Born-and-bred Islander Charlotte Fisher has won what is considered one of the hardest 100 Mile foot races in the UK – the North Down Way.
Charlotte completed the course last Saturday (5th August) in 22 hours of running through Storm Antoni and was named female Champion of 2023.
The athlete has only been running since February, when she decided to train for the Round the Island 106km Ultra on 29th April, which she also won.
Charlotte has said:
“It still blows my mind to even be able to type this, but on Saturday I completed what is considered Centurion Running ‘s hardest 100 mile race, and not only that, I managed to place as first female. I have been in total shock ever since – 22+ hours of running through the most brutal conditions of Storm Antoni.
“The race report said I had been running a year, but running for me actually all started in February this year when I signed up for a 106km charity run to raise money in honour of my aunt, only giving myself 12 weeks to do so. After a successful finish at that race, I was left wanting more and figured I wouldn’t be happy unless I had a 100 mile under my belt and the goal was to get it within 24hrs.
“My coach adapted me a new training plan and I stuck to it rigorously, even if it meant 05:00 alarms to get a trail Marathon done before work at the weekend. Anybody who knows me knows I have put my heart and soul into this training meticulously, and have turned my life around from the way I was previously living.
“It’s making me emotional typing this as I still can’t quite believe it’s true and that I managed to find the strength to complete, let alone win this race. I knew conditions would be horrible and knew the 2nd half of the course had huge incline, so I took the risk to go out fairly fast for the first 80km and then just manage the gap by going fast enough to keep around a 30 min buffer from the ladies behind me.
Article continues below this advertisement “Nothing could prepare me for torrential rain from the very start, flooding, slippery mud and Gail force winds – Truly the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I have huge respects for anybody else who managed to finish yesterday.”
Congratulations Charlotte!!
Thank you! Are you my primary school head?
Just seen this. Yes, it’s me