Run Scarborough leader Paul Sutherns completes record FKT Coast to Coast challenge
Scarborough athlete and Run Leader for running group Run Scarborough, Paul Sutherns, 42, has accomplished a gruelling challenge in a record time.
The challenge, known simply as FKT in the running world is the acronym for Fastest Known Time, where a runner chooses a well-known route and attempts to break the record for running the route in the fastest recorded and verified time.
For his challenge, Paul chose to run the Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route that would see him run continuously from St Bee’s on the Cumbrian coast to Robin Hood’s Bay, a distance of 190 miles.
Over a period of nearly three days Paul successfully managed to break the record of completing the fastest known time for a Self-Supported Run that started early on May 20 and ending on May 23 in a verified time of 2d 18h 49m 54s.
He had initially planned to complete the challenge as an Unsupported FKT, so would not be able to receive any form of assistance or external support.
For an Unsupported FKT runners must carry all the food and provisions that they would require on their person, water supply is to be replenished from natural sources on the route and runners must sleep in the open or under natural shelters.
For the vast majority of the route, he was on track to complete the course meeting the unsupported criteria until close to the end at Blakey Ridge.
Sutherns had been battling stormy weather with continuous heavy rain for seven hours and no longer possessed any item of dry clothing.
He took the sensible decision to take refuge and dry off at the nearby pub, this did now mean that his challenge of being officially recognised as Unsupported had now become a Self-Supported challenge.If a FKT runner uses any facilities or resources available to the general public then the challenge is considered Self-Supported.
After managing to dry off to some extent, Paul now knew that his challenge had changed, and he now had to beat the Self-Supported verified record of 76 hours.
Reaching his end destination of Robin Hood’s Bay at 4.30am on Thursday, Paul finally completed the challenge in an impressive record time of 66 hours and 49 minutes.
To ensure accuracy and verification, runners of FKTs must carry GPS trackers and are independently monitored throughout the entirety of their route.
This challenge is one of many endurance challenges that Paul has completed.
Last year saw Paul complete The Tunnel Ultra, a 200-mile ultramarathon, where runners complete non-stop laps through the Combe Down Tunnel, a disused railway tunnel near Bath, Somerset.