic run. If you feel inspired by Kris's efforts there is still time to sponsor him on his Justgiving page:
"May 4th 2024, a day that had been on my calendar for 11 months…the day of the Isle of Wight Ultra Challenge. 106km (66 miles) with nearly 6000ft of elevation, taking in a full loop of the island. A 9am start from Chale meant a reasonably early wake-up call, but not as early as the 7 O'clock starters!! Thankfully the weather that greeted us on arrival at the start was glorious, although the overnight rain of the past couple of days had made the conditions very wet and muddy!
The first section (around 25km) across towards The Needles was great…passing some of the earlier starters/walkers, I was feeling good.
Things became slightly more challenging in the 2nd section, with a 2km section of the route basically being a bog, and the only other route was through the bushes and thorns which ripped the legs to bits!
The Halfway checkpoint was a welcome sight, and the food provided even more so! A 30-minute break and change of socks and trainers definitely helped. From here it all became a bit of a blur if I'm honest…a mixture of long hills, lots of walking, trying to run the downhills, and ticking off the miles until the next checkpoint.
As night fell, it became very lonely. Large periods of time on my own…following the signs, trying not to go the wrong way. The last checkpoint was again gratefully received, especially as they'd placed it at the top of a rather large hill, where we also had to navigate around a number of quite large cows!!!
The last section is where things got tough…56 miles down, fatigued and sleep deprived, I had been on my feet 15 hours, and with 10 miles still to go, I got to a place mentally where I doubted, I'd actually finish!
Thankfully, after a quick pep talk from the wife, I managed to get going again albeit very slowly. A couple of very strong coffees with 6 miles to go also helped. I plodded on, ticking off the miles….it was at this point my mood lifted as I knew I'd finish.
At 4:02am, after more than 19 hours on my feet, I crossed the line!! Absolutely shattered, emotional, but most of all massively proud.
Thankyou to everyone that has sponsored me so far, I've already raised £1,240. There is still time to sponsor me with this fantastic cause, just click the link below."
Kris Williams is fundraising for Children with Cancer UK (justgiving.com)
