Unbreakable Kristian has records tumbling on his 630-mile challenge

Ever since running his first marathon in Wolverhampton with “pretty much zero training”, he’s been constantly searching for ways to push himself further.

Most runners are satisfied with running a couple of 5ks or 10ks a week. But not Kristian.

Be it entering the 100 marathon club or smashing the record for the UK’s longest running trail, they’re all just boxes to be ticked off for the obsessive runner.

The intrepid 43-year-old recently completed his latest arduous challenge, traversing the 630-mile long coastlines of Devon and Cornwall over 10 days, breaking the record by three hours despite completing the last 100 miles injured. He seems to be more machine than man.

Kristian sort of fell into running, falling in love with it while training with his boxing club along the Willenhall Road growing up.

It was after seeing an Express & Star advert for the Wolverhampton Marathon in 2000 that he decided to take on his first 26-miler.

“In those days you could just turn up and pay on the day. Without any training I ran it,” he remembers.

“One of my best achievements was crossing that finish line. That’s what got me into running.”

And the rest was history. By 2015, Kristian, who spent time growing up in Australia and now lives in London, had clocked up 50 marathons.

But not satisfied with that, he wanted to be part of the ‘100 club’ and, in his words, not be old when he got there. So he spent 2016 getting to 100. Another challenge ticked off.

The former St Edmund’s School pupil has also run 100-mile ultra-marathons, trained in Ethiopia and completed challenges around the world, including in Thailand and Rome. It’s all a long way from the Willenhall Road.

Last month he set off on his latest mission, to set the FKT – fastest known time to me and you – on the 630-mile South West Coast path.

What followed was 10 and a half days of running, up steep climbs and over difficult terrain around the south west coast, stopping only for short breaks and a few hours’ sleep a night.

Kristian, who works as a running coach, said: “I ran through 10 sunsets and 11 sunrises. I was always up before sunrise, three hours of head torch running.

“The first six days there was a bit of a heatwave, so it was about surviving between 11am and 3pm.

“Towards the end a storm was coming in so there was some windy and rainy night time runs. There were rocky, rooty, gnarly trails – not just pavement running. You could say I went up and down Everest four times.”

One moment sticks in his mind when his sister Stephanie Morgan joined him for a 40-mile section.

“One of the highest places was called Little Mole Hill. Going up, the wind’s blowing, we couldn’t believe how high it was. Then we saw a sign for Big Mole Hill. It was so funny, just a laughing moment.

“I would sleep for four and a half hours. The alarm would go off at 3.30am. I’d have some cold coffee and some oats and slide the van door open.

“On the last day I didn’t sleep. I ran through 100 miles in one day.”

There’s something Kristian has failed to mention about that last day. He was carrying an injury after deciding against taking a head torch on a section, on advice of his mother, who was supporting him during the challenge.

He said: “I had to use my iPhone torch coming down one of the most remote parts of the trail and I pulled my quad muscle.”

Kristian feared it was game over. But he had not come this far to quit.

“I knew I had 100 miles to go. I knew it was going to debilitate me. My movement came down from 100 per cent to about 60. I used my body in a different way.”

So it was, on no sleep and one good leg, that Kristian crossed the finish line smashing the previous FKT, remarkably, by over three hours.

He said: “It was pure relief. I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk afterwards. I knew I had taken myself beyond, physically.

“The last half a mile or so I was singing out loud, trying to distract myself.”

The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles would surely have been an appropriate choice.

“When I got to the finish line and saw the monument it was something else. I knew I’d beaten it by three hours. I sat down with my mum and sister.

“When I got up they had to help me across the road.”

This being Kristian, he’s already has another record in his sights. And of course it’s bigger and bolder.

He hopes to take on the Appalachian Trial in America next year and set a new FKT, which currently stands at 41 days and seven hours.

It would mean running 53 miles – two marathons – for 41 days, scarcely believable for us mere mortals.

The last few months has seen an explosion in running, with many taking up the hobby during lockdown, perhaps one of the few positives to come from an awful situation.

And Kristian said he would encourage as many people as possible to get out and get active.

He said: “I think it’s our natural state to be fit and healthy. The more people there are not sitting indoors watching TV and outdoors feeling the rain and the sun on them, that’s a good thing.”

To support Kristian on his Appalachian Trial challenge visit kristianultra.com