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Six Ultras in Six Days: How Chasing the Impossible Changed My Life
- Adventure Athletes
- Aug 17
- 4 min read
The Challenge That Changed Everything
“Why don’t you do it in a week?”
That one sentence changed the next year of my life.
After finishing my third ultra-marathon—again, with no real training—while still in a sling from my failed world record attempt, I felt defeated and broken, both physically and mentally. I was on my podcast, chatting with Jenks, when he suggested I take on the Pegasus Slam the following year: six ultra
-marathons, each between 30 and 50 miles, completed on the first Saturday of every month from April to September.
From Reluctance to Commitment
“I can’t. With work, I can’t get that many Saturdays off!” I replied, already giving up on the idea. Jenks asked, “Well, when do you get time off?” I explained that as a coach, I needed to be there for my athletes year-round, traveling to competitions, always available—except for one week in the summer and two weeks over Christmas.
Facing My Patterns: Overconfidence and Under preparation
“Why don’t you do it in a week?”
That audacious goal changed everything. Instantly, something clicked. I knew I had to try. I couldn’t explain why—every ultra I’d ever attempted, I’d gone in undertrained and paid for it mid-race. Around the halfway mark, things always went downhill fast, usually ending with me walking the last 10 miles, sulking on the phone to my mum, swearing I’d never do it again. If I struggled to finish one, what made me think I could do six in six days?
I noticed a pattern: I’d set wild goals, show up underprepared, and put myself through hell to get them done—or as close as possible. I’d done it with every ultra, my world record attempt, and random challenges like 1,000 pull-ups in a day. I always finished broken and defeated. But this was another level.
Words That Stuck: Advice from the Pegasus Founder
After recording a podcast with Rhys Jenkins, the founder of Pegasus, something he said stuck: “You have the mindset to achieve in ultras. If you trained properly, you could do something great.” I always shrugged it off. I loved variety in my training and life—the ability to show up and do anything. Why specialise? Where’s the fun in that? But his words got under my skin. I know I’m a fairly natural runner, and with this new challenge, maybe it was time to focus and put all my energy into one thing.
Setting the Date and Raising the Stakes
Those two conversations didn’t just change my year—they changed my life in ways I can hardly describe. I spoke to Rhys about my idea, expecting encouragement. His reply? “I’m sorry to piss on your chips, but you aren’t the first person to say they’re going to do this.” That spurred me on even more. I might not be the first to think of it, but I’d be the first to actually do it.
The date was set. After talking with Ben, I decided to raise as much money as I could for Sport In Mind. I settled on £6,069, £1 for every person who lost their life to suicide in 2023 across England and Wales. The ball was rolling.
Training Like Never Before
Setting a goal is one thing, but as I said, I’d never trained specifically for something like this. Despite appearances, I’m not as good a runner as people think. Yes, I’d completed three ultras—all 50km—but barely. I finished each one injured and limping. In all of 2024, I ran 1,000km, but 496 of those were in January for my 496 challenge—another event that left me broken. The rest were random ultras, 5-10km runs, and a series of running courses I’d set up to help others achieve their first 5km, 10km, or half marathon. For context, in the build-up to my “6 in 6,” I’ve now run 2,000km—doubling last year’s distance in half the time.
Immersed in the Community: The Power of Support
That 2,000km shows how much I stepped up my training. I took it seriously, committed fully, and immersed myself in the running community. The real change happened when I left my coaching job to run Adventure Athletes full-time—coaching, providing massage, and sharing free knowledge. I started running with The Running Punks every Wednesday, volunteered at ultras, did countless events as prep, and helped crew other challenges.
Milestones and Lessons Learned
I could write essays on what I learned from each event, but here are the highlights:
Completed the Goggins 4/4/48 challenge
Came 7th at The Hateful 8 Ultra (47 miles)
Competed in a Backyard Ultra (16 yards, 66 miles)
Supported Harry Squires on his final day from Chelmsford to Cardiff (50km)
Completed 55km at the BigMoose Ultra Fun Run the next day
Did a double Dennison Round
Ran my first fell race at the Pentyrch Hill Race
Finished two Hyroxs (one normal, one pro)
Organised a group to carry items up Pen-Y-Fan for AA’s 2nd anniversary
Started trig hunting and #GetTriggered
Joined Running Punks for weekly runs
Supported Paul Evans on his 100-mile Mumbles promenade run (ran 40 miles with him)
Paced Lizze Gatherer on a section of Wildhorse 200
Supported Chelseay Markow on her Severn Way FKT
Ran a birthday ultra with Jo Berryman (didn’t quite go to plan)
Returned to Dennison Round—made the leaderboard (top 10)
Completed 10-y-Fan with George and Rose
Swept the first two checkpoints at Epona 100 miler
Guided the Welsh 3 Peaks
Swept the entire Pigum 30 miler
Attempted the Snowdon 24 event (cancelled)
Came 2nd in the Dusk till Dawn overnight ultra
Building Confidence—And Facing Doubt
Looking at that list, it’s clear how much I stepped up my training and how strong I felt going into this challenge. Beyond these highlights, there were countless training runs—gym, track, mountains, group sessions. I immersed myself in the process. Despite some dips and mishaps, I entered the challenge more confident than ever.
Of course, there were doubts, anxiety, and the weight of mental health, business, fundraising, and training all at once—especially as the challenge approached. But overall, I felt better than ever.
Ready or Not—The Moment of Truth
It was time. Had I done enough?
I haven't yet reached my fundraising goal, but I am close! The fundraiser is still open for 2 more weeks, and we are 75% of the way there. The money goes directly to Sport In Mind and can help save countless mental health struggles through sport. Any little helps honestly.
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