North Downs Way 100 2022 - My FIRST 100 Mile Ultramarathon Finish! Centurion Running

After failing my first attempt at a 100 miler by bailing out of the Centurion Thames Path 100 in May 2022 at 73 miles, I decided to get back into the 100 mile saddle and settle some unfinished business. 3 days after quitting the Thames Path, I booked onto the very well known North Downs Way 100. This is a race that I first heard about from my brother, Jack, who said that 'the North Downs Way 100 scares me'. One of our favourite running YouTubers, the highly talented Ben Parkes, had failed it twice before finally completing it in 2018. With a Thames Path 100 'Did Not Finish' fresh in the bag, and these facts combined, you could say that things weren't looking good for me hoping to finish arguably one of the toughest foot races in England. In the months leading up to race day, I slowly upped my training volume in a slightly more structured way than usual. In addition to increasing my weekly mileage steadily, I also started introducing hill workouts and long runs on the North Downs Way itself, often running sections anywhere between Bluebell Hill and Ashford. On race day eve, I got a train from my home town of Maidstone in Kent up to Farnham in Surrey and stayed at the lovely Bush Hotel which is about half a mile from the start line. When I woke up, I was half terrified half excited to get my race gear on and make my way to registration. Despite all my training and preparation, this race was easily the hardest physical thing I have ever done and I'm so grateful to have learnt so much by taking it on. Hopefully, this video serves as a useful account of what it's like to run the race on the day and also what pitfalls to look out for. Thank you to Centurion. The staff for organising the event and the volunteers for the exceptional support and friendliness at aid stations. I've done quite a few races and you just can't beat the Centurion aid stations. My official time was 26 hours, 22 minutes and 11 seconds, and I placed 76th out of 151 finishers. Full results can be found here: https://www.centurionrunning.com/race... Video of me failing the Thames Path 100 2022 -    • Thames Path 100 2022 - My First 100 Mile U...   The Aspinall Foundation website - https://www.aspinallfoundation.org/ SUBSCRIBE by clicking here:    / @runningcafe1   30SomethingMike North Downs Way 100 route videos: Miles 0 - 50 (North Downs Way 50) -    • Video   Miles 51 - 103 (North Downs Way 100) -    • Video   My Strava effort on the day -   / strava   Please like this video and subscribe; it really helps the channel out and your support is tremendously appreciated. My running gear: Road shoes (Mount to Coast R1s) - https://uk.mounttocoast.com/products/... Trail shoes (Mount to Coast T1s) - https://global.mounttocoast.com/en-gb... Hybrid road / gravel / trail shoes (Mount To Coast H1s) - https://global.mounttocoast.com/en-gb... For Mount To Coast products, use code CRAIG10 at checkout for a 10% discount : ) Alternate trail shoes - https://amzn.to/3Nk5HtY GPS Running watch - https://amzn.to/3YExOGN Running backpack - https://amzn.to/4bg7URl Water bottles - https://amzn.to/3NJ6Efq Waterproof jacket - https://amzn.to/4qqEWD0 Headtorch - https://amzn.to/49iTGh1 Energy gels - https://amzn.to/4sT25Q6 Wireless earphones - https://amzn.to/3Lgf1yx Travel sunscreen 50SPF - https://amzn.to/49IobMu Camera - https://amzn.to/4pA5xfi Voiceover microphone - https://amzn.to/4qQIrSH LET'S CONNECT: ✅ Follow me on Strava: Craig Barden Follow me on Instagram (personal): @craigbarden1 Follow me on Instagram (Running Cafe account): @craigbarden_runningcafe Music by Epidemic Sound - https://epidemicsound.com/referral/5qaq9 Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 01:00 - Farnham to Puttenham, 0 - 6.8 Miles 02:42 - Puttenham to Newlands Corner, 6.8 - 14.7 Miles 05:38 - Newlands Corner to West Humblefields, 14.7 - 24 Miles 08:16 - West Humblefelds - Reigate Hill, 24 - 31.8 Miles 13:08 - Reigate Hill - Caterham, 31.8 - 38 Miles 15:28 - Caterham to Botley Hill, 38 - 43 Miles 17:36 Botley Hill to Knockholt Pound, 43 - 50 Miles 19:06 - Knockholt Pound to Wrotham, 50 - 60 Miles 21:50 - Wrotham - Holly Hill, 60 - 66 Miles 24:00 - Holly Hill - Bluebell Hill, 66 - 76 Miles 25:27 - Bluebell Hill to Detling, 76 - 82 Miles 27:10 - Detling to Ashford, 82 - 103 Miles 28:05 - The moment I thought would never come 28:52 - Debrief Music from Epidemic Sound - https://epidemicsound.com/referral/5qaq9 #Centurionrunning #ultrarunning #Northdownsway100 Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that the channel may receive a small commission for any purchases made after you click on one of these links.