Another Fastest Known Time (FKT) fell yesterday when top ultra runner John Kelly completed the 268-mile Pennine Way in two days, 16 hours and 46 minutes. He broke a 31-year-old record set by Mike Hartley by just 34 minutes.
John, an American who lives in Bristol, England, left from Edale at 10am on Monday July 13. He arrived at Kirk Yetholm at 2:46am on Wednesday July 15.
See video: (Footage by Summit Fever Media)
John’s Pennine Way route
John has previously run the route of the Pennine Way when he won this year’s Spine Race. His time then was three days, 15 hours and 53 minutes, although the race was held in mid-winter and conditions were tough and there were fewer hours of light.
For this week’s FKT, John added the Cheviot, the highest summit in the Cheviot Hills, to his route, just like Mike during his 1989 record. John ran the route in the opposite direction to Mike, south to north.
John’s aim was to have very little sleep during is record bid. On Tuesday, he has a short sleep near Middleton-in-Teesdale.
Over the second night, he fell behind his schedule by a some 2.5 hours, although on Wednesday morning he managed to regain some of this time.
He remained 2.5 hours ahead of the record pace and seemed to make a concerted effort to claw this time back. At this point, he was roughly 2 ½ hours ahead of the record pace and finished just over four hours after he his schedule.
John, who is married with three young children, is also raising money for the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. Donate here.
Next up: Big Three Rounds
John, who is acclaimed as the 15th finisher of the infamous Barkley Marathons, will be attempting the Big Three Rounds this summer, too. He will run the Paddy Buckley, the Bob Graham and the Charlie Ramsey rounds consecutively and hopes to complete each in less than 24 hours. He will also cycle between each, from Wales to England to Scotland, and plans to finish the whole challenge less than 100 hours.
The stats are huge: 185 miles of running with 84,000ft elevation gain and more than 400 miles of cycling.
Keep track of the endurance athlete: John Kelly.
Watch more: Summit Fever Media will be launching an in-depth film about John’s Pennine Way run later this year. Keep an eye on their website for news.