17 Jan Tube Runner Jonny Davies’ “toughest ultra yet”
“That was the toughest 70k I’ve ever ran.”
It’s a big statement coming from a man running his eleventh ultra in 18 months, but Jonny Davies, aka The Tube Runner, didn’t hesitate to give it at the end of our 43-mile Country to Capital Ultra Marathon.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Jonny – who found fame by running the entire length of the London Underground network, said his hamstrings had been “absolutely cooked” during the race.
“It was the mud at the start,” he said. “It was trying to get through all of that and then carrying the weight in your shoes.
“Just slopping up those hills. That was hard.”
The Country to Capital is well-known as a race of two halves, starting off along muddy trails as it slaloms it’s way across the Buckinghamshire countryside, before taking in the well-heeled streets of Denham.
The second half sees runners sweep their way along the much flatter Grand Union Canal before finishing at the Stowe Centre next to the Little Venice Canal in London.
Speaking on the video, Jonny – who completed his London Underground challenge by running 350 miles in 11 days to raise money for CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) – said he still feels race day nerves and a bit of anxiety before big events.
But he said: “I’m really hoping that never goes away because the whole purpose of doing this stuff is that it is hard, it’s challenging.”
He said if the process became easy, it would lose its edge.
We hope we managed to keep things tough enough for you Jonny!