DAMIAN HALL SMASHES 268-MILE PENNINE WAY RECORD

UPDATE (8pm UK time, Friday July 24): He’s done it! Damian Hall has completed the 268-mile Pennine Way in a new record time of 61 hours and 34 minutes (ratified as 61:35:15) (watch the finish video here). He beat the previous record, set just last week by his friend John Kelly, by over 3 hours. Prior to that the record had been held for 31 years by Mike Hartley.

Not only has he broken the record, but Damian and his 11 teams of pacers also helped clean the famous trail of litter as they ran, stuffing it in their packs before handing it to support team members at road crossing meet-up points.

The 44-year-old ultramarathon runner wore our new TRAILFLY G 270 shoes with Graphene-Grip – the ultimate running shoe for big trail miles.

He said: “I feel overwhelmed, really. I remember writing about Mike Hartley’s 1989 record in the Pennine Way guidebook before I got into running and thinking ‘That’s insane, I could never do that!’

“It was a huge team effort and I couldn’t have made it happen without the support of my road crew, pacers and the people we met along the way. I had the inevitable low spells, but the incredible team got me through them.

“I felt hugely motivated by three things and had FFF written on my arm in permanent marker as a reminder. They stood for Family, Friends, Future – the latter relating to our need to protect the planet.

“There wasn’t lots of litter on the trails, but we picked up anything we saw. The road support crew did likewise from the places they met me at along the way.

“Also, the whole attempt has been certified as ‘carbon negative’ by Our Carbon, as has all my running and my family’s lifestyle for 2020.”

READ OUR NEW POST-CHALLENGE Q&A WITH DAMIAN

Immediately below are some photos from Damian’s attempt, followed by daily highlights videos.

PUBLISHED July 21st:

Ultra runner Damian Hall will attempt to break the record for the fastest completion of the 268-mile Pennine Way.

The Pennine Way is Great Britain’s oldest – and arguably toughest – National Trail. It follows a remote upland spine, wriggling its way from Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders to Edale in Derbyshire and incorporates around 37,000ft of gruelling ascent.

INOV8 ambassador Damian, who has been planning this for a long time, begins from Kirk Yetholm on Wednesday morning. He is making his attempt Carbon Negative and will fuel without animal products or plastic waste.

The 44-year-old dad-of-two from Wiltshire, England, will also collect litter from the trail as he goes, running from north-to-south in the new TRAILFLY G 270 shoes with Graphene-Grip. He will be supported throughout by friends and fellow runners.

The record (otherwise referred to as Fastest Known Time – FKT) is held by American John Kelly, who just last week ran south-to-north (the same direction as the iconic Spine Race) in 2 days, 16hrs and 46mins. This converts to 64hrs 46mins.

John beat the famous long-standing record time of Mike Hartley, who ran north-to-south in 1989, by 34mins.

You can follow Damian’s progress throughout via:

* This Open Tracking LIVE MAP

* inov-8’s social media (INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK), where there will be video and photo updates

* The hashtag #DamoPWFKT

Damian, who is fundraising for Greenpeace UK (donate HERE), has a string of impressive ultra running achievements to his name, including the fastest times for the 630-mile South West Coast Path, which is Great Britain’s longest National Trail, and the Paddy Buckley Round in the mountains of North Wales.

He also placed 5th at Ultra-Trail du Month-Blanc in 2018 and won last year’s shortened Ultra Tour Monte Rosa.

This way! Photo by Summit Fever Media

I love a boggy bimble, me. And I’ve been thinking about this one for four years.

The Pennine Way is special. England’s oldest National Trail is directly linked to 1932’s Mass Trespass. Those brave folk defied the law to gather on Kinder Scout to protest about people in England and Wales were denied access to areas of open country, privately owned by the rich elite.

That brilliant piece of civil disobedience changed things (even if half the land in England is still owned by less than one percent of the population), led to more access to the countryside and the country’s first National Trail, 268 miles from Edale in the Peak District over many a bog and dale to Kirk Yetholm, Scotland. The Pennine Way is still the original, the classic, the daddy. It’s our Appalachian Trail.

Part of the wild Pennine Way, photographed by Damian during The Spine Race, which he has finished twice.

It’s special to me too. I first hiked it in 2011, half of it just before I became a parent and the other half not long after. I’d been commissioned to write a new official guidebook for it and was also getting to know my country of birth again after a decade overseas. So there were more than average emotions swirling in the peaty air. Perhaps it was inevitable that I fell in love with it.

I have a weakness for bleakness. Even if moors aren’t technically a natural habitat, I love their windswept imperfection, their barren beauty and sense of impending drama. And the Pennine moors have seen some drama.

In July 1989 Mike Hartley ran the Pennine Way in just 2 days, 17hrs and 20mins (65:20), breaking Mike Cudahy’s four-year old record, which had taken him six attempts to set, by more than four and a half hours. I remember reading about Mike’s incredible run and adding it to my guide, thinking, “that’s beyond nuts”. But it s0wed a seed…

My love of the Pennines has led to me do the Spine Race twice and ever since I set an FKT on England’s longest National Trail, the 630-mile South West Coast Path, I’ve been thinking about trying to do something similar on this one, too.

The record has always been really intimidating though – we could see on social media how hard John worked to get it. And every year I’ve talked myself out of attempting it. But with no races on this summer, I’m finally out of excuses.

Training in the Lake District (UK). Photo (and lead blog photo) by James Appleton.

And so just last week, tea-hating American John Kelly beat that 31-year-old record, running an amazing 2 days, 16hrs and 46mins (64:46). John is a friend, we occasionally train together and have been swapping info about our attempts. I’m thrilled he pulled it off. I need to do better, though, as we have a high-stakes hot beverage-based side bet.

Like John and Mike, I will include The Cheviot summit (an extra 2.5 miles), which is no longer part of the official route but keeps things consistent. I’ve also chosen to go north-south, as Mike did, which may throw weather in my face and is less familiar. But that direction gets some tougher terrain done earlier, I’ll be ‘running home’ and I’ve always wanted to see the Pennine Way this way – I don’t want to get bored of it.

Incidentally, though the official distance is 268 miles, that includes alternative routes, so my run will be closer to 260 miles. I’ve plotted a schedule that will hopefully get me to Edale for last orders (I haven’t had booze for four months).

Though I’m very flattered and grateful of any interest in my Pennine Way bimble, with the Covid-19 situation I would kindly ask people not to turn out if we’ve not directly communicated about that, especially in villages. I don’t want to add any stress to locals. I’m keeping my team of amazing supporters to a bare minimum too.

In fact, I’d love to go solo and unsupported like I did on the Winter Paddy Buckley Round, but this record is too good to break that way.

Damian on his way to setting a Winter Paddy Buckley Round record. Photo by Lee Procter.

The attempt will be Carbon Negative, as audited by Our Carbon. I will also fuel without animal products (which is easy enough), without plastic waste (which is not at all easy; but big shout out to Delushious, 33Fuel, Lucho Dillitos, Outdoor Provisions, The Vegan Kind and Firepot) and collecting litter as I go (hopefully there won’t be much).

Of course, I’m encouraging some car journeys that might not otherwise happen, which isn’t perfect. But nothing about our climate and ecological emergency is perfect – and those emissions fit into my carbon budget for 2020. I’m fundraising for Greenpeace UK, who do many great things for our planet.

The 1932 Mass Trespass feels topical again as civil disobedience seems like it might be the only way to force through the vital changes in thinking and law needed to combat our climate and ecological emergency. I’m really worried about the state of our planet. And that’s partly what will keep me motivated when things get a bit ouchy.

This will be really difficult. But I’m not afraid to fail. To fail would be to not ever try. Now let me at those bogs!

Damian will wear the new TRAILFLY G 270 shoes with Graphene-Grip. He said: “An ace in the hole! The grip is excellent and the extra cushioning welcome as the miles stack up – as they will do on the Pennine Way.”