Inspired by the achievements of Sir Rannulph Fiennes, and his seven marathons in seven days in different continents, Christopher Ball decided to try this out for himself.

NEW WORLD RECORD – 10 MARATHONS IN 10 DAYS 2007

Cdr Brian Meakin took part in a new world record by running 10 Marathons around an officially measured course on 10 consecutive days – beating the previous record set by Sir Ranulph Fiennes of 7 marathons in 7 days. The event took place between 11-20 May around Lake Windermere in the Lake District, Cumbria. The final run coincided with the official Brathay Windermere marathon where Brian was joined by 1000 other runners.

He set off each day at 10:00 and completed the runs in an average time of 3:55, although his fastest time was 3 hours 36min on day 10! You might think running around a lake would be fairly flat, but this is far from the truth and the course is recognised as one of the toughest road marathons on the UK circuit. He said “I would normally expect to run a marathon in about 3:15, so slowing this pace by half an hour or so seemed a sensible approach. I ran in the London marathon in Apr as part of my training and only managed to beat 4 hours by a couple of minutes. I was absolutely shattered after finishing but still managed to go out the next day and run 23 miles, which was a great psychological boost.”

About the actual challenge he said “after the initial shock of the first couple of runs, a ‘groundhog day’ effect set in. This would comprise of breakfast, a stretching session and pre-run massage; run the marathon and then into the river to cool off the legs; after another massage and stretch it would be time to carbo-load and finally another stretching session before an 8pm bedtime… Surprisingly I found it very difficult to eat very much. After being out running for 4 hours blood gets sent to the legs to repair the damage, which leaves little left to aid food digestion, this in turn sends ‘not hungry’ signals to the brain. Equally, sleeping became difficult as night-time is when the body tries to repair itself; this means your legs ache and it’s difficult to get comfortable.”

“As the days went by a pattern developed whereby the first half of the run was needed to shake out all the aches and pains of the previous day and then the second half of the run became quite enjoyable as the endorphins (or it could have been the painkillers) kicked in. I did however make the classic (schoolboy) error of starting off in shoes that were not properly run-in. This caused a rather large and painful blister on one heel for the first few days. And this ever so slightly altered my running style which, in the latter part of the challenge, developed into inflammation and discomfort in my right leg. But it was only pain… I am convinced this type of endurance event is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. They were days when is was really difficult to motivate myself, but once you put your running shoes on and get out on the road life becomes quite simple.”

Brian raised over £2000 for the Brathay Hall Trust; a charity dedicated to the personal and social development of disadvantaged young people. He is now thinking of the next challenge…