Held over three days at the end of March, Sweetlove ran the Jurassic Coast Challenge, organised by Votwo, coming in at a respectable 67th place out of 176 finishers. His overall time for the three days was 17 hours 39 minutes. All three days measured longer than the official 26.2 mile marathon distance with day three alone coming in at a strength-sapping 28 miles.
The ultra-marathon started in Charmouth, West Dorset on Friday 26 March, and followed the famous coastline to end on Sunday 28 March at Studland, near Sandbanks, Poole. Some hardcore ultra-runners even did the whole route in just 24 hours.
Runners experienced a gruelling three days, but were rewarded by the beauty of the Dorset coast and the euphoria of completing such a tough feat of strength and determination, noted Sweetlove.
Sweetlove commented: “We had stunning views of the coast on the run, which took us mainly along coastal paths, through mud, wind and rain. There was very little flat running; you were either dragging yourself up a hill or stumbling down one. It was very different to running a flat road marathon like London for example. Strangely though, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.”
However, Sweetlove continued: “Tough as it was this still wasn’t as hard as running a mobile distribution business!”